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<p>In the eighteenth century, Jesuit schools in German-speaking Europe adapted the Chinese historical tale <i>Duke of Shao Sacrifices His Son to Save King Xuan</i> into Christianized tragic forms. These plays, written by Jesuit scholastics, served as both direct responses to and ideological extensions of Catholic missionary efforts in China. Drawing on primary archival materials, specifically five extant theatre programmes related to this case, this study critically examines these adaptations as a distinct cross-cultural literary phenomenon. While its narrative ostensibly affirms the compatibility between the Confucian ethics of loyalty (忠義) and the Christian ideal of martyrdom, on a deeper level, it functioned as a pedagogical and ideological tool. By appropriating the voice of a so-called “pagan martyr,” these plays advanced the broader goals of promoting the ideas and agendas of the Society of Jesus. Notably, the <i>Shao</i> narrative, in its dialogic interaction with a constellation of stories from biblical, Greek, and Persian traditions, offers a unique yet understudied case of “world literature.”</p>

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A pagan martyr’s allegiance: the Shao Tragedy in Jesuit school adaptations as a case of world literature in eighteenth-century Germany

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月3日

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  • Tongyu Zhang,
  • Yuan Tan

摘要

In the eighteenth century, Jesuit schools in German-speaking Europe adapted the Chinese historical tale Duke of Shao Sacrifices His Son to Save King Xuan into Christianized tragic forms. These plays, written by Jesuit scholastics, served as both direct responses to and ideological extensions of Catholic missionary efforts in China. Drawing on primary archival materials, specifically five extant theatre programmes related to this case, this study critically examines these adaptations as a distinct cross-cultural literary phenomenon. While its narrative ostensibly affirms the compatibility between the Confucian ethics of loyalty (忠義) and the Christian ideal of martyrdom, on a deeper level, it functioned as a pedagogical and ideological tool. By appropriating the voice of a so-called “pagan martyr,” these plays advanced the broader goals of promoting the ideas and agendas of the Society of Jesus. Notably, the Shao narrative, in its dialogic interaction with a constellation of stories from biblical, Greek, and Persian traditions, offers a unique yet understudied case of “world literature.”