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Reflecting the Diversity of Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) Publication Activities in China at the Deutscher Orientalistentag (DOT), hosted by Friedrich-Alexander Universität, Erlangen, 8–12 September 2025

As in previous editions of this event, the Monumenta Serica Institute joined the Deutscher Orientalistentag, a German Oriental studies conference uniting scholars on the Near East to the Far East and South East Asia, with a panel: “Bibliotheca Sinica Christiana as a Case Study of Catholic Publishing Activity in China: On the Contribution of the Catholic Religious Societies SVD and SSpS in Shandong (1882 to 1950) to Sinological Research and a General Knowledge of China”. The panel offered insights on multiple aspects of the publications printed by the SVD presses in Poli, Jining, Qingdao, and Yanzhou.

The greater part of these publications were catechetical or theological materials for Chinese Catholics. However, the contributions of the four panelists explored three categories of books published by the SVD that served as bridges between Church and secular circles, i.e., the Libri profani – mostly edifying novels –, the Libri scholares – text books, in particular for learning Chinese, German, and Latin –, and the Libri Sinologici, which introduced the culture and history of China to a Western audience.

Ma Tianji’s contribution “Conversion and Happiness in Modern Chinese Literature: An Analysis of Zhang Xiuya’s Guiyi (皈依) and Xingfu de quanyuan (幸福的泉源)” focused on two novels written in the style of the popular romantic “Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies School.” Ma highlighted the intertextual references and the integration of Christian motifs in these narratives. Particular attention was paid to the portrayal of conversion and happiness, both central themes in Zhang Xiuya’s work.

The paper of Xiaobing Wang-Riese and Sun Yaoqi, presented by Prof. Wang, introduced “Changes in Funeral Rites in the Village of Heizuizi in Qinghai Province, China: A Follow-up Study to the Ethnographic Research of SVD Missionary Johann Frick.” Over the course of twelve years of field research, Prof. Wang and Dr. Sun traced the cultural changes that have taken place over the last 80 years in Frick’s main area of activity, the village of Heizuizi 黑嘴子, based on his study “Funeral Rites of the Chinese in the West Valley of Sining” (first published in 1974).

In “Father Rudolf Pieper SVD (1860–1909) and His Publications as a Means of Promoting the Missionary Work of the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) in China,” Gregor Weimar SVD introduced Fr Pieper’s Unkraut, Knospen und Blüten (Weeds, Buds and Flowers, 1900) and Neue Bündel Unkraut, Knospen und Blüten (New Bundles of Weeds, Buds and Flowers, 1909), two very popular books which were part of the acquisition of benefactors for missionary work. Weimar analysed how Pieper’s different horizons of experience and expectations (as a representative of the SVD Mission in South Shandong) as well as the assumed expectations of the German target audience generally influenced the selection and presentation of the topics.

Li Xinze’s “Missionaries, Colonists, and Locals: Classics in Modern Shandong (1900s-1940s)” explored the reception of classical, i.e., Greek and Latin, literature in Shandong during the early 20th century, with a particular focus on three cities: Yantai, Qingdao, and Yanzhou. It examines the roles that colonizers, missionaries – among them the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) –, and local inhabitants assumed to collectively shape the transplantation of Western classical learning to Shandong.

The panel organizers intend to publish all contributions in a missiological journal.

An overview of SVD books published in Shandong is offered in the Monumenta Serica Institute’s most recent publication Bibliotheca Sinica Christiana: Annotated Catalog of Divine Word Missionaries’ (S.V.D.) Publications in Shandong (1882–1950) compiled by the late Fr. Roman Malek SVD.