Although I have felt that I might someday be called upon to serve my country abroad, I must truthfully say that my appointment as Ambassador to Spain was an unexpected event in my life. Had I known that I was to be assigned to Madrid, I would have chosen Spain as my field of specialization while I was a student at the University of Michigan. As it is, I am ill-prepared and would be making a bold attempt to speak on any subject in relation to Spain. Nevertheless, if I were expected to talk about Spain, I could not think of a more appropriate subject than the history of cultural relations between China and Spain during the last four hundred years.
The history of cultural relations between China and Spain dated back as early as the 12th century when a Spanish traveler named Benjamin Tudela, according to Spanish historic records, came to a remote country named Ch'in which was in fact China. This gives proof that the cultural interflow between the two countries really began at that time.
However, it was not until the 16th century that the East and the West had come to close contacts. The discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 and Magellan's round-the-globe travels in 1521 had given great impetus to adventurous sailors and devout clergymen who traveled thousands of miles to the East and became the forerunners of the cultural interflow between the East and the West.
From the historic records of Spain, a world map made by a Spaniard named Diego Ribero and printed in Seville as early as 1529 was discovered in which a sketch of China had been included. For inexplicable reasons, the designs of Spanish arms and castles had been found on that map. They might have meant that the Spaniards had set foot on those places on which the designs of these Spanish arms and castles appeared. However, these inadvertent mistakes were soon corrected, for in the book entitled "Earliest Relations with the Chinese Empire" (Primere Relacion del Reino de China) written by a Catholic father, the Spanish authorities gave due recognition to the sovereignty of the Chinese Government by appointing two Spanish fathers of the Austin Mission who were geographers, Martinus de Rada and Gero'nimo Marin, as representatives of the Spanish Government to China who had stayed at Chuanchow, Fukien Province from July 3 to September 14, 1575. Two years later, Martinus de Rada accompanied by Urdaneta visited the Fukien coast. Based on the accents of the Chuanchow dialect, Martinus de Rada compiled the first Chinese dictionary in Spanish entitled "Art and Vocabulary of the Chinese Language" (Arte y Vocabulario de la Lengua China). Almost in the same year, Bernadino de Escalante published the first Spanish work on Chinese history entitled "Discourse on the Navigation of the Portuguese to Oriental Kingdoms and Information on the Great Empire of China" (Discurso de la Navegacion que los Portugueses Hazan a los Reinos y Provincias de Oriente, y de la Noticice que se tiene de las Grandezas del Reino de la China) in Seville totaling two hundred pages divided into sixteen chapters. It had not only mentioned the names of Chinese provinces but also described the characteristics of the Chinese language as reading from top to bottom and from right to left. This book was translated into English and published in London in 1579. The British Museum still keeps an original copy, a photostat of which was published by the Spanish Government last year. In 1585, a Spaniard named Gonzalez de Mendoza, using the above book as basis, compiled "the History of the Important Things and Customs of the Chinese Empire" (Historia de las Cosas mas Notables Bilos y Costumbres del Gran Reino de la China), which, when later published in Rome, became one of the widely read books in Europe at that time.
From the middle of the 16th century to the beginning of the 17th, apart from the fathers of the Austin Mission, there were also the fathers of the Society of Jesus and of the Dominican Mission who had come to the Far East to preach their gospel. Among members of the Jesuit Mission, Francisco Xavier was the first one to write about China although he had never been there. He learned things about China in Japan and wrote numerous letters on Chinese culture to his friends in Europe. Among members of the Dominican Mission, there were two experts on the Chinese language, Juan Cobo and Miguel de Bernavides. Juan Cobo had always preached the gospel in the Philippines. He once represented the Spanish Government in Japan and died somewhere on the eastern coast of Taiwan. From 1588 to 1592, he studied the Chinese language with remarkable results. In cooperation with Miguel de Bernavides who was then preaching in the Chinese community in Manila, he wrote a Chinese book entitled "Christian Doctrine" in 1593. Furthermore, he translated the Chinese book "Ming Hsin Pao Chien" 明心寶鑑 meaning "Treasure Mirror of the Clear Heart" and wrote "Rectification and Improvement of the Principles on Nature" (Rectificacion y Mejora de Principios Naturales).
The book "Rectification and Improvement of the Principles on Nature" deserves special mention. It is two hundred pages long divided into nine chapters. The first three chapters deal with the Christian religion and the other six dwell on the geography and biology of the West. In that book, it expounded the theory with detailed illustrations and maps that the earth is round. It was the first book in the Chinese language written by a Westerner introducing science into China. The original handwritten manuscript of his book in both Chinese and Spanish languages was brought back and presented to King Philip II by Bernavides in 1595. It is still on the archives of the Spanish National Library in Madrid.
Another book worth mentioning is also a Chinese work on science written by a Spanish father, though parts of it had been destroyed by fire and the remainder is kept in the Institute of Sinology in Leyden, Holland. Owing to the damaged condition of the first ten pages, neither the name of the book nor its author was known. However, from the fact that he wrote in the first person and referred to himself as a native of Kan Shi La, it was inferred that he was a Spanish father and that the book was written in 1606 corresponding to the 34th year of Wan Li of the Ming Dynasty, for the place Castilla in Spain was translated as Kan Shi La in the Chinese language at that time.
Another expert of the Chinese language of the Dominican Mission was Diego de Pantoja. He came to China in 1599 and was an acquaintance of Matteo Ricci who was a naturalized Chinese subject holding an official position towards the end of the Ming Dynasty. Aside from making improvements on the Chinese calendar and introducing science into China, he wrote in Chinese a book on Christianity entitled "Chi Keh" 七克(Seven Ways of Coping with Seven Desires) in 1614 which was subsequently included in the celebrated Four-Treasure Encyclopedia 四庫全書 of the Chien Lung Era (1736-1796).
As we all know, the first Chinese book on world geography was "Notes on World Geography" (Notes sur la Geographic Mundiale) written by Julio Aleni. However, it was later discovered that the book was based on the original work of Diego de Pantoja.
Since the beginning of the 17th century, the influx of Spanish priests to China had been on the decline. However, as the Manchu Dynasty still attached considerable importance to science from the West and knew that the clergymen were its bearers to China, no move was made to discourage them from coming to China. Though at this juncture the French, Belgian and German fathers were the main force working for the interflow of culture between the East and the West, the Latin translations of the Chinese classics still found their way to Spain. In spite of the slackened activities of Spanish fathers in China during this period, some priests in Mexico, then a colony of Spain, had landed in China in the 17th and 18th centuries. For instance, Father Petrus Pinuela of the Franciscan Mission in Mexico came to China in 1676. During his protracted stay of 28 years in China, he was the first to introduce Western medicine into China and wrote a Chinese book of 26 pages named "a Supplement to the Chinese Herbs." In addition, priests of the Jesuit Society also compiled periodic reports on China which were sent to Mexico and ultimately reached Spain. At present, there are numerous source materials and records contributed by those priests which are kept in the National Library and the Library of the Royal Academy of History in Madrid. From them we can see that since the end of the Ming Dynasty the interflow of culture between China and Spain has rarely been interrupted.
It is of historical significance for me now to touch on the interflow of culture between the East and the West in Taiwan. In fact, the introduction of Spanish culture to Taiwan can be said to be contemporaneous with that of the Spanish culture to the Chinese mainland. After the occupation of the Philippine archipelago, a Spaniard named Hernando de los Rios Coronel prepared a colored map of the Luzon Islands, Taiwan and a part of the China coast. This shows that even then the Spaniards in the Philippines had already evinced great interest in this beautiful island of Taiwan. On May 10, 1626, some Spaniards landed on a small island named Sou Liao 社寮 situated outside of the Keelung harbor where they built a small walled city called San Salvador. They also constructed one chapel called Saint Trinity (Samtisima Trinidad) on top of a hill in Keelu'ng and another named All-the-Saint; (Todos Los Santos) on Sou Liao island. Meanwhile, other Spaniards had landed on Tamsui and built a fort known as Saint Domingo Castle (Castillo Santo Domingo).
When the Spaniards came to the northern part of Taiwan, they found that the Chinese inhabitants were already there. The activities of Spanish priests were confined to Keelung, Tamsui, I-Lan and San Tiao Chio 三貂角 With the introduction of Christianity came Western music to Taiwan.
In the early part of the Manchu Dynasty, as we have shown, the Chinese Government attached considerable importance to Western priests, for they brought with them Western arms, surveying, map-drawing, geography, astrology, medicine, etc. which were then earnestly sought in China. However, after the accession of Emperor Yung Cheng (1723- 1736) to the throne, the preaching of Christianity was banned. Moreover, owing to the internal conflicts between various churches within the Catholic faith itself, the number of priests coming to China was greatly reduced. Thus, despite the fact that from the reign of Yung. Cheng to that of Chien Lung (1736-1796), Latin translations of Chinese classics such as the Four Books and the Book of Change (Yi Ching) were brought to France, Italy and Spain, the interflow of culture between the East and the West was not as flourishing as it had been during the last decades of the Ming Dynasty. The activities of Spanish priests had also been suspended after the Spaniards in Taiwan were ousted by the Dutch in 1642. They did not continue their divine work until 1859 when the teaching of Christianity was once again revived.
About a hundred years ago, the Spanish priests came again to Taiwan to spread the Christian gospel. Their activities were, however, restricted in Kaohsiung and Pingtung. In 1869, they built the first church in Wan Lan Village 萬巒 of Pingtung Hsien (county). The architectural style of the church was a mixture of Spanish and Chinese designs.
Some Japanese who devoted to the cultural study of Taiwan wrote an article entitled "The Catholic Church in Pingtung" for the Magazine "The Taiwanese People" discussing at length the architectural style of this church with pictorial illustrations. The influence of Spanish culture in connection with this church deserves to be mentioned, since this year the Catholic church is commemorating the centennial anniversary of the preaching of Christianity by Spanish priests in Taiwan.
While discussing the second period of the spread of Christianity by Spanish priests in Taiwan about a century ago, it is a coincidence that the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Spain also happened during this period. As pointed out before, the initial contact between China and Spain was made by Martinus de Rada and others in 1575 who, as representatives of the Spanish Government to China, stayed at Chuanchow for more than two months. However, the official commencement of diplomatic relations between the two countries took place in 1864 as a result of the conclusion of the Tientsin Treaty. In 1869,—the year when the first Catholic church was built in Pingtung—the Manchu Dynasty despatched Sun Chia Ku 孫家穀 a well known scholar, as Imperial Envoy to Spain, thus inaugurating the exchange of envoys between the two countries.
During the reign of Kwang Shu (1875-1908), the Manchu Dynasty in 1875 appointed Chen Lan Ping 陣蘭 Minister to the United States, Spain and Peru. He went first to Lima in 1876, thence to Washington two years later, and finally arrived in Madrid in 1879. It took him almost five years to reach his post in Spain from the time of his appointment.
Since the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, the cultural relations between China and Spain have always been close and cordial. The signing of the Sino-Spanish Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1929 marked the beginning of a new era in their diplomatic relations. A memorable event during this period was the compilation of two dictionaries by a Spanish priest in Anhwei Province named Luis Maria Nieto. One is Spanish-Chinese and the other Chinese-Spanish. These dictionaries contained a detailed discussion of Chinese accents, pronunciations, idioms, etc.
After the termination of World War II, China and Spain, both being in the vanguard of fighting against Communism and aggression, have aligned themselves together and become great friends of a common faith and destiny. On June 28, 1952 the diplomatic missions of the two countries in Madrid and Taipei were elevated from the ranks of legations to those of embassies. On February 19, 1953, China and Spain signed a new treaty of amity. Two weeks later, Spanish Foreign Minister Alberto Martin Artajo accepted the invitation of the Chinese Government and paid an official visit to China, thus fully demonstrating the friendship and solidarity between the two peoples.
In November, 1952, and in February, 1957, Dr. George K.C. Yeh, then Foreign Minister of the Republic of China, made two visits to Spain, the first in return for that of Minister Artajo and the second for the signing of the Sino-Spanish Cultural Convention. The present Foreign Minister, Mr. Huang Shao-ku, paid his visit to Spain in November of last year. These visits, coupled with the signing of a trade agreement in 1956, have clearly demonstrated that the cordial relations between the two countries have been strengthened in the political, economic and cultural fields.
At present, there are organizations in the Republic of China and Spain for the promotion of cultural exchange between the two countries, such as the Sino-Spanish Cultural and Economic Association in Taipei and "the San Francisco Xavier's College for Oriental Students" in Madrid. Foreign Minister Yeh presented on behalf of the Chinese Government a complete set of the "History of 25 Dynasties in China" to an educational institution in Spain while the Spanish Embassy has also held exhibitions of Spanish paintings and motion pictures in Taipei. The Voice of Free China has had exchange pro grams with the Spanish National Broadcasting Station in Madrid. Through the generous grants made by the Spanish Government and the Catholic Church in Madrid, there are now about 60 Chinese students who are enabled to continue their studies in the various academic institutions. A plan for the exchange of professors and students of the two countries is being worked out and it is hoped that it can be put into practice in the near future. These cultural activities have served as a spiritual and intellectual bridge between the two peoples who have rallied together in their common struggle against Communism. I can still recall that four years ago when the tape recording made by the Spanish Broadcasting Station was played here, the opening words of the announcer were: "The sound of this tape recording carries the heart of the Spanish people to China." This sentiment is fully reciprocated by the Chinese people.
Ladies and Gentlemen, from the above recitation of the history of cultural relations between Spain and China, and in view of their identity of world political outlook, I am confident that the bonds of friendship and understanding will become ever closer between the two peoples in the future. In my new assignment at Madrid. I pledge to do my utmost to contribute to that strengthened friendship and understanding in all phases of their relations.
Before I close, I must tell my fellow members of this Club how regrettable it is for my wife and myself to leave Taipei and the many friends we have in this Club. We sincerely hope that we may have the pleasure of greeting many of our friends who may come to Spain for a visit. You may rest assured that you will be accorded a warm and ready welcome at the Chinese Embassy in Madrid. As we bid you farewell, we convey to you once again our heartfelt appreciation for your kind hospitality this evening and our best wishes for every success in the endeavors of the American University Club.
Editor's Note—This is the text of a speech delivered by His Excellency Shen Chang-huan, Ambassador-designate to Spain, at the American University Club on May 6, 1959.