@article{ART003331682},
author={Borum Kim and So-Yi Chung},
title={Wuji (無極) and Tianzhu (天主) – Juan Cobo’s Neo-Confucian Apologetics},
journal={탈경계인문학Trans-Humanities},
issn={2092-6081},
year={2026},
volume={19},
number={1},
pages={91-120},
doi={10.22901/trans.2026.19.1.91}
TY - JOUR
AU - Borum Kim
AU - So-Yi Chung
TI - Wuji (無極) and Tianzhu (天主) – Juan Cobo’s Neo-Confucian Apologetics
JO - 탈경계인문학Trans-Humanities
PY - 2026
VL - 19
IS - 1
PB - Ewha Institute for the Humanities: EIH
SP - 91
EP - 120
SN - 2092-6081
AB - This research investigates the structure and intellectual-historical significance of the Neo-Confucian apologetics developed by Dominican missionary Juan Cobo (1546/1547–1592) in his pioneering work, Wuji Tianzhu Zhengjiao Zhenchuan Shilu (無極天主正敎眞傳實錄), printed in the late 16th-century Philippines. Situating the text within the lineage of early Catholic literature in Chinese, this study analyzes how Cobo creatively adapted the translational legacy established by Michele Ruggieri’s Tianzhu Shilu (1584). The analysis demonstrates that, grounded in Thomistic realism, Cobo appropriated the core Neo-Confucian categories of Wuji (無極) and Taiji (太極) as ontological equivalents of the Creator. By utilizing them as strategic resources for demonstrating God's existence and Natural Theology, he articulated a philosophical universalism based on the principle of the "Singularity of Reason across the Civilized and the Barbarian" (Huayi yili, 華夷一理). Ultimately, this study elucidates the unique value of this singular instance of Neo-Confucian apologetics—which diverges from Matteo Ricci’s accommodationist model—while illuminating both the possibilities and the reductionist constraints of its bold attempt to ontologically synthesize Eastern and Western metaphysics.
KW - Juan Cobo; Wuji Tianzhu Zhengjiao Zhenchuan Shilu;Wuji (無極);Taiji (太極);Tianzhu (天主);Western Learning;Neo-Confucianism;Apologetics;Natural Theology
DO - 10.22901/trans.2026.19.1.91
ER -
Borum Kim and So-Yi Chung. (2026). Wuji (無極) and Tianzhu (天主) – Juan Cobo’s Neo-Confucian Apologetics. 탈경계인문학Trans-Humanities, 19(1), 91-120.
Borum Kim and So-Yi Chung. 2026, "Wuji (無極) and Tianzhu (天主) – Juan Cobo’s Neo-Confucian Apologetics", 탈경계인문학Trans-Humanities, vol.19, no.1 pp.91-120. Available from: doi:10.22901/trans.2026.19.1.91
Borum Kim, So-Yi Chung "Wuji (無極) and Tianzhu (天主) – Juan Cobo’s Neo-Confucian Apologetics" 탈경계인문학Trans-Humanities 19.1 pp.91-120 (2026) : 91.
Borum Kim, So-Yi Chung. Wuji (無極) and Tianzhu (天主) – Juan Cobo’s Neo-Confucian Apologetics. 2026; 19(1), 91-120. Available from: doi:10.22901/trans.2026.19.1.91
Borum Kim and So-Yi Chung. "Wuji (無極) and Tianzhu (天主) – Juan Cobo’s Neo-Confucian Apologetics" 탈경계인문학Trans-Humanities 19, no.1 (2026) : 91-120.doi: 10.22901/trans.2026.19.1.91
Borum Kim; So-Yi Chung. Wuji (無極) and Tianzhu (天主) – Juan Cobo’s Neo-Confucian Apologetics. 탈경계인문학Trans-Humanities, 19(1), 91-120. doi: 10.22901/trans.2026.19.1.91
Borum Kim; So-Yi Chung. Wuji (無極) and Tianzhu (天主) – Juan Cobo’s Neo-Confucian Apologetics. 탈경계인문학Trans-Humanities. 2026; 19(1) 91-120. doi: 10.22901/trans.2026.19.1.91
Borum Kim, So-Yi Chung. Wuji (無極) and Tianzhu (天主) – Juan Cobo’s Neo-Confucian Apologetics. 2026; 19(1), 91-120. Available from: doi:10.22901/trans.2026.19.1.91
Borum Kim and So-Yi Chung. "Wuji (無極) and Tianzhu (天主) – Juan Cobo’s Neo-Confucian Apologetics" 탈경계인문학Trans-Humanities 19, no.1 (2026) : 91-120.doi: 10.22901/trans.2026.19.1.91
