Bridging Worlds

Visions of China and East Asia in Antonio Possevino’s SJ Bibliotheca Selecta and Tomasz Szpot Dunin’s SJ Writings on China

Abstract

The text compares Antonio Possevino and Tomasz Szpot Dunin as two Jesuits united by one major idea: the planning and description of Christian missions in Asia, especially China. Possevino developed a global Jesuit vision in Bibliotheca Selecta, where defense of Catholic orthodoxy was combined with attention to Japan and other parts of the world. The author argues that this was both an ideological framework and a practical missionary project, shaped by realism and the need for proper preparation. Writing about a century later, Szpot Dunin focused directly on China, creating a historical and cultural account of Jesuit missions and emphasizing Alessandro Valignano as organizer, strategist, and man of prayer. The main conclusion is that Szpot’s work represents the fulfillment of the plan first outlined by Possevino: from a broad vision of world evangelization to a detailed interpretation of China. The author suggests that this was a remarkably coherent and long-term Jesuit strategy, whose importance was not diminished by the fact that it was never fully embraced by the Church and Europe of the time.