RICCI, Matteo Lìmǎdòu 利玛窦 1552–1610 Missionary and Scholar

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RICCI, Matteo Lìmǎdòu 利玛窦 1552–1610 Missionary and scholar

A missionary respected for his expert knowledge After years as a missionary apprentice inPortuguese- of China and the West, Matteo Ricci was the first controlled Goa, Ricci was selected by Valignano to join Jesuit to live in Beijing. His deep understanding Michele Ruggieri (1543–1607) in the conversion of China and tolerance for Chinese beliefs aided his mis- through the accommodation method. Ricci first entered China in 1583. He was allowed to reside in Beijing in 1601, sionary work and allowed for a greater accep- where he died. Ricci’s tomb can still be found in Beijing tance of Catholicism among his converts. today (12 Maweigou Road, Fuchengmen district). Ricci reached Beijing as an expert in both Chinese and Western knowledge (xixue). In dress and lifestyle, in atteo Ricci (Li Madou) was the first Jesuit to all but his celibate state, Ricci had followed the model of reside in Beijing. Among his converts were a Chinese scholar and gentleman since 1594. He had also noted Chinese scholars such as Xu Guangqi. memorized the Confucian canon and had demonstrated Using Allessandro Valignano’s (1539–1606) accommo- a deep understanding of Chinese literary style and argu- dation method, which demanded missionaries to show ment in his publications Tianzhushiyi (The true Meaning of respect of local cultures, Ricci paved the way for genera- the Lord of Heaven) and Jiaoyoulun (Treatise on Friendship, tions of Jesuit scholar-missionaries, with their technical 1596). He had created the first world map mappomondo( expertise in mathematics and astronomy, to serve the in Italian, kunyu wanguo quantu in Chinese) with China Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and Qing dynasty (1644–1912) at its center, which had been widely copied and distrib- governments. To this day Ricci’s name stands for a cross- uted. He had also translated the Greek geometer Euclid cultural dialogue based on mutual understanding and re- into Chinese and introduced his teacher Clavius as the spect in both China and the West. Renaissance Euclid. He impressed his friends with inven- Born in Mazzerata, Italy, in 1552, Ricci joined the Jesuit tions such as the astrolabe (an instrument used to observe order in 1571. At the Collegio Romano he received an edu- and calculate the position of celestial bodies before the in- cation in theology, the sciences, and the humanities repre- vention of the sextant). A gift of two clocks that struck on sentative of the broad interests of the Renaissance period. the hour, a painting that used the technique of perspec- Among his teachers and subsequent friends was the math- tive (unused by Chinese artists at the time), and a musi- ematician Christopher Clavius, designer of the Grego- cal instrument called a spinet gained him access to the rian calendar. Clavius’s course in mathematics included emperor and the palace. Through his openness, wisdom, its practical application in astronomy and timekeeping, and integrity Ricci won the trust of educated Chinese at geography and surveying, optics and music—skills that a time when the weakened state of the Ming government, greatly enhanced Ricci’s reputation in China. paired with foreign military encroachment, strengthened

An historic print show- ing the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci (left) and the Chinese scholar Xu Guangqi (right). Ricci was the first Jesuit to reside in Beijing, and Xu Guangqi was among his first converts. To this day Ricci’s name stands for a cross- cultural dialogue based on mutual understanding and respect in both China and the West. Printed in 1669 by John Macock for Johannes Nieuhof (1618– 1672), author of An em- bassy from the East-India Company of the United provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham, emperour of China. Collection of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Li- brary, Yale University.

xenophobic tendencies. Most of his friends and converts presented Catholicism and Western learning, particularly among the literati had ties to the tonglin group striving for mathematics and astronomy, as an organic whole capable government reforms. of supplanting Chinese accomplishments in philosophy Ricci’s contributions to Catholic missions in China and science. He was also committed to the basic tenet are manifold. Limiting his association with Portuguese of the accommodation method: that missionary work and Spanish colonial settlements while in China allowed needed to understand and respect Chinese culture. Care- him to present his missionary work in the light of cultural ful interpretation of Chinese texts allowed him to claim exchange rather than as part of colonial conquest. Ricci an early Chinese monotheism. He thus presented Catholic

Ricci’s claims of an early Chinese monotheism and his tolerance toward Chinese ancestral rites have been Complementing disputed to this day and fueled the Rites Controversy. Confucianism While Ricci and many Jesuits considered the ancestral rites to be civic, representatives of the mendicant orders, “Lettere dalla China” is a note written by Jesuit mis- Benedictines, and Franciscans saw them as religious and sionary Matteo Ricci in the early seventeeth century. therefore incompatible with Catholic practices. But Ric- Later a British missionary translated it from Italian ci’s integrative approach led to the baptism of several im- into Latin and added material concerning the his- portant scholar-officials whose patronage allowed Ricci, tory of missionary work as well as of Matteo Ricci. Chinese Christians from all social classes, and future One passage in the book reads as follows: Catholic missionaries—even those from mendicant orders highly critical of Jesuit missionary techniques—to n answering what the main content of Christian- evangelize and weather the storms of repeated persecu- Iity is, Dr. Xu Guangqi [one of Ricci’s converts] tions in relative safety. sums it up very exactly in four Chinese characters: “expelling Buddhism and complementing Con- Lydia GERBER fucianism” (去佛补儒 qù fó buˇ rú). That is to say, he wants to expel the idol of Buddhism and add Further Reading something to the doctrines of Confucianism. Brockey, L. M. (2008). Journey to the east. The Jesuit mis- Source: Ricci, M. (n. d.). Lettere dalla China, Retrieved March 16, 2009 from http://www.crvp.org/book/series03/ sion to China, 1579–1724. Cambridge, MA, London: iii-3/chapter_xi__the_attempt_of_matte.htm Belknap Press. Kim, Sangkeun. (2005).Strange names of God. The missionary translation of the divine name and the Chinese responses to Matteo Ricci’s Shangti in late Ming China, 1 5 8 3 – 1 6 4 4 . (Studies in biblical literature; 70). New Christianity as both a continuation and a restoration of York: Peter Lang Publishing. Chinese traditional thought and offered a way to integrate Rule, P. A. (1987). K’ung- tzu or Confucius. The Jesuit inter- Chinese Confucian learning into Catholicism. He was, pretation of Confucianism. Sydney, London, and Bos- however, highly critical of contemporary neo-Confucian ton: Unwin Hyman. Sebes, J. (1984). The summary review of Matteo Ricci’s thought and Chinese Buddhism. Ricci believed in gradual T ’ i e n - c h u s h i h - y i i n t h e S s u - k ’ u c h ’ ü a n - s h u t s u n g - change. Examination of the ritual practices surrounding mu t’i yao. Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu 53, the commemoration of personal ancestors and of China’s 3 7 1 – 3 9 3 . philosopher Confucius convinced Ricci that converts Spence, J. D. (1985). The memory palace of Matteo Ricci. could participate in such ritual practices with slight mod- New York: Penguin. ifications. Wherever he stayed he won converts from all Trigault, N. (1953). China in the sixteenth century: The social classes, starting Catholic congregations in cities journals of Matteo Ricci, 1583–1610. Louis J. Gallagher such as Zhaoqing, Nanchang, and Nanjing. (Trans.). New York: Random House.

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