THE JESUIT MISSIONS IN JAPAN AND IN CHINA: TWO DISTINCT REALITIES Cultural Adaptation and the Assimilation of Natives

The missionary strategies employed by the Society of Jesus in their two largest missions in the Far East, namely in Japan and in China, from very early on proved to be two totally different realities. Despite the common origins of both these missions, once they began to adopt the policy of accommodation and, for the very same purpose, also adopted a policy of admitting natives into the ranks of the Society, the specific characteristics of each of these two empires caused the missionaries to follow divergent strategies. These differed so widely that it resulted in a conflict between these two missions, particularly after 1614, when the Jesuits who had been expelled from Japan established themselves in Macau. This article deals with the ways in which the process of adaptation to local cultural mores evolved in the two missions and, later, focuses on the policy of the integration of natives into the Society. Finally, it also traces the confrontation that developed between the Jesuits of China and Japan.