Asia-Pacific in the Making of the Americas: Toward a Global History

Bian Zhengjiao Zhenchuan Shilu

The Bian Zhengjiao Zhenchuan Shilu 辨政教真傳實錄, known simply as Shilu can be roughly translated as “Authentic Record of the Discussion of the True Spread of the Orthodox Faith.” Framed as a scientific exchange between East and West, it was the first text written in Chinese to introduce the Catholic religion from a rational, non-dogmatic point of view, hence aimed at Chinese intellectuals rather than the common man convert. And it was one of the first two or three books published in Las Filipinas, on a Chinese press by a Chinese printer, and the first book written in Chinese by a European. As far as we know, this was the first publication in Chinese to clearly state that the earth was round, providing scientific (mathematical) proof of the fact. For this reasons alone, Cobo’s Shilu should be considered one of the most important Spanish and Chinese books of all time.
 
Translating and writing these books presented many challenges to Cobo (and his Chinese assistants), because so many terms and concepts had no clear correspondence across the two cultures and languages, thus had to be invented. The following provides some examples of Cobo’s inventive mind, mainly adapting existing Chinese secular and Buddhist terms to fit Catholic concepts:
  • 罪 (zui) crime, guilt; Cobo translated into “pecado” (sin)
  • 過 (guo) fault, mistake; Cobo translated into “pecado”
  • 惡 (e) evil, vice; Cobo translated into “pecado”
  • 非 (fei), wrong; Cobo translated into “pecado”
  • 佛 (fo) Buda, Buddhism; Cobo translated into “los santos” (the saints)
  • 仙 (xian) Celestial Being, immortal; Coba translated into “los santos”
  • 和尚 (heshang) Buddhist monk; Cobo translated into “sacerdote” (priest)
  • 天 (tian) Heaven; Cobo translated into “Dios” (God)
  • 天地 (tiande) Heaven and Earth; Cobo translated into “Dios” (Source: Liu)

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