Women and the Jesuits in the Christian century (1549-1650) in Japan
- Format:
- Dissertation
- Year:
- 2001
- University:
- Princeton Theological Seminary
- Thesis type:
- Doctoral Dissertation
- Place published:
- Princeton, N.J.
- Language:
- Abstract:
Japan's Christian Century (1549–1650) was marked by the active apostolate of women. The outburst of activism among women converts from all classes went against the unifiers' Neo-Confucian ideology. The Christian women's network undercut the political alliances of their male kin, who perceived Christianity as fostering these women's rebellion in families and society. This contributed to the persecution, the total ban of Christianity and the subjugation of all women in the following two centuries. Even though the Jesuit Constitutions forbade them to work regularly with women, in Japan women participated in their essential apostolic activities. In Christianity many women saw their liberation from religious and social oppression. It gave an alternative to medieval Shinto-Buddhism that negated women's salvation. Catholic moral teachings equipped women to resist unjust divorce, concubinage and other forms of abuse. The Jesuits, especially Luís Fróis in his História de Japam , left vivid accounts of women's vocation as scholars, teachers, visionaries, preachers, catechists, founders of churches, hospitals, confraternities and congregations. Some Christian women were exiled and martyred. This dissertation lifts up the stories of Christian women's apostolate, which has been neglected by historians. Part One deals with women such as Hibiya Monica and Naitō Julia who aspired to “monastic” vocation. Part Two discusses women leaders in Shinto-Buddhism who rejected Christianity, such as one whom the Jesuits named Jezebel and demonized as a “witch.” Part Three focuses on Hosokawa Tama Gracia and many women catechists around her. Part Four is on women in charity. It compares the apostolate of Japanese Christian women with that of women in other Jesuit missions in Europe and its colonies during the Catholic Reformation period. This dissertation also demonstrates the rich parallels of women's experience in Shintoism, Buddhism and Christianity from the Japanese sources. Former Jōdoshū followers had a monastic and visionary tradition similar to the Christian tradition. The converts from Zen were accustomed to disputations and well prepared for Christian catechists' activities. Some women had experiences of “mutual aid societies” through Jōdo-Shinshū. Other women rejected Christianity on the grounds of their traditional Shinto-Buddhism in which they found sufficient answers.
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- Number of Pages:
- 685