University of Macau Library

Author: Mahjar-Barducci, Anna
Title: Understanding the “i” through the Chinese language a catholicism-inspired meditation on the Chinese characters for “self ”
Journal Name: The Journal of the Macau Ricci Institute
Pub. Info: Mar. 2023, No. 11, pp. 99-108
Link: http://mrijournal.riccimac.org/articles/issue_11/MRI_Journal_Issue_Eleven.pdf
Keyword: I；self；China；Catholicism；Chinese characters；Matteo Ricci；Personalism；Erasmus of Rotterdam；good；evil
Abstract: The following analysis presents a Catholicism-inspired meditation on the Chinese characters for self-examination. It is a Catholic viewpoint, which may assist 21st-century Christians and non-Christians in their spiritual struggles. The goal of this analysis is to show that Chinese characters can tell us that the spiritual struggle to improve (ἄσκησις, áskēsis, in Greek) is inherent to the human condition. In that sense, we can see that Chinese tradition is not as foreign to Christian tradition as most may think. Paragraph Headings: 1. Introduction 2. The “Sound of the Heart” 3. Finding redemption 4. Choosing between good and evil 5. The punishment 6. The confrontation between the two “I”s 7. Conclusion