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124-742: The first attempt by the Jesuits to reach China was made in 1552 by St. Francis Xavier , Navarrese priest and missionary and founding member of the Society of Jesus. Xavier never reached the mainland, dying after only a year on the Chinese island of Shangchuan . Three decades later, in 1582, Jesuits once again initiated mission work in China, led by several figures including the Italian Matteo Ricci , introducing Western science, mathematics, astronomy, and visual arts to

248-546: A German Jesuit missionary to China, organized successful missionary work and became the trusted counselor of the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty . He was created a mandarin and held an important post in connection with the mathematical school, contributing to astronomical studies and the development of the Chinese calendar. Thanks to Schall, the motions of both the sun and moon began to be calculated with sinusoids in

372-693: A breviary , a catechism , and De institutione bene vivendi per exempla sanctorum (Instructions for a Virtuous Life According to the Examples of the Saints) by Croatian humanist Marko Marulić , a Latin book that had become popular in the Counter-Reformation . According to a 1549 letter of F. Balthasar Gago from Goa, it was the only book that Francis read or studied. Francis reached Lisbon in June 1540 and, four days after his arrival, he and Rodrigues were summoned to

496-451: A war that lasted over 18 years . Three years later, Francis's father died when Francis was only nine years old. In 1516, Francis's brothers participated in a failed Navarrese-French attempt to expel the Spanish invaders from the kingdom. The Spanish Governor, Cardinal Cisneros , confiscated the family lands, demolished the outer wall, the gates, and two towers of the family castle, and filled in

620-644: A Chinese man visiting Britain. The king was so delighted by this visit that he had his portrait made hung in his own bedroom. Later, another Chinese Jesuit Arcadio Huang would also visit France, and was an early pioneer in the teaching of the Chinese language in France, in 1715. The Jesuits introduced to China Western science and mathematics which was undergoing its own revolution. "Jesuits were accepted in late Ming court circles as foreign literati, regarded as impressive especially for their knowledge of astronomy, calendar-making, mathematics, hydraulics, and geography." In 1627,

744-697: A Portuguese merchant, ... who had been for many days in Anjirō's country of Japan, to give me ... some information on that land and its people from what he had seen and heard. ...All the Portuguese merchants coming from Japan tell me that if I go there I shall do great service for God our Lord, more than with the pagans of India, for they are a very reasonable people." (To His Companions Residing in Rome, From Cochin, 20 January 1548, no. 18, p. 178). Francis Xavier reached Japan on 27 July 1549, with Anjirō and three other Jesuits, but he

868-467: A Portuguese trading post on the South China Sea . At the time, Christian missionary activity in China was almost completely limited to Macau, where some of the local Chinese people had converted to Christianity. Three years before, Michele Ruggieri was invited from Portuguese India expressly to study Chinese, by Alessandro Valignano , founder of St. Paul Jesuit College (Macau) , and to prepare for

992-418: A co-founder of the Society of Jesus, when he decided to start missionary work in China. However, Xavier failed to find a way to enter the Chinese mainland, and died in 1552 on Shangchuan island off the coast of Guangdong , the only place in China where Europeans were allowed to stay at the time, albeit only for seasonal trade. A few years after Xavier's death, the Portuguese were allowed to establish Macau ,

1116-584: A crucial role in disseminating accurate information about China in Europe. A part of the French Jesuit mission in China lingered on for several years after the suppression of the Society of Jesus until it was taken over by a group of Lazarists in 1785. Prior to the Jesuits, there had already been Chinese pilgrims who had made the journey westward, with two notable examples being Rabban bar Sauma and his younger companion, who became Patriarch Mar Yaballaha III , in

1240-544: A map compiled by Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (published 1734). To disseminate information about devotional, educational and scientific subjects, several missions in China established printing presses: for example, the Imprimerie de la Mission Catholique (Sienhsien) , established in 1874. In the early 18th century, a dispute within the Catholic Church arose over whether Chinese folk religion rituals and offerings to

1364-494: A people both intelligent and learned. " The Spaniard Diego de Pantoja and the Italian Sabatino de Ursis were some of these talented men who joined Ricci in his venture. The Jesuits saw China as equally sophisticated and generally treated China as equals with Europeans in both theory and practice. This Jesuit perspective influenced Leibniz in his cosmopolitan view of China as an equal civilisation with whom scientific exchanges

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1488-530: A permanent Jesuit mission outside Macau. In 1583, Ricci and Ruggieri settled in Zhaoqing, at the invitation of the governor of Zhaoqing, Wang Pan, who had heard of Ricci's skill as a mathematician and cartographer. Ricci stayed in Zhaoqing from 1583 to 1589, when he was expelled by a new viceroy. It was in Zhaoqing, in 1584, that Ricci composed the first European-style world map in Chinese, called "Da Ying Quan Tu" ( Chinese : 大瀛全圖 ; lit. 'Complete Map of

1612-588: A private audience with King John and Queen Catherine . Francis Xavier devoted much of his life to missions in Asia, mainly in four centres: Malacca, Amboina and Ternate (in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia), Japan, and off-shore China. His growing information about new places indicated to him that he had to go to what he understood were centres of influence for the whole region. China loomed large from his days in India. Japan

1736-457: A representative of the king of Portugal, he was also the first major Christian missionary to venture into Borneo , the Maluku Islands , Japan , and other areas. In those areas, struggling to learn the local languages and in the face of opposition, he had less success than he had enjoyed in India. Xavier was about to extend his mission to Ming China , when he died on Shangchuan Island . He

1860-541: A semi-permanent settlement on the mainland which was about 100 km closer to the Pearl River Delta than Shangchuan Island. A number of Jesuits visited the place (as well as the main Chinese port in the region, Guangzhou ) on occasion, and in 1563 the Order permanently established its settlement in the small Portuguese colony. However, the early Macau Jesuits did not learn Chinese, and their missionary work could reach only

1984-481: A time that a Portuguese ship had arrived at a port in the province of Bungo in Kyushu and that the prince there would like to see him, Xavier now set out southward. The Jesuit, in a fine cassock, surplice, and stole, was attended by thirty gentlemen and as many servants, all in their best clothes. Five of them bore on cushions valuable articles, including a portrait of Our Lady and a pair of velvet slippers, these not gifts for

2108-615: A work of great value, the language having been previously quite unknown in Europe . He also wrote a 15-volume Memoirs regarding the history, sciences, and art of the Chinese , published in Paris in 1776–1791 ( Mémoires concernant l'histoire, les sciences et les arts des Chinois , 15 volumes, Paris, 1776–1791). His Vie de Confucius , the twelfth volume of that collection, was more complete and accurate than any predecessors. Rodrigues and other Jesuits also began compiling geographical information about

2232-804: Is discretionary. The sacred relics went on display starting on 22 November 2014 at the XVII Solemn Exposition. The display closed on 4 January 2015. The previous exposition, the sixteenth, was held from 21 November 2004 to 2 January 2005. Relics of Saint Francis Xavier are also found in the Espirito Santo (Holy Spirit) Church, Margão , in Sanv Fransiku Xavierachi Igorz (Church of St. Francis Xavier), Batpal , Canacona , Goa, and at St. Francis Xavier Chapel, Portais, Panjim. Other pilgrimage centres include Xavier's birthplace in Navarre;

2356-752: Is not characteristic of Ignatius and there is no evidence that he employed it at all. In 1530, Francis received the degree of Master of Arts, and afterwards taught Aristotelian philosophy at the Collège de Beauvais , University of Paris. On 15 August 1534, seven students met in a crypt beneath the Church of Saint Denis (now Saint Pierre de Montmartre ), on the hill of Montmartre , overlooking Paris. They were Francis, Ignatius of Loyola , Alfonso Salmeron , Diego Laínez , Nicolás Bobadilla from Spain , Peter Faber from Savoy , and Simão Rodrigues from Portugal . They made private vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to

2480-524: Is now co-patron saint of Navarre, with Fermin . The Day of Navarre in Navarre, Spain, marks the anniversary of Francis Xavier's death, on 3 December. Hindu extremists such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) , are attempting to cancel Francis Xavier's patronage of Goa , where his body rests, in order to replace him with the Parshuram of Hindu mythology . Francis Xavier was born in

2604-756: Is the completion of their faith, and explained the tenets of the Catholic faith through existing Chinese precepts and practices. He borrowed an unusual Chinese term, Tiānzhǔ ( 天主 , "Lord of Heaven") to describe the God of Abraham , despite the term's origin in traditional Chinese worship of Heaven . (He also cited many synonyms from the Confucian Classics.) Ricci took an accommodating approach on various Chinese practices, including rituals such as ancestor worship. Dominican and Franciscan missionaries considered this an unacceptable accommodation and later appealed to

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2728-615: The Kunyu Wanguo Quantu , a 1602 map of the world written in Chinese characters . In 2022, the Apostolic See declared its recognition of Ricci's heroic virtues , thereby bestowing upon him the honorific of Venerable . Ricci arrived at the Portuguese settlement of Macau in 1582 where he began his missionary work in China. He mastered the Chinese language and writing system. He became

2852-625: The Acehnese from Sumatra , and through preaching Xavier inspired the Portuguese to seek battle, achieving a victory at the Battle of Perlis River , despite being heavily outnumbered. In Malacca in December 1547, Francis Xavier met a Japanese man named Anjirō . Anjirō had heard of Francis in 1545 and had travelled from Kagoshima to Malacca to meet him. Having been charged with murder, Anjirō had fled Japan. He told Francis extensively about his former life, and

2976-506: The Castle of Xavier (related to the theologian and philosopher Martín de Azpilcueta ). His brother Miguel de Jasso (later known as Miguel de Javier) became Lord of Xavier and Idocín at the death of his parents (a direct ancestor of the Counts of Javier). Basque and Romance were his two mother tongues . In 1512, Ferdinand , King of Aragon and regent of Castile , invaded Navarre, initiating

3100-776: The Castle of Xavier , in the Kingdom of Navarre , on 7 April 1506 into an influential noble family. He was the youngest son of Don Juan de Jasso y Atondo, Lord of Idocín, president of the Royal Council of the Kingdom of Navarre, and seneschal of the Castle of Xavier (a doctor in law by the University of Bologna , belonging to a prosperous noble family of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port , later privy counsellor and finance minister to King John III of Navarre ) and Doña María de Azpilcueta y Aznárez, sole heiress to

3224-550: The Church of the Gesù , Rome; Malacca (where he was buried for two years, before being brought to Goa); and Sancian (place of death). Matteo Ricci Matteo Ricci SJ ( Italian: [matˈtɛːo ˈrittʃi] ; Latin : Matthaeus Riccius ; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610) was an Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions . He created

3348-538: The Church of the Gesù . Francis Xavier was beatified by Pope Paul V on 25 October 1619, and was canonized by Pope Gregory XV on 12 March 1622, at the same time as Ignatius Loyola . Pope Pius XI proclaimed him the "Patron of Catholic Missions". His feast day is 3 December. Saint Francis Xavier's relics are kept in a silver casket, elevated inside the Bom Jesus Basilica and are exposed (being brought to ground level) generally every ten years, but this

3472-774: The Confucian classics into Latin for the first time in history. Ricci was born on 6 October 1552 in Macerata , part of the Papal States and today a city in the Italian region of Marche . He studied the classics in his native hometown and studied law at Rome for two years. He entered the Society of Jesus in April 1571 at the Roman College . While there, in addition to philosophy and theology, he also studied mathematics, cosmology, and astronomy under

3596-557: The Eight trigrams and the Yin/Yang principles appeared in Europe, quickly drawing the attention of European philosophers such as Leibniz . Chinese linguistics, sciences, and technologies were also reported to the West by Jesuits. Polish Michal Boym authored the first published Chinese dictionaries for European languages, both of which were published posthumously: the first, a Chinese–Latin dictionary,

3720-701: The Holy See , request Jesuit missionaries to spread the faith in his new possessions in India , where the king believed that Christian values were eroding among the Portuguese. After successive appeals to the Pope asking for missionaries for the East Indies under the Padroado agreement, John III was encouraged by Diogo de Gouveia , rector of the Collège Sainte-Barbe , to recruit the newly graduated students who had established

3844-456: The Maluku Islands , where the Portuguese had some settlements. For a year and a half, he preached the Gospel there. He went first to Ambon Island , where he stayed until mid-June. He then visited the other Maluku Islands, including Ternate , Baranura, and Morotai . Shortly after Easter 1547, he returned to Ambon Island; a few months later he returned to Malacca. While there, Malacca was attacked by

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3968-955: The Ming dynasty and the rise of the Manchu -led Qing dynasty brought some difficult years for the Jesuits in China. While some Jesuit fathers managed to impress Qing commanders with a display of western science or ecclesiastical finery and to be politely invited to join the new order (as did Johann Adam Schall von Bell in Beijing in 1644, or Martino Martini in Wenzhou ca. 1645–46), others endured imprisonment and privations, as did Lodovico Buglio and Gabriel de Magalhães in Sichuan in 1647–48 (see Catholic Church in Sichuan ), or Alvaro Semedo in Canton in 1649. Later, Johann Grueber

4092-622: The Nantang (Southern) Church and in 1655 the Dongtang (Eastern) Church. In 1703 they established the Beitang (Northern) Church near Zhongnanhai (opposite the former Beijing Library), on land given to the Jesuits by the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty in 1694, following his recovery from illness thanks to medical expertise of Fathers Jean-François Gerbillon and Joachim Bouvet . Latin spoken by

4216-739: The National Central Library of Taiwan opened jointly the Matteo Ricci Pacific Studies Reading Room and the Taipei-based online magazine eRenlai , directed by Jesuit Benoît Vermander , dedicated its June 2010 issue to the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Ricci's death. The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven (天主實義) is a book written by Ricci, which argues that Confucianism and Christianity are not opposed and in fact are remarkably similar in key respects. It

4340-775: The Portuguese Empire in the East , and was influential in evangelization work, most notably in early modern India . He was extensively involved in the missionary activity in Portuguese India . In 1546, Francis Xavier proposed the establishment of the Goan Inquisition in a letter addressed to King John III of Portugal . While some sources claim that he actually asked for a special minister whose sole office would be to further Christianity in Goa , others disagree with this assertion. As

4464-630: The Qianlong Emperor as painters and translators. From the 19th century, the role of the Jesuits in China was largely taken over by the Paris Foreign Missions Society . Francis Xavier Francis Xavier , SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta ; Latin : Franciscus Xaverius ; Basque : Xabierkoa ; French: François Xavier ; Spanish: Francisco Javier ; Portuguese : Francisco Xavier ; 7 April 1506 – 3 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier ,

4588-567: The Vatican on the issue. This Chinese rites controversy continued for centuries. In 1721, fallout from the controversy led the Kangxi emperor to expel the Jesuits. The Vatican's most recent statement on the Chinese rites controversy came in 1939. Some contemporary authors have praised Ricci as an exemplar of beneficial inculturation , avoiding at the same time distorting the Gospel message or neglecting

4712-436: The Zhalan Cemetery , which is today located within the campus of the Beijing Administrative College , in Xicheng District , Beijing. Ricci was succeeded as Provincial Superior of the China mission by Nicolò Longobardo in 1610. Longobardo entrusted another Jesuit, Nicolas Trigault , with expanding and editing, as well as translating into Latin, those of Ricci's papers that were found in his office after his death. This work

4836-433: The 13th century. While few 17th-century Jesuits returned from China to Europe, it was not uncommon for those who did to be accompanied by young Chinese Christians. Alexandre de Rhodes brought Emmanuel Zheng Manuo to Rome in 1651. Emmanuel studied in Europe and later became the first Chinese Jesuit priest. Andreas Zheng (郑安德勒; Wade-Giles : Cheng An-te-lo) was sent to Rome by the Yongli court along with Michał Boym in

4960-410: The 1645 Shíxiàn calendar (時憲書, Book of the Conformity of Time). His position enabled him to procure from the emperor permission for the Jesuits to build churches and to preach throughout the country. The Shunzhi Emperor, however, died in 1661, and Schall's circumstances at once changed. He was imprisoned and condemned to death by slow slicing . After an earthquake and the dowager's objection, the sentence

5084-407: The 400th anniversary of Matteo Ricci's death, the Italy Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo in China commissioned Italian sculptor Dionisio Cimarelli to create a monumental bust in his honor. This sculpture was later exhibited for about two years at the Italian Embassy in Beijing. Subsequently, the Marche Regional Government purchased the work, while the original model is now permanently exhibited at

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5208-424: The China Mission, entrusted with the task of recruiting more Jesuit priests to come to China, ensuring continued support for the Mission from the Church's central authorities, and creating favorable publicity for the Mission and its policies by publishing both scholarly and popular literature about China and Jesuits. One time the Chongzhen Emperor was nearly converted to Christianity and broke his idols. The fall of

5332-517: The Chinese Empire. In the early years of the 18th century, Jesuit cartographers travelled throughout the country, performing astronomical observations to verify or determine the latitude and longitude relative to Beijing of various locations, then drew maps based on their findings. Their work was summarized in a four-volume Description géographique, historique, chronologique, politique et physique de l'empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie chinoise published by Jean-Baptiste Du Halde in Paris in 1735, and on

5456-475: The Chinese imperial court, and carrying on significant inter-cultural and philosophical dialogue with Chinese scholars, particularly with representatives of Confucianism . At the time of their peak influence, members of the Jesuit delegation were considered some of the emperor's most valued and trusted advisors, holding prestigious posts in the imperial government. Many Chinese, including former Confucian scholars, adopted Christianity and became priests and members of

5580-437: The Chinese translation of Euclid 's Elements , published books in Chinese on Western hydraulics, and by predicting an eclipse which Chinese astronomers had not anticipated, opened the door to the reworking of the Chinese calendar using Western calculation techniques. This influence spread to Korea as well, with João Rodrigues providing the Korean mandarin Jeong Duwon astronomical, mathematical, and religious works in

5704-447: The Church of the East since the 7th century (see Christianity among the Mongols ). However, the overthrow of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty by the Ming dynasty in 1368 resulted in a strong assimilatory pressure on China's Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities, and non- Han influences were forced out of China. By the 16th century, there is no reliable information about any practicing Christians remaining in China. Fairly soon after

5828-411: The East. From August until March 1542 he remained in Portuguese Mozambique , and arrived in Goa , then the capital of Portuguese India , on 6 May 1542, thirteen months after leaving Lisbon. The Portuguese, following quickly on the great voyages of discovery, had established themselves at Goa thirty years earlier. Francis's primary mission, as ordered by King John III, was to restore Christianity among

5952-404: The Great World'). No prints of the 1584 map are known to exist, but, of the much improved and expanded Kunyu Wanguo Quantu of 1602, six recopied, rice-paper versions survive. It is thought that, during their time in Zhaoqing, Ricci and Ruggieri compiled a Portuguese-Chinese dictionary, the first in any European language, for which they developed a system for transcribing Chinese words in

6076-458: The Jesuit Johann Schreck produced the first book to present Western mechanical knowledge to a Chinese audience, Diagrams and explanations of the wonderful machines of the Far West . This influence worked in both directions: [The Jesuits] made efforts to translate western mathematical and astronomical works into Chinese and aroused the interest of Chinese scholars in these sciences. They made very extensive astronomical observation and carried out

6200-500: The Jesuits was used to mediate between the Qing and Russia. A Latin copy of the Treaty of Nerchinsk was written by Jesuits. Latin was one of the things which were taught by the Jesuits. A school was established by them for this purpose. A diplomatic delegation found a local who composed a letter in fluent Latin. The Jesuits were also very active in transmitting Chinese knowledge to Europe, such as translating Confucius 's works into European languages. Several historians have highlighted

6324-423: The Jesuits' mission from Macau into Mainland China . Once in Macau, Ricci studied the Chinese language and customs. It was the beginning of a long project that made him one of the first Western scholars to master Chinese script and Classical Chinese . With Ruggieri, he travelled to Guangdong 's major cities, Canton and Zhaoqing (then the residence of the Viceroy of Guangdong and Guangxi), seeking to establish

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6448-423: The Latin alphabet. The manuscript was misplaced in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, rediscovered only in 1934, and published only in 2001. There is now a memorial plaque in Zhaoqing to commemorate Ricci's six-year stay there, as well as a "Ricci Memorial Centre" in a building dating from the 1860s. Expelled from Zhaoqing in 1588, Ricci obtained permission to relocate to Shaoguan (Shaozhou, in Ricci's account) in

6572-555: The Pearl Fishery Coast, which extends from Cape Comorin on the southern tip of India to the island of Mannar , off Ceylon ( Sri Lanka ), there was a Jāti of people called Paravas . Many of them had been baptised ten years before, merely to please the Portuguese who had helped them against the Moors, but remained uninstructed in the faith. Accompanied by several native clerics from the seminary at Goa, he set sail for Cape Comorin in October 1542. He taught those who had already been baptised and preached to those who weren't. His efforts with

6696-428: The Philosopher of the Chinese") in Paris in 1687. The book contained an annotated Latin translation of three of the Four Books and a biography of Confucius. It is thought that such works had considerable importance on European thinkers of the period, particularly those who were interested in the integration of the Confucian system of morality into Christianity . Since the mid-17th century, detailed Jesuit accounts of

6820-437: The Pope, and also vowed to go to the Holy Land to convert infidels. Francis began his study of theology in 1534 and was ordained on 24 June 1537. In 1539, after long discussions, Ignatius drew up a formula for a new religious order, the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). Ignatius's plan for the order was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540. In 1540, King John III of Portugal had Pedro Mascarenhas , Portuguese ambassador to

6944-425: The Portuguese settlers. According to Teotonio R. DeSouza, recent critical accounts indicate that apart from the posted civil servants, "the great majority of those who were dispatched as 'discoverers' were the riff-raff of Portuguese society, picked up from Portuguese jails." Nor did the soldiers, sailors, or merchants come to do missionary work, and Imperial policy permitted the outflow of disaffected nobility. Many of

7068-418: The Society of Jesus. Ignatius promptly appointed Nicholas Bobadilla and Simão Rodrigues . At the last moment, however, Bobadilla became seriously ill. With some hesitance and uneasiness, Ignatius asked Francis to go in Bobadilla's place. Thus, Francis Xavier began his life as the first Jesuit missionary almost accidentally. Leaving Rome on 15 March 1540, in the Ambassador's train, Francis took with him

7192-424: The Society of Jesus. According to research by David E. Mungello , from 1552 (i.e., the death of St. Francis Xavier) to 1800, a total of 920 Jesuits participated in the China mission, of whom 314 were Portuguese, and 130 were French. In 1844 China may have had 240,000 Roman Catholics, but this number grew rapidly, and in 1901 the figure reached 720,490. Many Jesuit priests, both Western-born and Chinese, are buried in

7316-458: The apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Macerata, formally closed the diocesan phase of the sainthood process on 10 May 2013. The cause moved to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican in 2014. Pope Francis issued a decree on 17 December 2022 that Ricci had lived a life of heroic virtue, thus conferring on him the title of Venerable . The following places and institutions are named after Matteo Ricci: In 2010, to commemorate

7440-417: The arrivals formed liaisons with local women and adopted Indian culture. Missionaries often wrote against the "scandalous and undisciplined" behaviour of their fellow Christians. The Christian population had churches, clergy, and a bishop, but there were few preachers and no priests beyond the walls of Goa. Xavier decided that he must begin by instructing the Portuguese themselves, and gave much of his time to

7564-414: The basic tenets of Catholicism and donating several books. Along with João Rodrigues 's gifts to the ambassador Jeong Duwon in 1631, Ricci's gifts influenced the creation of Korea's Silhak movement. The cause of his beatification, originally begun in 1984, was reopened on 24 January 2010, at the cathedral of the Italian diocese of Macerata-Tolentino-Recanati-Cingoli-Treia. Bishop Claudio Giuliodori,

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7688-652: The capital Beijing itself on 7 September 1598. However, because of a Chinese intervention against the Japanese invasion of Korea at the time, Ricci could not reach the Imperial Palace . After waiting for two months, he left Beijing; first for Nanjing and then Suzhou in Southern Zhili Province . During the winter of 1598, Ricci, with the help of his Jesuit colleague Lazzaro Cattaneo , compiled another Chinese-Portuguese dictionary, in which tones in Chinese syllables were indicated in Roman text with diacritical marks. Unlike Ricci's and Ruggieri's earlier Portuguese-Chinese dictionary, this work has not been found. In 1601, Ricci

7812-416: The cemetery located in what is now the School of the Beijing Municipal Committee. Contacts between Europe and the East already dated back hundreds of years, especially between the Papacy and the Mongol Empire in the 13th century. Numerous traders – most famously Marco Polo – had traveled between eastern and western Eurasia. Christianity was not new to the Mongols , as many had practiced Christianity of

7936-501: The church to keep it in Macau's Cathedral of St. Paul . It was subsequently moved to St. Joseph's and in 1978 to the Chapel of St. Francis Xavier on Coloane Island . More recently the relic was moved to St. Joseph's Church. A relic from the right hand of St Francis Xavier is on display at St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney . In 2006, on the 500th anniversary of his birth, the Xavier Tomb Monument and Chapel on Shangchuan Island, in ruins after years of neglect under communist rule in China,

8060-422: The city. Ricci was given free access to the Forbidden City but never met the reclusive Wanli Emperor, who, however, granted him patronage, with a generous stipend and supported Ricci's completion of the Zhifang Waiji , China's first global atlas. Once established in Beijing, Ricci was able to meet important officials and leading members of the Beijing cultural scene and convert a number of them to Christianity,

8184-581: The coast, including St. Stephen's Church, Kombuthurai , mentioned in his letters dated 1544. During this time, he was able to visit the tomb of Thomas the Apostle in Mylapore (now part of Madras/ Chennai then in Portuguese India). He set his sights eastward in 1545 and planned a missionary journey to Makassar on the island of Celebes (today's Indonesia ). As the first Jesuit in India, Francis had difficulty achieving much success in his missionary trips. His successors, such as Roberto de Nobili , Matteo Ricci , and Constanzo Beschi , attempted to convert

8308-413: The conversion of his subjects to Christianity under penalty of death; Christians in Kagoshima could not be given any catechism in the following years. The Portuguese missionary Pedro de Alcáçova would later write in 1554: In Cangoxima, the first place Father Master Francisco stopped at, there were a good number of Christians, although there was no one there to teach them; the shortage of labourers prevented

8432-566: The court of the Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming, and returned with the Pope's response that promised prayer, after some military assistance from Macau. There were many Christians in the court of the polygamist emperor. In 1685, the French king Louis XIV sent a mission of five Jesuit "mathematicians" to China in an attempt to break the Portuguese predominance: Jean de Fontaney (1643–1710), Joachim Bouvet (1656–1730), Jean-François Gerbillon (1654–1707), Louis Le Comte (1655–1728) and Claude de Visdelou (1656–1737). French Jesuits played

8556-509: The customs and culture of his homeland. Anjirō became the first Japanese Christian and adopted the name 'Paulo de Santa Fe'. He later helped Xavier as a mediator and interpreter for the mission to Japan that now seemed much more possible. In January 1548 Francis returned to Goa to attend to his responsibilities as superior of the mission there. The next 15 months were occupied with various journeys and administrative measures. He left Goa on 15 April 1549, stopped at Malacca, and visited Canton . He

8680-459: The direction of Christopher Clavius . In 1577, he applied for a missionary expedition to the Far East. He sailed from Lisbon, Portugal, in March 1578 and arrived in Goa , a Portuguese colony, the following September. Ricci remained employed in teaching and the ministry there until the end of Lent 1582 when he was summoned to Macau to prepare to enter China. Ricci arrived in Macau in the early part of August. In August 1582, Ricci arrived at Macau,

8804-465: The early 1630s, which he carried back to Seoul from Dengzhou and Beijing , prompting local controversy and discussion decades before the first foreign scholars were permitted to enter the country. Like the Chinese, the Koreans were most interested in practical technology with martial applications (such as Rodrigues's telescope ) and the possibility of improving the calendar , with its associated religious festivals . Johann Adam Schall (1591–1666),

8928-531: The emperor constituted paganism or idolatry . This tension led to what became known as the "Rites Controversy," a bitter struggle that broke out after Ricci's death and lasted for over a hundred years. At first the focal point of dissension was the Jesuit contention that the ceremonial rites of Confucianism and ancestor veneration were primarily social and political in nature and could be practiced by converts. Spanish Dominicans and Franciscans, however, charged that

9052-516: The emperor. For forty-five years the Jesuits were the only missionaries in Asia, but the Franciscans began proselytizing in Asia, as well. Christian missionaries were later forced into exile, along with their assistants. However, some were able to stay behind. Christianity was then kept underground so as to not be persecuted. The Japanese people were not easily converted; many of the people were already Buddhist or Shinto . Francis tried to combat

9176-494: The establishment of the direct European maritime contact with China (1513) and the creation of the Society of Jesus (1540), at least some Chinese became involved with the Jesuit effort. As early as 1546, two Chinese boys enrolled in the Jesuits' St. Paul's College in Goa , the capital of Portuguese India. One of these two Christian Chinese, known as Antonio, accompanied St. Francis Xavier ,

9300-584: The first European to enter the Forbidden City of Beijing in 1601 when invited by the Wanli Emperor , who sought his services in matters such as court astronomy and calendrical science . He emphasized parallels between Catholicism and Confucianism but opposed Buddhism . He converted several prominent Chinese officials to Catholicism. He also worked with several Chinese elites, such as Xu Guangqi , in translating Euclid's Elements into Chinese as well as

9424-417: The first modern cartographic work in China. They also learned to appreciate the scientific achievements of this ancient culture and made them known in Europe. Through their correspondence European scientists first learned about the Chinese science and culture. Jan Mikołaj Smogulecki (1610–1656) is credited with introducing logarithms to China, while Sabatino de Ursis (1575–1620) worked with Matteo Ricci on

9548-613: The harbour. The captain refused to recognize his title of Nuncio, asked Pereira to resign from his title of ambassador, named a new crew for the ship, and demanded the gifts for the Chinese Emperor be left in Malacca. In late August 1552, the Santa Cruz reached the Chinese island of Shangchuan , 14 km away from the southern coast of mainland China, near Taishan , Guangdong, 200 km south-west of what later became Hong Kong . At this time, he

9672-461: The high-caste Brahmins remained unavailing. The Brahmin and Muslim authorities in Travancore opposed Xavier with violence; time and again his hut was burned down over his head, and once he saved his life only by hiding among the branches of a large tree. He devoted almost three years to the work of preaching to the people of southern India and Ceylon, converting many. He built nearly 40 churches along

9796-564: The hostility of the daimyo. During his trip from Japan back to India, a tempest forced him to stop on an island near Guangzhou , Guangdong , China, where he met Diogo Pereira, a rich merchant and an old friend from Cochin . Pereira showed him a letter from Portuguese prisoners in Guangzhou, asking for a Portuguese ambassador to speak to the Jiajing Emperor on their behalf. Later during the voyage, he stopped at Malacca on 27 December 1551 and

9920-731: The impact that Jesuit accounts of Chinese knowledge had on European scholarly debates in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Ricci in his De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas had already started to report on the thoughts of Confucius; he (and, earlier, Michele Ruggieri ) made attempts at translating the Four Books , the standard introduction into the Confucian canon. The work on the Confucian classics by several generations of Jesuits culminated with Fathers Philippe Couplet , Prospero Intorcetta , Christian Herdtrich , and François de Rougemont publishing Confucius Sinarum Philosophus ("Confucius,

10044-429: The indigenous cultural media. Like developments in India, the identification of European culture with Christianity led almost to the end of Catholic missions in China, but Christianity continued to grow in Sichuan and some other locations. Xu Guangqi and Ricci became the first two to translate some of the Confucian classics into a Western language, Latin. Ricci also met a Korean emissary to China, teaching

10168-626: The language. He was hosted by Anjirō's family until October 1550. From October to December 1550, he resided in Yamaguchi . Shortly before Christmas, he left for Kyoto but failed to meet with Emperor Go-Nara . He returned to Yamaguchi in March 1551, where the daimyō of the province gave him permission to preach. Having learned that evangelical poverty did not have the appeal in Japan that it had in Europe and in India, he decided to change his approach. Hearing after

10292-666: The late 1650s. Zheng and Boym stayed in Venice and Rome in 1652–55. Zheng worked with Boym on the transcription and translation of the Xi'an Stele , and returned to Asia with Boym, whom he buried when the Jesuit died near the Vietnam-China border. A few years later, another Chinese traveller who was called Matthaeus Sina in Latin (not positively identified, but possibly the person who traveled from China to Europe overland with Johann Grueber ) also worked on

10416-429: The life of Xavier: The right forearm , which Xavier used to bless and baptise his converts, was detached by Superior General Claudio Acquaviva in 1614. It has been displayed since in a silver reliquary at the main Jesuit church in Rome, Il Gesù . Another of Xavier's arm bones was brought to Macau where it was kept in a silver reliquary . The relic was destined for Japan but religious persecution there persuaded

10540-759: The main entrance of the Italian Consulate in Shanghai. In the run-up to the 400th anniversary of Ricci's death, the Vatican Museums hosted a major exhibit dedicated to his life. Additionally, Italian film director Gjon Kolndrekaj produced a 60-minute documentary about Ricci, released in 2009, titled Matteo Ricci: A Jesuit in the Dragon's Kingdom , filmed in Italy and China. In Taipei, the Taipei Ricci Institute and

10664-619: The moat. In addition, the height of the keep was reduced by half. Only the family residence inside the castle was left. In 1522, one of Francis's brothers participated with 200 Navarrese nobles in dogged but failed resistance against the Castilian Count of Miranda in Amaiur, Baztan , the last Navarrese territorial position south of the Pyrenees. In 1525, Francis went to study in Paris at the Collège Sainte-Barbe , University of Paris , where he spent

10788-585: The most prominent being leading agronomist Xu Guangqi . Ricci was also the first European to learn about the Kaifeng Jews , being contacted by a member of that community who was visiting Beijing in 1605. Ricci never visited Kaifeng , Henan Province, but he sent a junior missionary there in 1608, the first of many such missions. In fact, the elderly Chief Rabbi of the Jews was ready to cede his power to Ricci, as long as he gave up eating pork, but Ricci never accepted

10912-431: The new lodger as a joke and was sarcastic about his efforts to convert students. When Pierre left their lodgings to visit his family and Ignatius was alone with Francis, he was able to slowly break down Francis's resistance. According to most biographies Ignatius is said to have posed the question: "What will it profit a man to gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" However, according to James Broderick such method

11036-472: The next eleven years. In the early days he acquired some reputation as an athlete and a high-jumper. In 1529, Francis shared lodgings with his friend Pierre Favre . A new student, Ignatius of Loyola , came to room with them. At 38, Ignatius was much older than Pierre and Francis, who were both 23 at the time. Ignatius convinced Pierre to become a priest, but was unable to convince Francis, who had aspirations of worldly advancement. At first, Francis regarded

11160-450: The noblemen first as a means to influence more people, while Francis had initially interacted most with the lower classes; (later though, in Japan, Francis changed tack by paying tribute to the Emperor and seeking an audience with him). In the spring of 1545, Xavier started for Portuguese Malacca . He laboured there for the last months of that year. About January 1546, Xavier left Malacca for

11284-433: The north of the province, and reestablish his mission there. Further travels saw Ricci reach Nanjing (Ming's southern capital) and Nanchang in 1595. In August 1597, Alessandro Valignano (1539–1606), his superior, appointed him Major Superior of the mission in China, with the rank and powers of a Provincial, a charge that he fulfilled until his death. He moved to Tongzhou (a port of Beijing) in 1598, and first reached

11408-530: The passage of time, his sojourn in Japan could be considered somewhat fruitful as attested by congregations established in Hirado , Yamaguchi, and Bungo . Xavier worked for more than two years in Japan and saw his successor-Jesuits established. He then decided to return to India. Historians debate the exact path by which he returned, but from evidence attributed to the captain of his ship, he may have travelled through Tanegeshima and Minato, and avoided Kagoshima because of

11532-723: The position. Ricci died on 11 May 1610, in Beijing , aged 57. By the code of the Ming Dynasty, foreigners who died in China had to be buried in Macau . Diego de Pantoja made a special plea to the court, requesting a burial plot in Beijing, in the light of Ricci's contributions to China. The Wanli Emperor granted this request and designated a Buddhist temple for the purpose. In October 1610, Ricci's remains were transferred there. The graves of Ferdinand Verbiest , Johann Adam Schall von Bell , and other missionaries are also there, and it became known as

11656-464: The practices were idolatrous, meaning that all acts of respect to the sage and one's ancestors were nothing less than the worship of demons. Eventually they persuaded Pope Clement XI that the Jesuits were making dangerous accommodations to Chinese sensibilities. In 1704 Rome decided against the ancient use of the words Shang Di (supreme emperor) and Tian (heaven) for God, and forbade the practice of sacrifices to Confucius and ancestors. Rome's decision

11780-418: The prince, but solemn offerings to Xavier, to impress the onlookers with his eminence. Handsomely dressed, with his companions acting as attendants, he presented himself before Oshindono, the ruler of Nagate, and as a representative of the great Kingdom of Portugal, offered him letters and presents: a musical instrument, a watch, and other attractive objects which had been given him by the authorities in India for

11904-564: The prospect of converting the country. Xavier was welcomed by the Shingon monks since he used the word Dainichi for the Christian God; attempting to adapt the concept to local traditions. As Xavier learned more about the religious nuances of the word, he changed to Deusu from the Latin and Portuguese Deus . The monks later realised that Xavier was preaching a rival religion and grew more resistant towards his attempts at conversion. With

12028-575: The relics. The tour continued to every city where CCO and/or the Jesuits are present in Canada: Quebec City, St. John's, Halifax, St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish (neither CCO nor the Jesuits are present here), Kingston, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria, and Montreal before returning to Ottawa. The relic was then returned to Rome with a Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by Archbishop Terrence Prendergast at

12152-484: The religious qualities of the Chinese: Ruggieri to the common people, in whom Buddhist and Taoist elements predominated, and Ricci to the educated classes, where Confucianism prevailed. Ricci, who arrived at the age of 30 and spent the rest of his life in China, wrote to the Jesuit houses in Europe and called for priests – men who would not only be " good ", but also " men of talent, since we are dealing here with

12276-566: The reservations of some of the Japanese. Many mistakenly interpreted Catholic doctrine as teaching that demons had been created evil, and they thus concluded the God who had created them could not be good. Much of Francis' preaching was devoted to providing answers to this and other such challenges. In the course of these discussions, Francis grew to respect the rationality and general literacy of those Japanese people whom he encountered. He expressed optimism at

12400-522: The same Church of the East inscription. The result of their work was published by Athanasius Kircher in 1667 in the China Illustrata , and was the first significant Chinese text ever published in Europe. Better known is the European trip of Shen Fo-tsung in 1684–1685, who was presented to king Louis XIV on September 15, 1684, and also met with king James II , becoming the first recorded instance of

12524-743: The study of Chinese. Accordingly, in 1579 the Italian Michele Ruggieri (1543–1607) was sent to Macau, and in 1582 he was joined at his task by another Italian, Matteo Ricci (1552–1610). Early efforts were aided by donations made by elites, and especially wealthy widows from Europe as well Asia. Women such as Isabel Reigota in Macau, Mercia Roiz in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Candida Xu in China, all donated significant amounts towards establishing missions in China as well as to other Asian states from China. Both Ricci and Ruggieri were determined to adapt to

12648-439: The teaching of children. The first five months he spent in preaching and ministering to the sick in the hospitals. After that, he walked through the streets ringing a bell to summon the children and servants to catechism. He was invited to head Saint Paul's College , a pioneer seminary for the education of secular priests, which became the first Jesuit headquarters in Asia. Conversion efforts Xavier soon learned that along

12772-410: The time. He also called the Chinese "barbarians" in letters back home to his friends, and opposed what he considered to be anti-Black prejudice among the populace. He noted this, however, in the context of his function as a slave catcher for the Portuguese. (Ricci himself also owned African slaves.) During his research, he discovered that in contrast to the cultures of South Asia , Chinese culture

12896-440: The very small number of Chinese people in Macau who spoke Portuguese. A new regional manager ("Visitor") of the order, Alessandro Valignano , on his visit to Macau in 1578–1579 realized that Jesuits would not get far in China without a sound grounding in the language and culture of the country. He founded St. Paul Jesuit College (Macau) and requested the Order's superiors in Goa to send a suitably talented person to Macau to start

13020-515: The whole kingdom from becoming Christian. Francis was the first Jesuit to go to Japan as a missionary. He brought with him paintings of the Madonna and the Madonna and Child . These paintings were used to help teach the Japanese about Christianity. There was a huge language barrier as Japanese was unlike other languages the missionaries had previously encountered. For a long time, Francis struggled to learn

13144-459: Was a Basque cleric . He was a Catholic missionary and saint who co-founded the Society of Jesus and, as a representative of the Portuguese Empire , led the first Christian mission to Japan . Born in the town of Xavier , Kingdom of Navarre , he was a companion of Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre , Paris in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly

13268-557: Was accompanied by Anjirō, two other Japanese men, Father Cosme de Torres and Brother Juan Fernández . He had taken with him presents for the " King of Japan " since he intended to introduce himself as the Apostolic Nuncio . Europeans had already come to Japan; the Portuguese had landed in 1543 on the island of Tanegashima , where they introduced matchlock firearms to Japan. From Amboina, he wrote to his companions in Europe: "I asked

13392-412: Was accompanied only by a Jesuit student, Álvaro Ferreira, a Chinese man called António, and a Malabar servant called Christopher. Around mid-November, he sent a letter saying that a man had agreed to take him to the mainland in exchange for a large sum of money. Having sent back Álvaro Ferreira, he remained alone with António. He died from a fever at Shangchuan, Taishan, China, on 3 December 1552, while he

13516-413: Was back in Goa by January 1552. On 17 April he set sail with Diogo Pereira on the Santa Cruz for China. He planned to introduce himself as Apostolic Nuncio and Pereira as the ambassador of the king of Portugal. But then he realized that he had forgotten his testimonial letters as an Apostolic Nuncio. Back in Malacca, he was confronted by the captain Álvaro de Ataíde da Gama who now had total control over

13640-718: Was beatified by Pope Paul V on 25 October 1619 and canonized by Pope Gregory XV on 12 March 1622. In 1624, he was made co-patron of Navarre . Known as the "Apostle of the Indies ", "Apostle of the Far East ", "Apostle of China" and "Apostle of Japan", he is considered to be one of the greatest missionaries since Paul the Apostle . In 1927, Pope Pius XI published the decree "Apostolicorum in Missionibus" naming Francis Xavier, along with Thérèse of Lisieux , co-patron of all foreign missions. He

13764-409: Was desirable. Just as Ricci spent his life in China, others of his followers did the same. This level of commitment was necessitated by logistical reasons: Travel from Europe to China took many months, sometimes years; and learning the country's language and culture was even more time-consuming. When a Jesuit from China did travel back to Europe, he typically did it as a representative ("procurator") of

13888-461: Was first published in 1615 in Augsburg as De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas and soon was translated into a number of other European languages. Ricci could speak Chinese as well as read and write classical Chinese , the literary language of scholars and officials. He was known for his appreciation of Chinese culture in general but condemned the prostitution which was widespread in Beijing at

14012-574: Was in Beijing between 1656 and 1661. During the several years of war between the Qing and the Southern Ming dynasties, it was not uncommon for some Jesuits to find themselves on different sides of the front lines: while Adam Schall was an important counselor of the Qing Shunzhi Emperor in Beijing, Michał Boym travelled from the jungles of south-western China to Rome, carrying the plea of help from

14136-517: Was invited to become an adviser to the imperial court of the Wanli Emperor , the first Westerner to be invited into the Forbidden City . This honor was in recognition of Ricci's scientific abilities, chiefly his predictions of solar eclipses, which were significant events in the Chinese world. He established the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing , the oldest Catholic church in

14260-492: Was not carried out, but he died after his release owing to the privations he had endured. A collection of his manuscripts remains and was deposited in the Vatican Library . After he and Ferdinand Verbiest won the tests against Chinese and Islamic calendar scholars, the court adapted the western calendar only. The Jesuits also endeavoured to build churches and demonstrate Western architectural styles. In 1605, they established

14384-410: Was not permitted to enter any port his ship arrived at until 15 August, when he went ashore at Kagoshima , the principal port of Satsuma Province on the island of Kyūshū . As a representative of the Portuguese king, he was received in a friendly manner. Shimazu Takahisa (1514–1571), daimyō of Satsuma, gave a friendly reception to Francis on 29 September 1549, but in the following year he forbade

14508-457: Was particularly attractive because of its culture. For him, these areas were interconnected; they could not be evangelised separately. Francis Xavier left Lisbon on 7 April 1541, his thirty-fifth birthday, along with two other Jesuits and the new viceroy Martim Afonso de Sousa , on board the Santiago . As he departed, Francis was given a brief from the pope appointing him apostolic nuncio to

14632-440: Was published in 1667, and the second, a Chinese–French dictionary, was published in 1670. The Portuguese Jesuit João Rodrigues , previously the personal translator of the Japanese leaders Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Tokugawa Ieyasu , published a terser and clearer edition of his Japanese grammar from Macao in 1620. The French Jesuit Joseph-Marie Amiot wrote a Manchu dictionary Dictionnaire tatare-mantchou-français (Paris, 1789),

14756-567: Was restored with support from the alumni of Wah Yan College , a Jesuit high school in Hong Kong. From December 2017 to February 2018, Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) in cooperation with the Jesuits, and the Archdiocese of Ottawa (Canada) brought Xavier's right forearm to tour throughout Canada. The faithful, especially university students participating with CCO at Rise Up 2017 in Ottawa, venerated

14880-473: Was shipped to Goa. The mostly-incorruptible body is now in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, where it was placed in a glass container encased in a silver casket on 2 December 1637. This casket, constructed by Goan silversmiths between 1636 and 1637, was an exemplary blend of Italian and Indian aesthetic sensibilities. There are 32 silver plates on all four sides of the casket, depicting different episodes from

15004-503: Was strongly intertwined with Confucian values and therefore decided to use existing Chinese concepts to explain Christianity. With his superior Valignano's formal approval, he aligned himself with the Confucian intellectually elite literati, and even adopted their mode of dress. He did not explain the Catholic faith as entirely foreign or new; instead, he said that the Chinese culture and people always believed in God and that Christianity

15128-478: Was taken by the papal legate to the Kangxi Emperor , who rejected the decision and required missionaries to declare their adherence to "the rules of Matteo Ricci". In 1724, the Yongzheng Emperor expelled all missionaries who failed to support the Jesuit position. Among the last Jesuits to work at the Chinese court were Louis Antoine de Poirot (1735–1813) and Giuseppe Panzi (1734-before 1812) who worked for

15252-646: Was waiting for a boat that would take him to mainland China. Xavier was first buried on a beach at Shangchuan Island , Taishan , Guangdong. His body was taken from the island in February 1553 and temporarily buried in St. Paul's Church in Portuguese Malacca on 22 March 1553. An open grave in the church now marks the place of Xavier's burial. Pereira came back from Goa, removed the corpse shortly after 15 April 1553, and moved it to his house. On 11 December 1553, Xavier's body

15376-543: Was written in the form of a dialogue, originally in Chinese. Ricci used the treatise in his missionary effort to convert Chinese literati, men who were educated in Confucianism and the Chinese classics. In the Chinese Rites controversy , some Roman-Catholic missionaries raised the question of whether Ricci and other Jesuits had gone too far and changed Christian beliefs to win converts. Peter Phan argues that True Meaning

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