|
 
Two 16th-Century Jesuits
& the 'Asian' Origin
of
all First Americans
Sixteenth-century
Spanish cartography showed Asia connected to the Americas by a fictitious
land bridge or referred to it with names like 'Cathay', 'Asia Magna' or
'Asia Orientalis' written on maps of America. Today, such political land
bridge cartography is still regarded to have been a result of ignorance,
despite the fact that the principles of realistic cartography had been
known since 1507. The ways that the Jesuits José de Acosta (1540-1600)
and Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) used these contradictory cartographic traditions
lend new insights into their respective political backgrounds. Interestingly,
the impact of some of these Renaissance concepts on today's sciences brought
along some unexpected surprises.
* By HELGA GEMEGAH
Matteo Ricci and José de Acosta are
considered to have been experts in their respective fields of mission,
Asia for Ricci and America for Acosta. Both men dealt with the geography
of the Americas and of Asia, but their viewpoints reveal some essential
differences, which show that their respective approaches depended on pre-existing
cartographic traditions.
José
de Acosta:
Fictitious
cartography
In 1590, the Spanish Jesuit Acosta wrote that animals and
the First Americans had, in several migrations, walked across a land bridge
from Asia. His concepts, thought to be based on empirical data, are still
cited in research into the peopling of the Americas. A closer look, however,
shows that Acosta borrowed the land bridge concept from previous Spanish
political cartography. Land bridge cartography has to be seen in the context
of the Bula Intercaetera
of 1493, which declared territories to the west of the Atlantic demarcation
line to belong to Spain. If connected to the Americas, Asia would thus
become a Spanish possession (Gemegah 1999:107).
A century of Spanish and Habsburg land bridge concepts is
represented by the following maps showing Asia as part of the Americas.
-- In a 1521 map by Bartolomeo Colón or Zorzi, a
coastal line in the Caribbean connected 'Mondo Novo' to Asia (Bagrow 1985:Fig.
28).
-- In a 1542 map by Caspar Vopel, America and Asia were
shown united on a single land mass. 'Asia Orientalis' and 'Cathay' are
written near 'Hispania Nova', turning China and Mexico into neighbours.
An interesting detail on Vopel's map is the omission of the Pacific Ocean.
-- Van den Putte's map from 1570 showed a realistic outline
of America and Asia, with the oceans indubitably present, but with Asian
names like 'Asia Orientalis' or 'Cathay' appearing on the North American
continent. Habsburg emperor Charles V was depicted seated on a throne
in the Caribbean while regarding 'his' united Amerasian territory. Charles
V stated that China was not separated from America by an ocean and that
therefore the western lands extended as far as China, which thus became
Spanish territory.
These were the geographical precursors (Gemegah 1999: 95;
figs. 8, 9, 10) for Acosta's migration concept. Acosta also denied overseas
contacts between America and other continents prior to Spanish 'discoveries',
thus precluding claims of other European countries on the Americas. This,
however, means that Acosta's fictitious concepts about the origin of the
First Americans functioned to propagate Spanish political strategies.
Matteo
Ricci: Realistic cartography
In contrast to his colleague Acosta, the Roman Jesuit Matteo Ricci
depicted America and Asia as two continents. Precursors of Ricci's 1584
world map were realistic maps like that by Martin Waldseemüller,
dated 1507, that showed the Americas as separated from the 'Old World'
by both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. In this context, Waldseemüller's
map is especially significant, because not only is it one of the first
maps to carry the name 'America', but it also contradicts Spanish claims
to Asia. The selection of Amerigo Vespucci's first name instead of Columbus's
was probably not erroneous, but, in the context of the land bridge cartography,
rather a reasoned criticism of Spanish 'claims' on Asia (Gemegah 1999:
89). As it stands, Spain's early interests in Asia are generally underestimated.
The fact that Columbus had not departed for the so-called New World
but, instead, had left for Asia with a letter for the Khan
is often ignored. Columbus's failure to reach Asia was transformed into
the pseudo-success of 'discovering the New World'.
 Waldseemüller,
Martin, Worldmap of 1507, on deposit in the Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C.;
reproduction from a facsimile Waldburg-Wolfegg) of the 'Cosmographia
Mundi' 1507
COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.,
USA.
On his world map, Ricci separated the continents, placing
the Pacific Ocean in the centre of the map, accentuated by carefully painted
ocean waves. By means of emphasizing the distance and the waters, Ricci
hoped to show that neither animals nor mankind could have 'walked' from
Asia to America (Gemegah 1999, 90; 224).
Accommodation
or 'Conquista' of China?
Matteo Ricci is known for his peaceful missionary work in
China and accommodation to Chinese culture. José de Acosta was
involved in debates about Spanish invasion plans of South China and he
suggested a gradual military build-up near China (Gemegah, 2000a). He
recommended forcing the Chinese '... to permit preaching and conversion
and if they were to put up total resistance and if moderate punishment
would not make them surrender, it would be permissable to pursue the war
further, using all forces, and to fight to conquer China' (Translated
from: Acosta, 1587). Ricci's and Acosta's missionary aspirations in Asia
were as different as their geographical descriptions of Asia (Gemegah
1999:184).
Ales Hrdlicka
After four hundred years of uncritical Acosta reception,
a scientist with strong influence on the research into the peopling of
the Americas, the physical anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka (18691943),
introduced Acosta's concepts into modern sciences. Hrdlicka was convinced
that 'a remarkably sensible opinion on the subject of the origin of the
American Indians is met with as early as 1590, in the book of Padre Acosta,
one of the best informed of the earlier authorities on America' (Hrdlicka
1935:2).
True to Acosta's concepts, Hrdlicka claimed that all First
Americans had come walking from Asia, strictly rejecting investigations
contradicting Acosta's concepts. Such rejection led to the obstruction
of scientific alternatives and to the ongoing disputes about the peopling
of the Americas, which are symptomatic of the fact that vital questions
concerning dates and places of origin are still being suppressed.
Did all
First Americans arrive from Asia?
Land bridge cartography served Spanish expansionist ambitions
already long before Acosta's time. He only added the 'migration' aspect.
Ricci's map and his accommodation method clearly stood in opposition to
Spanish expansion and its justification. Acosta's and Ricci's contrasting
concepts about Asia and America are interesting examples of early European
conflicts regarding the Far East.
In spite of Ricci's realistic cartography, Acosta's land
bridge and migration concepts survived the test of time. In research on
the peopling of the Americas, the idea of an external, Asian origin of
all First Americans is still the predominant conviction. If it were not
for the impact of Acosta's concept on many scientists, above all on Ales
Hrdlicka, the idea of all First Americans 'walking' from Asia would not
be defended so fiercely. The Acosta-Hrdlicka-dogma is turning the question
of possible autochthonous American origins into a scientific taboo (Gemegah
2000b, in print). There have certainly always been migrations in Beringia,
but these should no longer be permitted to serve as an explanation for
the presence of all inhabitants of the Americas, least of all South America.
The impact of Acosta's outdated concepts on science is a destructive one,
as their uncritical reception in archaeology, physical anthropology, ethnology,
or genetics makes research results unreliable and questionable, as long
as valuable data, exact measurements, and empirical details are interpreted
within the framework of this Renaissance fiction. *
References
Acosta, José de, Historia
Natural y Moral de las Indias, Sevilla (1590).
Gemegah, Helga, Die
Theorie des spanischen Jesuiten José de Acosta über den Ursprung
der indianischen Völker aus Asien,Dissertation, English
summary, Peter Lang: Frankfurt, (1999),
ISBN 3-63134862-2
Hrdlicka, Ales , Melanesians
and Australians and the peopling of America, Smithsonian Miscellaneous
Collections, Vol. 94, Nr. 11, Washington (1935), p. 2.
Ricci, Matteo,
Mappamondo, (1584), Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome.
Van den Putte, (1571), Herzog-August-Bibliothek,
Wolfenbüttel.
Waldseemüller, Martin, Worldmap
of 1507, 1507), on deposit in the Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C.; reproduction from a facsimile (Waldburg-Wolfegg) of the 'Cosmographia
Mundi' 1507.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the DFG for supporting my visit
to the Papers of Ales Hrdlicka, NAA, Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
D.C., and my paper at 50th ICA, Warsaw, Poland. Thanks to
Douglas Ubelaker, Smithsonian Institution, for the guidance to Ales
Hrdlicka's world of Physical Anthropology.
Editors'
Note: The author presented this research at the ICAS 2 in Berlin, 9-12
August 2001, in a poster presention with the title, 'Asia and America
as seen by the Jesuits José de Acosta and Matteo Ricci'.
 Dr
Helga Gemegah (née Spatz): holds a MA in Sinology from
University of Hamburg and a PhD in Romance studies from University of
Bremen. She is part-time lecturer at Mesoamerican Studies, Hamburg. Her
research interests include Oriental Studies, Ancient American Cultures,
Archaeology and History of Science.
|