A Manchu, Ying became interested in Catholicism after reading Zhu Zhi Qun Zheng (An Essay on Church Order) by Johann Adam Schall von Bell. He was also interested in the study of other religions in China. In 1888, Ying became a member of the Catholic Church. In 1901, he was busy preparing the launching of a newspaper called Da Gong Bao in Nanjing, and on 17 Jul 1902, the first issue of the paper was published. From that year to 1916, Ying was the main person responsible for the newspaper and the author of many controversial articles published therein.
In 1912, along with his friend Ma Xiang Bo, he petitioned the Vatican to open a Catholic university in China. In 1917, he published Quan Xie Zui Yan, in which he sharply criticized the haughty attitude of missionaries from foreign countries who despised Chinese Christians. In 1925, he became chairman of the Fu Jen Society, the forerunner of Fu Jen University. He assisted Ben Du Hui in the founding of Fu Jen University.
Attribution
This article is reproduced, with permission, from A Dictionary of Asian Christianity, copyright © 2001 by Scott W. Sunquist, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan. All rights reserved.
Sources
- Boorman, Howard L., ed., A Biographical Dictionary of Republican China, Vo. 4 (1974). Fang Hao, comp., Ying Lien-chi hsien-sheng jih-chi yi-kao, 3 vols. (1974). Hayhoe, Ruth, "A Chinese Catholic Philosophy of Higher Education in Republican China," Tripod 48 (Dec 1988).
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