When news arrived that it was safe after an elevation of the situation in Japan, de Rhodes resumed his journey towards Macao. However, the ship stopped at Cochin (now Kochi in India), where the captain of the ship had died and de Rhodes boarded another ship to Malacca. Owing to the unpleasant weather in Malacca, de Rhodes was bound to stay in Malacca for nine months. During this time though, he had recorded that he and a Portuguese Jesuit, Gaspar Ferreira, succeeded in baptizing two thousand people.
On May 29, 1623, when the ship had finally arrived in Macao, de Rhodes was awed by the Chinese culture and customs. De Rhodes had reported that a college there named Madre de Deus, which was operated by Jesuits, included subjects taught at the college was in any great European university.
In 1623, Japan’s third shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, Iemitsu Tokugawa, was even more hostile towards Christianity, and enforced cruel laws and the worst years of persecution had begun. The aim was the complete eradication of Christianity with no room for mercy. Christians, regardless of foreign or native, were horridly burnt and subjected to tortures more horrific than burning.
De Rhode’s superiors decided to change de Rhodes’s trajectory to Japan towards the new destination, Cochinchina, since the relation between the Jesuits and the Japanese were hostile. In December 1624, de Rhodes and six other missionaries travelled towards Cửa Hàn (now known as Đà Nẵng) in central Vietnam for only nineteen days of the journey.
Vietnam was smaller than it is today in de Rhodes’s time, especially South Vietnam. In that time, the river Gianh in the province of Quảng Bình had separated the country into two parts, North and South. However, Europeans had named them respectively, ‘Tonkin’ and Cochinchina’.
De Rhodes’s stay in Vietnam
De Rhodes had begun with his missionary work in Vietnam on 1624 or early 1625, he spent his time in Cochinchina, learning the Vietnamese language and engrossed himself in the culture’s religion, customs and government of the country. After 18 months, he moved to Tonkin in 1627, where he and Jesuit Pêre Marques was appointed to staff a new mission there, after two years, he was exiled from the land, however, he managed to remain in the kingdom of Tonkin for another year, until Spring of 1930, when he fled back to Macao since his superior were worried about the stance between Vietnam and the Jesuits. There, de Rhodes spent a dull ten years teaching theology in Madre de Deus. In 1640, a new superior was appointed in Macao, who permitted de Rhodes’s return to Cochinchina in 1940, this excited de Rhodes once more, as he were to spend a period of five highly successful but dangerous years in Cochinchina, since he was frequently banished by the authorities, meaning he either had to temporarily return to Macao, or which he much preferred, illegally move around Cochinchina.
In 1645 however, after he himself had been condemned to death, then released and exiled by the viceroy, de Rhodes had his final leave of Vietnam and returned to Macao once and for all. From there he returned to Europe, arrive in 1649.
The Vietnamese language and its script
The first scripting system has been said in history of Vietnam was Khoa đẩu, literally ‘tadpole’, the reason being of this name is because the geometry of the script was composed of circles and lines which closely resembled the shape of a tadpole. Little is known about this script and many properties of the language such as the correspondence to phonetic speech are still debateable, thus it is still an undefined part of history. The script itself has only been suggested to be the first script, but not enough evidence has been found to officially claim that is had been a script or if ever, the first script of Vietnam.
When the Chinese people had begun war with the Vietnamese people since 111 B.C., the transcript of the Vietnamese language had also been forcibly changed into the Chinese transcript, although the phonetic language still remains the same as before. But even after Vietnam had successfully fought China off their land, the official script of Vietnam remains to be the Chinese transcripts, known as Hàn or Chữ Nho.
Chữ Nôm, is the preceding script, but was unfortunately esoteric. It is believed to have been created by Hàn Thuyên, a scholar under the reign of the Tràn Dynasty. According to the Vietnamese history, he was commissioned by Emperor Trần Nhân Tôn to write a message to a crocodile which had entered the Red River, apparently his writing drove the animal away, which granted him the privilege from the Emperor to change his family name from Nguyễn to Hàn, as the same incident occurred before in China to the poet-scholar Hàn Yu.
Chữ Nôm only found its main purpose for writing poetry during its primitive stages of development. Over a couple of centuries though, the scripting system had been improved and refined by people from the Lê dynasty to the Nguyễn dynasty before becoming a form of narrative poems.
However, in 1858, when France had decided to conquer Vietnam, Chữ Nôm began to decline from Vietnamese literature.
De Rhode’s contribution towards the Vietnamese script
De Rhode's contribution towards the Vietnamese literary script had proved to help many millions who were illiterate become better educated, as the script was not hard to learn. Although de Rhodes was not the first inventor of the script, he was the most recognised contributor to the modern, Latin script of Vietnam, Quốc Ngữ.
Figure 2: A table which compares between the characters of Chữ Nho (left on the table) and its composition of composite characters, the pronunciation now known as Quốc Ngữ, and on the right of the table, the meaning of the words in French.
Although it is quite lucid to see that these are very important helpful changes in the trajectory of the Vietnamese history, there are major setbacks regarding to de Rhode's intentions in the country.
One of de Rhode's first teachers was an 11-12 year old Vietnamese boy, who later took on the name of Raphael Rhodes. Raphael Rhodes was one of de Rhode's first converts in Vietnam, and formally became de Rhode's loyal assistant in the following works of de Rhodes on evangelization in Vietnam as well as neighbouring countries such as Laos.
The development of a new script not only allowed the illiterate to become better educated because of the simplicity of the phonetic system of Quốc Ngữ, but also granted de Rhodes the ability to communicate towards numerous people in the Vietnamese society. Ultimately this would mean that de Rhodes could publish works regarding to Christianity in his Vietnamese script to evangelize a larger portion of Vietnam, for example, Cathechismus, is a book regarding to the teachings of Christianity, written in Quốc Ngữ.
The fact that the more followers de Rhodes gained, the more he would potentially gain, raised many issues for a vast number of minority groups existing within Vietnam. Namely groups such as non-Christian religions as a whole (Buddhism, Yao/Dao, Confucianism, etc.) who lost their followers, housewives who converted and were then harshly dismissed by men, even eunuchs who would lose their jobs if their lord converted.
Contrasting de Rhodes
Prior to Alexandre de Rhodes's arrival to Vietnam, we have mentioned that he spent six months learning Astronomy and Mathematics. De Rhodes's tactic of evangelization was not to be by manipulating the Vietnamese people until baptism, which he learnt from his observations in Goa, but by presenting towards the people his true beliefs, not only was it before their full conversion that he was sincere towards them, making de Rhodes an enlightened man. Along with his sincere treatment to the Vietnamese people, he had convinced the truth of Christianity towards the Vietnamese not by assumption that they will believe in what he said, but by putting forward a scientific method to help him persuade the people into Christianity. A method which de Rhodes had used to convince Lord Trịnh Tráng’s interest was introducing European science into the society.
There had been an occasion where he foresaw a lunar eclipse and compiled a chart for the King, responding to this prediction, the King stated, "If these people know how to predict with so much assurance and accuracy the secrets of heaven and the stars -- which are unknown to us and surpass our capacities, shouldn't we believe that they are correct about the knowledge of the Law of the Lord of Heaven and of the Earth, and of the truths that they preach to us...?".
One must now contrast de Rhodes's method in successfully evangelizing many thousands in comparison to the other Jesuits, the missionaries in Japan as heard did not go well as heard before, simply because of the fact that the Japanese saw the Jesuits as invaders, now less than 1% of the Japanese population are Christians, compared to the higher 8% of the Vietnamese population. This can be illustrated as a consequence of the treatment the Jesuits gave in Japan compared to de Rhodes's methods. Missionaries in North America caused great havoc towards the culture, simply because the Jesuits did not accept the North American culture, they had converted the Huron, also cutting off many of the tradition's customs. Eventually civilization had itself completely destroyed along with the Jesuits, who became known as martyrs. Martyr is a term which applied to the Jesuits in almost any culture, the intention of converting as many people possible would be certain to arouse conflicts within culture and religion.
De Rhodes had accepted a foreign culture and approached the evangelisation differently from the other Jesuits, de Rhodes interpreted religion as acceptance and knowledge, we can see his outstanding performance in not only evangelization, but also the remarkable change he has caused in Vietnamese cultural history, and thus this marks and distinguishes himself from many of the other Jesuits.
Annotated Bibliography
Primary Sources:
Books:
Claude, L., Pham, D. K., Cathechismus, p. 10, Saigon, Groupe Lettéraire Timh-Viet
This book is the same as Cathechismus, but a reedited version with a section of de Rhodes’s voyage
Rhodes, A. (1616) Divers voyage, Paris, Imprimeur du Roy, rue S. Iaques, aux Cicognes
Recounts on the majority of de Rhodes’s travels in his entire lifetime
Rhodes, A. (1651) Cathechismus, Rome, Typis Sacre Congregationis de Propaganda Fide.
This book is de Rhodes’s teachings of Christianity for the Vietnamese; it is strangely divided into days, instead of chapters
Interview:
Interview with Phan Tri, 2012, August 20.
The historical evolution of the Vietnamese script, including the contributors and inventors, quoc ngu was not created by Alexandre de Rhodes but he was the most acknowledged for his great contribution into the development of the text
Interview with Dr Tung Bao Ngo, 2012, August 14.
Christian influence on the Vietnamese culture and the comparison of the Vietnamese people’s stance on Christianity in de Rhodes’s time until today
Secondary Sources:
Books:
Daughton, J. P. (2006) An Empire Divided, Religion, Republicanism, and the Making of French Colonialism, 1880-1914, New York, Oxford University Press
Described briefly about the history of Vietnam and de Rhodes’s religious works in the country of Vietnam
Duong, Q. N. (1958) Vietnam van-hoc su-yeu, Saigon, Vietnamese scholarly books
A scholarly book which accounts for the important events in the history of Vietnam, including the interaction with missionaries
Hien, V. Ho (2008) Alexandre de Rhodes and the Vietnamese language, Retrieved from Advite:
A useful source describing the relationship between de Rhodes and Vietnamese language
Mariko, K. (2009, February 24) Christianity’s long history in the margins, Retrieved from
Contains an important statistics describing the ratio between Christians and non-Christians in the population of Japan
Moran, J.F. (1993) The Japanese and the Jesuits, Alessandro Valignano in sixteenth-century Japan, London and New York, Routledge
Contains a detailed outline on the stance between the Japanese and the Jesuits
Neill, S. (1964) A History of Christian Missions, Victoria, Penguin Books
Provided deep insight into each of the Christian Missions, especially the Roman Catholic era
Ngo, T. B. (1997), The Social and Psychological Well-being of Vietnamese Elderly Immigrants in Australia, Victoria, RMIT University
Contains a section outlining the impact of Alexandre de Rhodes and the Roman Catholics in the Vietnamese society
Phan, P. C. (1998) Mission and Catechesis, Alexandre de Rhodes & Inculturation in Seventeenth-Century Vietnam, New York, Orbis Books, p. 29
An invaluable source describing de Rhodes’s religious and geographical activities in Vietnam
Pollen, J.H. (1912) The Society of Jesus, The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved August 26, 2012 from New Advent:
Explains the purpose of the Jesuits’ organisation and gives a brief recount on the historical events in the organisation
Thwaites, R. G. (1959) The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France 1610-1791, New York, Pageant Book Company
Outlines the interactions between Jesuits and foreign countries including the historical documents
Tinh, V. T., Chu Nom, Ancienne Ecriture du Vietnam Formation Historique Un mouvement d’émancipation de l’emprise culturelle chinoise, Retrieved 26th August 2012 from
An account of the historical formation of the former esoteric Vietnamese script, Chữ Nôm
Trương, V. K. (1867) Abrégé de grammaire annamite, Saigon, Imprimerie Imperiale
Provides a brief insight on the differences between Chữ Nho, Chữ Nôm and Quốc Ngữ
Weber, N. (1912) Alexandre De Rhodes: The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved August 11, 2012 from New Advent:
Outlines the major events which happened in de Rhodes’s life
Images:
Figure 1: Photograph of Alexandre de Rhodes Paris at the Musée de la France d’Outre-mer.
Figure 2: Extract from Trương, V. K. (1867) Abrégé de grammaire annamite, Saigon, Imprimerie Imperiale
Journal articles:
Maggs, B. W. The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 86, No. 3 (Jul. 2000), Catholic University of America Press, p. 446
Contains important information regarding to de Rhodes’s mathematical and scientific methods of evangelizing the Vietnamese people
Lecture:
Martin L., “Missions from the Society of Jesus,” 2012 August 27.
Lecture discussing the contrast between the success and failures of the Jesuits
Jesuit is a member of the Society of Jesus.
Portrait of Alexandre de Rhodes preserved in Paris at the Musée de la France d’Outre-mer.
It has been proven by two sources that his birthdate is in 1593, the first, his letter to the superior general Mutio Vitelleschi, requesting to be sent to the Chinese or Japanese mission, states that he is at his fourth year in theology, which was written in 1617, implying he was born in 1593. Furthermore, in a register of postulants entering the novitiate of San Andrea in Rome, states “Alessandro Rhodes, francese d’anni 19 incirca”, translated from Italian meaning “Alexandre Rhodes, French and about 19 years of age”, the register was recorded in 1612, supporting the fact that Alexandre was born in 1593, however, according to some sources, Alexandre was born in 1591, e.g. Neill, S. (1964), A History of Christian Missions, Victoria, Penguin Books, page 195, Daughton, J. P. (2006), An Empire Divided, Religion, Republicanism, and the Making of French Colonialism, 1880-1914, New York, Oxford University Press, page 30.
Weber, N. (1912) Alexandre De Rhodes, The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved August 11, 2012 from New Advent:
Formerly known as Annam by the West in de Rhodes’s time, the country was classified as two parts, Tonkin (North) and Cochinchina (South)
Jesuit can be abbreviated as S.J, SJ or SI
Hien, V. Ho (2008) Alexandre de Rhodes and the Vietnamese language, Retrieved August 11, 2012 from Advite:
Pollen, J.H. (1912) The Society of Jesus, The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved August 26, 2012 from New Advent:
Rhodes, A. (1616) Divers voyage, Paris, Imprimeur du Roy, rue S. Iaques, aux Cicognes, p. 21, It is observed that from the portrait of de Rhodes (page 2 of this article) that he himself had long hair, which implies that he would have been hypocritical had he agreed with the other Jesuits.
Now known as Macau, lying on the border of China, this was a Portuguese settlement which acted as a centre for missionaries travelling to Asia.
Moran, J.F. (1993) The Japanese and the Jesuits, Alessandro Valignano in sixteenth-century Japan, London and New York, Routledge, p. 145
Of the Jesuits, there was oddly enough, a Japanese missionary, who was a master of Chinese calligraphy.
Claude, L., Pham, D. K., Cathechismus, p. 10, Saigon, Groupe Lettéraire Timh-Viet
The date of Khoa đẩu has not been defined yet.
This was initially the conquest of the Han Dynasty
Phan, P. C. (1998) Mission and Catechesis, Alexandre de Rhodes & Inculturation in Seventeenth-Century Vietnam, New York, Orbis Books, p. 29. The script Han had lasted until the 19th century.
The date of the invention of the scrip is still a major controversy, for example the H. Maspero had stated that a stele discovered in Hộ Thành sơn, in the province of Ninh Bình, North Vietnam, which bore an inscription identified as Chữ Nôm, the date on the inscription translated into the Christian calendar suggests that the stele was created in the year 1343 and may have been inscribed years from then on.
A scholar named Nguyễn văn Tố disagreed with this hypothesis and traced back to a Vietnamese hero, Phùng Hưng, who overthrew the current Chinese governor in 791 A.D., was given the title of Bố Cái Đại Vương (Father and mother of the people), the words in this title had only been given meaning once Chữ Nôm was adapted as a system. This therefore implies that Chữ Nôm could have existed before the 8th century. A third hypothesis, pointed out by another Vietnamese scholar named Sở Cuồng, had put forward a complex argument, deconstructing Vietnamese literature and deducing the derivatives of the pseudonyms of the line of Vietnamese emperors. Sở Cuồng made a solid attempt to prove that Chữ Nôm dated back somewhere from 187-226 A.D.
Hàn Yu is an influential poet and writer of the Tang dynasty in China, who before Hàn Thuyên, wrote a letter to a crocodile to banish it from the Wu River.
The Lê dynasty in Vietnam from years 1428-1788
The Nguyễn dynasty in Vietnam from years 1802-1945
Tinh, V. T., Chu Nom, Ancienne Ecriture du Vietnam Formation Historique Un mouvement d’émancipation de l’emprise culturelle chinoise, Retrieved 26th August 2012 from
Quốc Ngữ was a Romanised script, which included Latin characters such as those of the English alphabet, but also with diacritical or phonetic markings to indicate the tone of the character, since the Vietnamese language consists of 6 different tone sounds.
Trương, V. K. (1867) Abrégé de grammaire annamite, Saigon, Imprimerie Imperiale, p. 8
Rhodes, A. (1651) Cathechismus, Rome, Typis Sacre Congregationis de Propaganda Fide.
Maggs, B. W. (2000) The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 86, No. 3, Catholic University of America Press, p. 446
Mariko, K. (2009, February 24) Christianity’s long history in the margins, Retrieved from
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