Starting from the Wanli era, Western learning began to spread among scholar-officials. Italian missionary Matteo Ricci played an indispensable role in this eastward transmission.
Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) was born in Macerata, in the Marche region of Italy, with his original name transliterated into Chinese as Matio Ricci, while Ricci is his Chinese name. At the age of ten, he entered a Jesuit boarding school in his hometown, and seven years later, his father sent him to Rome, where he studied law at the preparatory school of the Collegio di Sant'Andrea. His father initially hoped Ricci would achieve success in law, but Ricci defied his father's wishes; after three years of legal studies, he began studying humanities and sciences at the Jesuit-run Roman College, learning astronomy and mathematics from the mathematician Christopher Clavius. During this period, Ricci also mastered Latin and Greek and became proficient in Portuguese and Spanish.
At the age of twenty-six, Matteo Ricci received permission to travel to the Far East for missionary work. In the late spring of the following year, he arrived in Lisbon, Spain, and stayed at the Coimbra boarding school while waiting for a ship to India. In March of the next year, Ricci, along with fourteen other Jesuit missionaries, set sail from Lisbon, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, passed through Mozambique, and after enduring great hardships, finally arrived in September at Goa, India—the most important colony in Asia. After reaching Goa, Ricci continued his missionary work while also studying theology. Missionary work in India proved far more difficult than Ricci had imagined, but fortunately, the Jesuits' mission in Japan was progressing relatively smoothly, which encouraged him. During his four years in India, Ricci also studied the humanities and came to believe that Indians should be allowed to learn European culture, including philosophy, doctrine, and theology. He conveyed this idea to the Jesuit headquarters.
At that time, the Jesuit Visitor of the East was Alessandro Valignano, who was primarily responsible for sending Christian missionaries to China. However, due to the Ming Dynasty's policy of national seclusion, earlier missionaries could only remain in the Macau region and were unable to enter mainland China to preach. In the eighth year of the Wanli reign (1580), Matteo Ricci was recommended to Valignano by Father Michele Ruggieri and was ordained as a priest. In August of the tenth year of the Wanli reign, Ricci was summoned and arrived in Macau, thousands of miles from his homeland, beginning his attempts to enter mainland China to preach alongside Ruggieri.
The missionaries sought to "capture the hearts of the Chinese" by writing Catholic doctrines in Chinese, so after arriving in Macau, they all diligently studied the language. Matteo Ricci was no exception; when he first began learning Chinese, he found the characters utterly fascinating and developed a strong interest in them. During this time, Ricci happened to encounter the Japanese Tenshō embassy to Europe, and took the opportunity to learn a bit of Japanese as well.
In 1584, during the twelfth year of the Wanli era, Matteo Ricci and Michele Ruggieri established the first missionary station in Zhaoqing, Guangdong. Upon their arrival, they did not dare to openly declare their intention to preach Christianity, instead claiming to be from Tianzhu (India) and professing that their admiration for China had led them to decide to spend the rest of their lives there. To win the trust of Chinese officials, the priests focused their efforts on learning Chinese and studying Chinese etiquette and customs, acting with great caution. To gain people's goodwill, they also dressed like Buddhist monks. Consequently, the Chinese believed them to be Buddhist monks who had traveled from afar, merely differing slightly in appearance from the monks they had seen before, and thus did not drive them away.
Matteo Ricci came well-prepared, bringing from the West many items for missionary work: statues of the Virgin Mary, maps, prisms, and Euclid's *Elements*... These novelties captured the attention of many Chinese, especially Ricci's first Chinese world map, the *Shanhai Yudi Quantu*, which introduced modern geographical knowledge to China for the first time and broadened Chinese horizons. While explaining the map to the Chinese, Ricci also introduced his religious beliefs. He highly praised Chinese civilization, saying that "China is itself a world," and noted that the Chinese were highly proficient in medicine, natural sciences, mathematics, and astronomy. Ricci also believed that the potential for missionary work in China was significant, which further strengthened his resolve to spread Christianity.
To spread their faith, Matteo Ricci established the "Flower of Immortality Temple" in Zhaoqing, which attracted many Chinese, including scholars and monks, to come and kneel, much to the delight of the priests. However, these Chinese were merely performing a gesture of courtesy, with no deeper significance. The priests then translated religious pamphlets such as *The Lord's Prayer* and *Hymn to the Virgin Mary* and began disseminating them to the Chinese. In short, Ricci used opportunities to explain various Western things to promote their religious beliefs, sparking Chinese interest in Christianity. Consequently, Michele Ruggieri wrote *The True Record of the Lord of Heaven* in Latin, which was then translated into Chinese by Ricci and a Chinese scholar to explain Catholic doctrine. *The True Record of the Lord of Heaven* was the first Catholic theological work written in Chinese by a Westerner, blending Catholic teachings with Confucian thought, making it more acceptable to the Chinese scholar-official class, and it indeed aroused considerable interest among many Chinese.
After several attempts, Matteo Ricci and Michele Ruggieri failed to establish a second missionary station. Soon after, Ruggieri was recalled to Rome by the Pope for other arrangements, while Ricci and another priest, Antonio de Almeida, remained in Zhaoqing to continue overseeing the missionary work.
In the summer of the 17th year of the Wanli era (1589), the newly appointed governor of Guangdong seized the Western-style residence where Matteo Ricci was living and expelled all missionaries from Zhaoqing, forcing Ricci to relocate to Shaozhou. During his time in Shaozhou, Ricci and his companions first encountered bandits, and then two of his subordinates died one after another. In the 25th year of the Wanli era, Father Antonio de Almeida also passed away. Two years later, Ricci was left alone among his group. Fortunately, Ricci had befriended a scholar named Qu Taisu in Zhaoqing, who was both a close friend and a mentor to him. Qu not only helped Ricci translate the first volume of Euclid's *Elements*, but also promoted Ricci's self-made celestial globe, terrestrial globe, and sundial for timekeeping to high-ranking officials. As a result, local dignitaries gradually became familiar with Ricci and invited him to their homes. Through interactions with many members of China's elite society, Ricci discovered that the Chinese of the time did not respect Buddhist monks, so, with the approval of Alessandro Valignano, he grew a beard and dressed as a Confucian scholar to facilitate his dealings with Chinese officials. After much effort, Ricci established a second missionary station in Shaozhou.
During his time in Shaozhou, Matteo Ricci studied the Four Books and translated them into Latin, marking the first Latin translation of the Four Books.
In the 22nd year of the Wanli era (1594), Matteo Ricci attempted to enter Beijing by accompanying the Chinese official Shi Xing, who was heading to aid Korea against Japan. However, upon arriving in Nanjing, circumstances changed, so Ricci was compelled to go to Nanchang, where he obtained permission to reside. During his time in Nanchang, Ricci befriended Lu Wan'gai, the Governor of Jiangxi, showing him a prism, clocks, and Western memory techniques, and introducing some Western books. Subsequently, Ricci lectured local scholars on mathematics, sundial timekeeping, and successfully predicted a solar eclipse. As a result, Ricci quickly became a local celebrity, befriending many Confucian scholars and influential figures, and was invited by the renowned scholar Zhang Huang to lecture at the White Deer Grotto Academy. The gifts Ricci brought—globes, glassware, and Western-style bound books—aroused the interest of royal family members and officials at all levels. Thus, Ricci held "popular science" exhibitions at his residence and demonstrated his extraordinary memory methods.
After living in China for twelve years, Matteo Ricci came to understand that books in China had far greater influence than spoken words. Therefore, he established a new missionary base in Nanchang and published his first Chinese work, On Friendship. This book primarily collected aphorisms about friendship from renowned Western philosophers such as Aristotle, Plutarch, and Cicero. To suit the sensibilities of Chinese literati, Ricci made certain modifications to the content, compiled it into a collection, wrote a preface, and published it. He then presented copies as gifts to members of the royal family, sparking widespread interest. Friendship wasConfuciusConsidering it one of the five cardinal relationships in the world, Matteo Ricci chose maxims on friendship as his theme, demonstrating his grasp of the essence of Chinese culture. Ricci understood that Christianity must show itself to be in harmony with China's social order in order to be accepted by the Chinese. His efforts were not in vain, as On Friendship was deeply appreciated by the scholar-officials of the time.
In addition to On Friendship, Matteo Ricci selected and published quotations from Western sages that aligned with Chinese ethical views. He abandoned the methods of building churches and openly preaching, instead gradually exploring and implementing his missionary strategy by subtly replacing the ancient Chinese concept of "Shangdi" (Supreme Deity) with the term "Tianzhu" (Lord of Heaven), ultimately developing a successful approach to evangelism. In Nanchang, Ricci established his third missionary residence.
In the 25th year of the Wanli era (1597), Matteo Ricci was appointed as the head of missionary work in China, prompting him to plan a journey to Beijing to spread his faith. The following year, Ricci managed to travel to Beijing with the Minister of Rites, Wang Zhongming, but was forced to leave due to war. In the 27th year of the Wanli era, Ricci settled in Nanjing, where he established his fourth missionary base. During his stay in Nanjing, he befriended notable scholars such as Li Zhi and Xu Guangqi through Qu Taisu, engaged in a debate with a Buddhist monk, and gained the upper hand with his scientific reasoning. He then expanded his missionary efforts in Nanjing, making it one of the most important centers of Catholicism in Chinese history.
After staying in Nanjing for a year, Matteo Ricci set out for Beijing with gifts intended for the emperor. In early 1601, during the 29th year of the Wanli reign, Ricci arrived in Beijing and presented the Wanli Emperor with Western items such as a chiming clock, a Bible, the Atlas of the World, and a Western harp. The Wanli Emperor was very pleased and issued an edict allowing Ricci and his companions to reside permanently in Beijing.
During his time in Beijing, Matteo Ricci used his extensive knowledge of both China and the West to befriend many Chinese scholar-officials. He often discussed topics such as the soul, heaven, and hell with his guests, and compiled new books in Chinese, including The Twenty-Five Sayings and The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, earning the respect of many scholar-officials. By the thirty-third year of the Wanli era (1605), the number of Chinese converts to Catholicism in Beijing had reached two hundred, including high-ranking court officials like Xu Guangqi, who held a jinshi degree.
While conducting his missionary work, Matteo Ricci also made significant contributions to cultural exchange between China and the West. In the 35th year of the Wanli reign (1607), Ricci collaborated with Xu Guangqi to translate and publish the first six volumes of Euclid's Elements, which introduced Euclidean geometry along with its rigorous logical system and reasoning methods to China for the first time, while also establishing many geometric terms still familiar to us today, such as point, straight line, and parallel. In the fifth month of the 38th year of the Wanli reign (1610), Ricci died of illness in Beijing and, for the first time, received imperial approval from a Ming Dynasty emperor to be buried in China, thus fulfilling his earlier vow to spend his final days there.