The Bureau of Sinology and Its Early Development, 1927–1934

Abstract

In 1927, the Jesuit-run Bureau of Sinology was founded in Shanghai to assist missionaries in their apostolic work via education and publications. The bureau’s establishment was part of a longstanding effort to resume the Jesuit tradition of developing intellectual apostolate and pursuing Sinological studies. However, the bureau was soon beset by internal crises that limited its functionality. The bureau also competed with the Synodal Commission, which Celso Costantini (1876–1958), the first apostolic delegate to China, had established in the same year and with a similar objective. The ecclesiastical hierarchy and overlapping purposes of the two institutes disadvantaged the bureau in its early development and escalated tensions between the Jesuits in China and the delegate. This article is part of the special issue of the Journal of Jesuit Studies, “Jesuits in Modern Far East,” guest edited by Steven Pieragastini.