Christóvão Ferreira (English spelling)

His Japanese name was Sawano Chuan. He was a former missionary. He was born in Gibraltar, Portugal, and joined the Society of Jesus in 1596. He came to Japan around 1609 (Keicho 14), and engaged in missionary work mainly in Kamigata (upper part of Japan), including Kyoto and Osaka, and in 1632 (Kan'ei 9) he became the head of the Society's Japanese province. While hiding in Nagasaki during the persecution of Christians, he was captured in 1633, and after being subjected to the brutal torture of being hung in a hole, he was unable to bear it and renounced his faith. He later became a Portuguese interpreter for the shogunate under the name Sawano Chuan, and also cooperated with the religious reform carried out to search for Christians, earning him the nickname "Meeting Chuan." In addition to writing "Kenjyoroku" (1636), a book attacking Christians, he also wrote "Tenmon Biyō" (1644), which introduced Western medicine and astronomy to Japan during the period of national isolation, and "Hidenobu Surgery in Southern Barbarians," laying the foundation for the development of Dutch studies.

[Tatsunori Isomi February 16, 2018]

"History of Western Studies in Nagasaki" by Jujiro Koga (1966, Nagasaki Bunkensha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本名沢野忠庵(さわのちゅうあん)。転び伴天連(バテレン)。ポルトガルのジブレイラに生まれ、1596年イエズス会に入会。1609年（慶長14）ごろ来日し、京都、大坂など上方(かみがた)を中心に布教活動を行い、1632年（寛永9）同会日本管区長となる。キリスト教迫害下の長崎に潜伏中、1633年に捕らえられ、過酷な穴吊(づ)りの拷問にあって、耐えきれず棄教した。その後、沢野忠庵の名で幕府のポルトガル通詞(つうじ)となり、またキリシタン検索のために行われた宗門改(あらため)に協力して、「目明し忠庵」とよばれた。キリシタン排撃の書である『顕偽録』（1636）を著したほか、鎖国下の日本に西洋医学や天文学を伝えた『天文備用』（1644）、『南蛮外科秘伝書』などがあり、蘭学(らんがく)発展の基礎をつくった。

［磯見辰典　2018年2月16日］

『古賀十二郎著『長崎洋学史』（1966・長崎文献社）』

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