Biography
Matteo Ricci was born in Italy on October 6, 1552, and died in Peking, China, on May 11, 1610. He was a master of European humanism, pioneered relations between Europe and China, and began an unequaled synthesis of Christianity and Chinese culture.
In 1571 he entered the Jesuit Order, and in 1577 he left for Portugal to sail for the Jesuit missions in the Orient. When he reached Goa in 1578, China was still a kingdom sealed off from the Western World. However, in September of 1583, he and another Jesuit, Pempilio Ruggieri, adopted the garb of Buddhist monks and settled in China. In May, 1585 they dedicated a small church.
The Italian missionary’s apostolate of learning grew as he began to write a total of 20 volumes in Chinese on mathematics, apologetics, literature, popular catechetics. Word quickly spread about the new revelation of learning that was taking place at the Jesuit household. More importantly, the "western monks" were also revealing a new religious ideal.
Ricci’s scientific knowledge began to attract scholars from all over China. He demonstrated such wonders as Venetian prisms, European books, paintings and engravings, sundials, clocks, and map projections. The latter revolutionized China’s map-making and the image the Chinese had of their country’s size in relation to the world.
The focus of the Jesuit apostolate was on outstanding intellectuals. The ordinary people were tied to the thought patterns and decisions of their intellectual leaders. Ricci was convinced the masses would follow the lead of their scholars. And so, in 1589, Ricci, “Doctor from the Great West Ocean,” began wearing the ceremonial square bonnet and the silk robes of a Chinese scholar.
At the end of the Renaissance there was much euphoria about European culture and its contributions. Most people, statesmen, scholars, and churchmen included, were unable to appreciate the value of any other cultural forms. Most missionaries saw no conflict between bringing the cross of the Gospel in one hand and the conquering sword in the other.
In contrast, the Jesuits in the Chinese mission became revolutionaries in their concepts of missionizing. While Christianity had in its beginnings gone through enormous adaptation and accommodation to Jewish, Greek, and Roman cultures, the Church of Ricci’s time was unable to separate the essentials of the gospel from cultural accretions.
Jesuits in Japan had decided to import Portuguese, Latin, and Greek theological terms and introduce them phonetically to the Japanese language. The Chinese mission searched for theological synonyms in the Chinese language, altering their meaning, if necessary, through constant explanation.
Jesuits in China successfully petitioned the Vatican for permission to translate the Latin mass, breviary, and other rituals into Chinese. They won permission to use vestments that did not rely on the Roman basis of western vestments, but on the religious garb of Chinese worship.
After Ricci’s death, the Jesuits continued their missionary efforts. But the adaptations the Jesuits made in China were questioned severely by other missionizing groups and the Jesuits were expelled from China before their work reached full fruition. Not until the pleas of missions around the world reached the ears of Pope John XXIII three centuries later did the church offer such a radical respect or willingness to adapt to the local scene.
The grave of Matteo Ricci, outside the city walls of Peking, was the gift of the Emperor, the Son of Heaven, and was honored with imperial consecration. Famed “Li Mat’ou,” missionary scholar, has ever remained the most respected foreign figure in Chinese literature.