Matteo Ricci

Author : Mary Laven
Publisher : Faber & Faber
Page : 297 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2011-02-17
Category : History
ISBN : 9780571271788

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Mission to China by Mary Laven Pdf

In the sixteenth century, the vast and sophisticated empire of China lay almost entirely unknown to Western travellers. As global trade expanded, this land of reputedly boundless wealth, pale-faced women, and indecipherable tongues began to feed the fantasies of European merchants and adventurers. The Catholic Church, meanwhile, saw in this great people millions of souls who would be damned unless the Christian message could be brought to them. In this book, Mary Laven tells the extraordinary story of the first Jesuit mission to China. Confronting enormous challenges, the Italian priest Matteo Ricci and a tiny handful of learned companions travelled thousands of miles from southern Europe to the very heart of the empire. In 1601, they gained permission from the notoriously xenophobic Wanli emperor to settle in the fabled Forbidden City. Living among eunuchs and mandarins, wearing the clothes and reading the books of Confucian scholars, Ricci and his associates strove to master the language and culture of their hosts. At the same time, they energetically preached the virtues of Western art and science. What were the motives of the carpenters and boatmen, the mothers, fathers and children who burned their idols and were cleansed with the waters of baptism? Mary Laven tries to answer these questions, as she brings this remote world vividly to life.

Author : Xiping Zhang
Publisher : 五洲传播出版社
Page : 180 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : China
ISBN : 750850982X

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Following the Steps of Matteo Ricci to China by Xiping Zhang Pdf

Author : Michela Fontana
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Page : 338 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2011-05-16
Category : History
ISBN : 9781442205888

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Matteo Ricci by Michela Fontana Pdf

Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), the first of the early Jesuit missionaries of the China mission, is widely considered the most outstanding cultural mediator of all time between China and the West. This engrossing and fluid book offers a thorough, knowledgeable biography of this fascinating and influential man, telling a deeply human and captivating story that still resonates today. Michela Fontana traces Ricci's travels in China in detail, providing a rich portrait of Ming China and the growing importance of cultural exchanges between China and the West. She shows how Ricci incorporated his ideas of "cultural accommodation" into both his life and his writings aimed at the Chinese elite. Her biography is the first to highlight Ricci's immensely important scientific work and that of key Christian converts, such as Xu Guangqi, who translated Euclid's Elements together with Ricci. Exploring the history of science in China and the West as well as their dramatically different cultural attitudes toward religious and philosophical issues, Michela Fontana introduces not only Ricci's life but the first significant encounter between Western and Chinese civilizations.

Author : R. Po-chia Hsia
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2010-10-28
Category : History
ISBN : 9780191625114

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A Jesuit in the Forbidden City by R. Po-chia Hsia Pdf

A 16th century Italian Jesuit, Matteo Ricci was the founder of the Catholic Mission in China and one of the most famous missionaries of all time. A pioneer in bringing Christianity to China, Ricci spent twenty eight years in the country, in which time he crossed the cultural divides between China and the West by immersing himself in the language and culture of his hosts. Even 400 years later, he is still one of the best known westerners in China, celebrated for introducing western scientific and religious ideas to China and for explaining Chinese culture to Europe. The first critical biography of Ricci to use all relevant sources, both Chinese and Western, A Jesuit in the Forbidden City tells the story of a remarkable life that bridged Counter-Reformation Catholic Europe and China under the Ming dynasty. Hsia follows the life of Ricci from his childhood in Macerata, through his education in Rome, to his sojourn in Portuguese India, before the start of his long journey of self-discovery and cultural encounter in the Ming realm. Along the way, we glimpse the workings of the Portuguese maritime empire in Asia, the mission of the Society of Jesus, and life in the European enclave of Macau on the Chinese coast, as well as invaluable sketches of Ricci's fellow Jesuits and portraits of the Chinese mandarins who formed networks indispensible for Ricci's success. Examining a range of new sources, Hsia offers important new insights into Ricci's long period of trial and frustration in Guangdong province, where he first appeared in the persona of a foreign Buddhist monk, before the crucial move to Nanchang in 1595 that led to his sustained intellectual conversation with a leading Confucian scholar and subsequent synthesis of Christianity and Confucianism in propagating the Gospels in China. With his expertise in cartography, mathematics, and astronomy, Ricci quickly won recognition, especially after he had settled in Nanjing in 1598, the southern capital of the Ming dynasty. As his reputation and friendships grew, Ricci launched into a sharp polemic against Buddhism, while his career found its crowning achievement in the imperial capital of Beijing, leaving behind a life, work, and legacy that is still very much alive today.

Author : Ronnie Po-Chia Hsia
Publisher : Hackett Publishing
Page : 166 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2016-02-11
Category : History
ISBN : 9781624664342

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Matteo Ricci and the Catholic Mission to China, 1583–1610 by Ronnie Po-Chia Hsia Pdf

"Here at last is the text that many college teachers of Chinese, Asian, and world history have been waiting for: an accessible collection of primary sources on the life of the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci and the Catholic mission that he helped establish in China. Ricci's missionary career indeed constituted a key moment in modern history, for it was through his examples and recommendations that the Jesuits in China collectively adopted an accommodative approach to Chinese culture and embarked on various projects of cultural translation that resulted in the first wave of sustained interactions between Chinese and European civilizations. Instructors and students alike will benefit greatly from Hsia's lucid introduction, which sets Ricci's life story against the broader background of Portuguese Asia, Catholic renewal, and late Ming China; the pithy, informative introductory statements preceding each document; a chronological chart of major relevant events; and an excellent annotated bibliography of primary and secondary sources in multiple languages. This is a very affordable text produced at the highest academic standards." —Qiong Zhang, Associate Professor of History, Wake Forest University

Author : Jonathan D. Spence
Publisher : Quercus Books
Page : 350 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Jesuits
ISBN : 1847243444

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The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan D. Spence Pdf

In 1577 a Jesuit priest named Matteo Ricci set out from Italy on a long journey to bring the Christian faith and Western thought to Ming dynasty China. He spent time in India and Macao before entering China in 1583 to undertake mission work. Travelling widely, Ricci learned local languages, mastered Chinese classical script, drew the first-ever map of the world in Chinese and acquired a rich appreciation of the indigenous culture of his hosts. In 1596 Ricci wrote a short book in Chinese on the art of memory for the governor of Jiangxi province, who was preparing his three sons for China's demanding civil service examinations. In it he described a 'memory palace' in which to hold knowledge such as might help the three brothers and their peers in the Ming social elite to pass their exams with flying colours. Ricci must have hoped that, in gratitude to him for instructing them in mnemonic skills, they would use their newly won prestige to further the cause of the Catholic Church in China. To capture the complex emotional and religious drama of Ricci's life, author Jonathan Spence relates the missionary's experiences via a series of images. Four of these images derive from events described in the Bible, the others from Ricci's book on the art of memory that was circulated among members of the Ming dynasty elite. A rich and compelling narrative about a remarkable life, The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci is also a significant work of global history, juxtaposing the world of Counter-Reformation Europe with that of Ming China.

Author : Vincent Cronin
Publisher : Ignatius Press
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2016
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781621640042

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The Wise Man from the West by Vincent Cronin Pdf

This is the amazing story of the famous Jesuit missionary priest to China, Fr. Matteo Ricci, revered as a "Wise Man" by the Chinese. He arrived in China in 1582 and died there twenty-eight years later, having developing a deep knowledge of and love for the country, the culture and the people. Before Ricci's heroic mission, China was an unexplored land bordering on the vague, mysterious Cathay, and the West was no more than a rumor to the learned Mandarins, a distant unknown region lying beyond the bounds of geography. In the person of Father Ricci these two worlds met, and Vincent Cronin dramatically recreates the romance, the crossed purposes, the potential tragedy of that meeting. He shows us ancient China, the timeless state, with a civilization older than that wherein Christianity first found expression. Because Ricci loved this civilization and honored it, he was able to teach his strange new Christian doctrine with tact and sympathy. He carried much of the technological and philosophical wisdom of the late Renaissance Europe, and thus found favor among the Mandarins, the men of learning who enjoyed high status at the Imperial Court. He learned Chinese to discuss with them the problems in science and technology, and also questions of religion and the hereafter. He lived as a great scholar among great scholars and left behind him a memory worthy of the Christian faith he served. Well researched and written with an enchanting style, Cronin relied almost entirely on contemporary material only recently assembled, including Father Ricci's own letters and reports, and his account of China written in Peking before his death. The seed of Faith was sown and the crop, even after a century of atheistic communism, continues to grow in present-day China.

Author : Matteo Ricci
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 188 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2009-09-17
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780231520287

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On Friendship by Matteo Ricci Pdf

"On Friendship, with its total of one hundred sayings, is the perfect gift for friends." Feng Yingjing, renowned scholar and civic official, 1601 Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) is best known as the Italian Jesuit missionary who brought Christianity to China. He also published a landmark text on friendship the first book to be written in Chinese by a European that instantly became a late Ming best seller. On Friendship distilled the best ideas on friendship from Renaissance Latin texts into one hundred pure and provocative Chinese maxims. Written in a masterful classical style, Ricci's sayings established his reputation as a great sage and the sentiments still ring true. Available for the first time in English, On Friendship matches a carefully edited Chinese text with a facing-page English translation and includes notes on sources and biographical, historical, and cultural information. Still admired in China for its sophistication and inspirational wisdom, On Friendship is a delightful cross-cultural work by a crucial and fascinating historical figure. It is also an excellent tool for learning Chinese, pairing a superb model of the classical language with an accessible and accurate translation.

Author : Nicole Gregory
Publisher : Barbera Foundation
Page : 172 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2024-06-23
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Defying Danger by Nicole Gregory Pdf

The Forbidden City—home to the opium-addicted Ming Dynasty emperor and protected by thousands of ruthless eunuchs—no European had ever been inside. Would a simple Jesuit priest be the first? Armed with a homemade clock, a wealth of patience, and an uncompromising drive to share his faith with a new people, Father Matteo Ricci would overcome one barrier only to be met by another: treacherous seas, a complex language, and a culture with an unshakable mistrust of foreigners and rooted in the teachings of Buddha and Confucius.In sharing European understanding of astronomy, Ricci garnered the respect of the Chinese and despite the urgency he felt to talk about his beliefs, he tread carefully and respectfully, adopting their ways rather than imposing his own. He was one of the first Westerners to speak and read Mandarin and compiled the first Chinese-Western dictionary. By translating Greek mathematics texts into Chinese and Confucian works into Latin, as well as drawing the first world map with Chinese characters, Ricci forged a path for future scholars, explorers, and missionaries.

Author : R. Po-chia Hsia
Publisher : Hackett Publishing Company
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2016
Category : Missionaries
ISBN : 1624664334

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Matteo Ricci and the Catholic Mission to China, 1583-1610 by R. Po-chia Hsia Pdf

Portuguese Asia -- Catholic renewal -- Ming China -- Matteo Ricci -- Ricci in our time.

Author : Laura Hostetler
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 308 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2001-05-15
Category : History
ISBN : 0226354202

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Qing Colonial Enterprise by Laura Hostetler Pdf

In Qing Colonial Enterprise, Laura Hostetler shows how Qing China (1636-1911) used cartography and ethnography to pursue its imperial ambitions. She argues that far from being on the periphery of developments in the early modern period, Qing China both participated in and helped shape the new emphasis on empirical scientific knowledge that was simultaneously transforming Europe—and its colonial empires—at the time. Although mapping in China is almost as old as Chinese civilization itself, the Qing insistence on accurate, to-scale maps of their territory was a new response to the difficulties of administering a vast and growing empire. Likewise, direct observation became increasingly important to Qing ethnographic writings, such as the illustrated manuscripts known as "Miao albums" (from which twenty color paintings are reproduced in this book). These were intended to educate Qing officials about various non-Han peoples so that they could govern these groups more effectively.Hostetler's groundbreaking account will interest anyone studying the history of the early modern period and colonialism.

Author : Matteo Ricci
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 1985
Category : Electronic
ISBN : OCLC:695228248

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The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, T'ien-chu Shih-i by Matteo Ricci Pdf

Author : Sangkeun Kim
Publisher : Peter Lang
Page : 344 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : History
ISBN : 0820471305

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Strange Names of God by Sangkeun Kim Pdf

One of the most precarious and daunting tasks for sixteenth-century European missionaries in the cross-cultural mission frontiers was translating the name of «God» (Deus) into the local language. When the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) introduced the Chinese term Shangti as the semantic equivalent of Deus, he made one of the most innovative cross-cultural missionary translations. Ricci's employment of Shangti was neither a simple rewording of a Chinese term nor the use of a loan-word, but was indeed a risk-taking «identification» of the Christian God with the Confucian Most-High, Shangti. Strange Names of God investigates the historical progress of the semantic configuration of Shangti as the divine name of the Christian God in China by focusing on Chinese intellectuals' reaction to the strangely translated Chinese name of God.

Author : Laura Hostetler
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 429 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2024-02-06
Category : History
ISBN : 9789004684782

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Reimagining the Globe and Cultural Exchange: The East Asian Legacies of Matteo Ricci's World Map by Laura Hostetler Pdf

How did Asia come to be represented on European World maps? When and how did Asian Countries adopt a continental system for understanding the world? How did countries with disparate mapping traditions come to share a basic understanding and vision of the globe? This series of essays organized into sections on Jesuit Circuits of Communication and Publication; Jesuit World Maps in Chinese; Reverberations of Matteo Ricci's Maps in East Asia; and Reflections on the Curation of Cartographic Knowledge, go a long way toward answering these questions about the shaping of our modern understandings of the world.

Author : D. E. Mungello
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 418 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 1988-11-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0824812190

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Curious Land by D. E. Mungello Pdf

How the Jesuit accomodation to internal events in China laid the foundation for modern study of China in the West. First published as Studia Leibnitiana, Supplementa 25 (1985) by Fritz Steiner Verlag. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.