Response: In a general sense, the Jesuits are being accused of holding to false or dangerous religious doctrines and teaching a version of astronomy that is unacceptable. Their beliefs and teachings are all the more problematic, according to their critics, because they are spreading rapidly throughout Ming society.
 

Response: In Hsu's opinion laws and punishments reach only the outer man, so to speak. Just because a person is behaving correctly in an outward sense, Hsu would have it, does not mean that inwardly he is not corrupt. In order transform his subjects into law-abiding people the Wanli emperor should have resort to Christian teachings and doctrines Hsu argues. He states that while the doctrines of the Buddhists and Rationalists (Daoists) have not improved things in China, those of the Jesuits will as evidenced by the incredibly peaceful existence led by Europeans (here Hsu is obviously exaggerating or in ignorance of reality, for Europe was never the paradise that he described).
 

Response: As noted in the previous response, Hsu's depiction of Europe as a peaceful and edenic region is simply incorrect. Any number of conflicts that were unfolding even as Hsu was writing (such as the opening acts of the Thirty Year's War) prove him to be wrong in his assessment of Europe.
 

Response: Hsu's critique of the Buddhists and the Rationalists amounts to saying "they have had their chance to show their loyalty to you (the emperor) and to improve obedience to the laws and failed." For seventeen years according to Hsu both groups have enjoyed the support of the Wanli emperor and nothing has really changed, in part because they are more loyal to the interests of their respective religious groups than to the emperor.
 

Response: First, the Jesuits should be supported solely by the Chinese government so that they cannot be influenced by European merchants. Second, in the places where the Jesuits reside, the magistrate should have companies of ten or twenty families pledge to monitor the behavior of the Jesuits. If they fail, then they and the Jesuits will be punished. If they find the Jesuits misbehaving and report it the magistrates must investigate. Third, magistrates may at any time make investigations into the teachings of the Jesuits operating in their area and keep a list of their disciples' behavior, thereby tracking the effectiveness of Christian doctrines in personal reformation.
 

Response: Hsu recommends three methods of examination: 1) a translation and examination by the scholar-gentry (literati) of the standard works brought to China from the West, with a special study of each major area of knowledge to be drawn up and examined for appropriateness; 2) a debate among the Jesuits, the Buddhists, and the Taoists/Daoists; and 3) an examination by the emperor's courtiers of Christian doctrine as promulgated by the Jesuits.
 

Response: By modern standards the Wanli emperor is not terribly tolerant. Amnesty International would certainly view the actions proposed by Hsu as infringing on human rights. By the standards of the early modern period, however, the Wanli emperor is clearly tolerant. He has within his realm, Christians, Muslims, Daoists, and Buddhists in addition to adherents of Neo-Confucian thought. In Europe, by contrast, only one state even approached this level of tolerance, the Dutch Republic, which we would now call the Netherlands.