About Us

2024/25 School of Chinese Research Student Seminar

明清時期聖母圖像的本土化轉譯

The Localized Translation of Madonna Iconography in Late Imperial China

Abstract:

明清時期，隨着天主教的在華傳播，各種聖母像經由歐洲傳教士傳入中國。在傳統文化語境、政教體系和民間信仰的交互作用下，聖母像經過圖像元素的選擇性轉譯與在地化重構，逐漸形成兼具西方宗教意涵與本土文化特質的宗教視覺符號體系。本研究以此為切入點，以聖母圖像在華傳播的歷史脈絡爲主線，結合典型個案的微觀考察，系統解析其傳入中國後經歷的符號轉譯、意義重構與傳播機制，進而揭示聖母信仰視覺化表達在明清社會語境中的本土化演進及跨文化交融特徵。

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the spread of Catholicism in China, various representations of the Virgin Mary were introduced into China by European missionaries. Under the interplay of traditional cultural contexts, political and religious systems, and folk beliefs, these Marian images underwent strategic pictorial adaptations—a process involving selective visual translation and contextual reconfiguration. This transformative process ultimately yielded a hybrid visual system that integrated Western theological symbolism with indigenous cultural elements. Through in-depth analysis of exemplary cases and historical contextualization, this study investigates the symbolic translation, meaning reconstruction, and dissemination mechanisms that underly this Sino-Western visual synthesis. It demonstrates how Marian devotion became materially encoded through culturally negotiated forms, revealing the localized evolution and intercultural convergence of Marian images within the sociocultural milieu of late imperial China.