The Many Faces of Our Lady: Chinese Encounters with the Virgin Mary between 7th and 17th Centuries

Abstract

This article explores the emergence and early development of Marian devotions in China from the 7th century to the 17th century. With in-depth analysis of a variety of textual and visual sources, it examines how the Nestorian missionaries and the Franciscan missionaries made the earliest known efforts to introduce Mary, the mother of Jesus, to China, how the Jesuit missionaries presented and reproduced Marian images to advocate for her position as the model of womanly virtues in relation with Confucian moral norms, and how the Chinese people in their encounters with Mary developed multilayered responses and reinterpretations. The interweaving of faith, virtue, and power underpinned the complex formation of a composite image of Mary, whose many faces constituted a marginal but persistent Marian culture in China through the imperial period. © 2018, © Monumenta Serica Institute 2018.