Matteo Ricci (left)

Map of the Far East by Matteo Ricci in 1602

Matteo Ricci (October 6 1552 - May 11 1610) was an Italian Jesuit priest whose missionary activity in China during the Ming Dynasty marked the beginning of modern Chinese Christianity. He is still recognized as one of the greatest missionaries to China. The church he built remains the largest Catholic church to survive the Cultural Revolution.

Ricci arrived in south China in 1582, and at Beijing in 1601, where he presented himself at the Imperial court of Wanli. Not only could he write in difficult ancient Chinese, he was also renowned for his great understanding of Chinese cultures.

Unlike missionaries in South Asia, he found that Chinese culture was strongly tied to Confucian values and concluded that Christianity had to be adapted to Chinese culture in order to take root. He called himself a Western Confucian (西儒). With the introduction of Western science and state-of-the-art gadgets like an automatic clock and a world atlas, he attracted the attention of some traditional Confucian literati and officials.

In a debate, he argued that Confucian ancestor worship was nothing more than the demonstration of remembrance and respect to ancestors: it was not a matter of paganism. His view was praised by Chinese scholars but disapproved of by other competing churches. Others argued that ancestor worship was a cult and had to be prohibited. Ironically, the long debate finally resulted in all Catholics being banned after Ricci's death. All missionary work went underground until the Opium War in 1841.

Ricci introduced many aspects of China to Europe, generally in a favorable light.

He died in Beijing and his contribution was fully recognized by the Emperor Wanli. He is buried in what is now the School of Beijing Municipal Committee. Life magazine named Ricci one of the 100 most important people of the last millennium.

See also: Religion in China

External link

• Matteo Ricci, S.J. (http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jmac/sj/scientists/ricci.htm)

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