The Jesuits from 1579 to 1724 mounted a sustained mission to spread Christianity to China during the reign of the Ming Wanli emperor (1563-1620) to the Qing Kangxi emperor (1661-1722).
In those 145 years, they managed to have 1000 converts in 1606, 2500 converts in 1610, 5000 converts in 1615 (p. 62, Journey to the East by Liam Matthew Brockey, 2007), and 200,000 converts by 1700. (P4 Brocket).
If numbers are the only true yardstick of success, seen in this light, the Jesuits’ mission was a splendid failure, as the population of China grew from 260 million in the late Ming to 310 million in the early Qing. (P 62 Brockey).
Why is the failure, arguably, partly due to interference from Rome and the attempts to assert power by the popes and the papacy over the Jesuits?
For the answers and a wider picture of the Jesuits’ mission to convert China to Christianity, the best book is Journey to the East by Brockey, which won many book prizes.
LWH, Sat, 8 Nov 2025, 10 a.m.