Tracing the development of Catholic ideas in Japan and China during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, this book provides an overview of the early emplantation of Catholicism in East Asia and the evolution of the missionary strategy.

Kevin Cawley recreates the tumultuous period for gender relations and explores interreligious interactions between Confucians and Catholics. Highlighting the textual production this period inspired, Cawley examines writings such as the catechism of the Italian Jesuit, Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), which went on to convert a group of elite Confucian scholars to the new religion. He also outlines the shift from rejection to acceptance of new texts composed by Korean Confucians, especially the groundbreaking catechism of Chong Yakchong (1760-1801), written in the Korean vernacular, which drew many women into the Church who became a dynamic evangelical force.

In this study, we learn how religious persecution and political tactics manipulated, terrified and exterminated converts to Catholicism. From European Jesuits to Korean Confucians, this book outlines a fascinating journey of intercultural engagement between Western and Eastern worldviews.