Matteo Ricci

La Cina rappresenta un quinto dell’umanità e di appresta a diventare, o è già diventata, decisiva per le sorti del mondo. Ad essa la Chiesa ha guardato negli ultimi secoli con un'attenzione quasi spasmodica dedicandogli grandi imprese di evangelizzazione. Imprese che non sembrano riuscite, se il numero dei cinesi che hanno abbracciato il Vangelo è quasi irrilevante e se, per quanta riguarda i cattolici, persiste forte il contrasto tra la Santa Sede e le supreme istanze politiche di quella nazione.
Che cosa non ha funzionato? Il caso Cina ripropone tutto intero il problema dei ‘metodi missionari’. Questo volume esamina, partendo dai primi tentativi di evangelizzazione fino alla situazione attuale. Ne emerge una critica piuttosto forte degli errori della missione, ma anche l’apertura di vie del Vangelo che vanno riprese senza tentennamenti.
Con saggi di Gianni Criveller: Introduzione, La controversia dei Riti cinesi, Bibliografia e fonti per lo studio e la lettura su cristianesimo e Cina.
Mario Menin: Chiesa e Cina: la missione tra identita' religios e alterita' culturle
Matteo Nicolini Zani: La via monastica al cristianesimo cinese
Giuseppe Butturini: Chiesa cattolica e mondo cinese nel grande secolo missionario (1850-1950)
Angelo S. Lazzarotto: Le vicende cristiane della "Nuova Cina"
Umberto Bresciani: Come i confuciani vedono il cristianesimo
Giuseppe Zhao: L'azione apostolica di P. Matteo Ricci vista da un cinese Gianni Criveller

Era il 24 gennaio 1601 quando Ricci arrivava finalmente alla corte di Pechino su invito dell'Imperatore, dopo aver dimostrato nei suoi 18 anni di permanenza in Cina che anche nel mondo occidentale erano stati conseguiti livelli di virtù e di sapere almeno pari a quelli conosciuti dalla Cina della dinastia Ming. La mediazione tra l'Ordine dei gesuiti e i Cinesi avviene tramite il sapere tecnico-scientifico e filosofico -letterario. Si tratta, da parte dei gesuiti, di un impegno profuso nella trasmissione di scienze, tecnologie e arti occidentali in cui anche la musica, intesa nell'accezione più ampia di evento sonoro, gioca un ruolo da protagonista. Tutta la produzione libraria, cartografica e strumentale (nel senso di strumentario scientifico-astronomico e musicale) viene sempre presentata ai cinesi come una via per la saggezza, mediante un uso meditativo ed emblematico degli oggetti, nei quali vengono sempre inseriti espressioni e richiami morali in modo da favorire la percezione della novità proposta in chiave riflessivo-meditativa, in vista della fìnalità religiosa: la propaganda fidei. Strumenti musicali e orologi sonanti, prima mai visti in Cina, vengono impiegati secondo questa modalità comunicativa: essi diventano così doni sonori per l'imperatore Wanli, ambasciatori d'Occidente in-animati (ossia' diversamente' animati) per l'Impero del Drago.

It was 24th January 1601 when Ricci finally arrived at the court of Beijing at the invitation of the Emperor, after having demonstrated during his 18 years in China that even in the western world levels of virtue and knowledge had been achieved that were at least equal to those known in China during the Ming dynasty. The mediation between the Jesuit Order and the Chinese took place through technical-scientific and philosophical-literary knowledge. The Jesuits were committed to the transmission of Western sciences, technologies and arts, in which music, understood in its broadest sense as a sound event, also played a leading role. The entire production of books, maps and instruments (in the sense of scientific, astronomical and musical instruments) was always presented to the Chinese as a path to wisdom, through a meditative and emblematic use of objects, in which moral expressions and references were always inserted to encourage the perception of the novelty proposed in a reflective-meditative key, in view of the religious goal: propaganda fidei. Musical instruments and sonorous clocks, never before seen in China, are used in this way of communication: they thus become sonorous gifts for the emperor Wanli, in-animated (i.e. 'differently' animated) ambassadors of the West for the Dragon Empire.

Chinese language has almost one character per every word, therefore the memorization and the active use of the language for a speaker with a native Indo-European language background must be harder than for a Chinese person. Nonetheless, Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit missionary to China, was able to teach Chinese thanks to an ancient mnemonic method, which he transformed and applied to Chinese. I will search in history for the connection of this method with the field of languages, and apply this old method in teaching English words to a modern secondary school classroom. By doing this, I will try to prove whether this ancient mnemonic method, used in the 16th century by Matteo Ricci in China, is still applicable in today’s secondary school teaching environment, where I will focus on acquiring words in English as a foreign language.

Come abbiamo scelto i giganti

Luisa M. Paternicò - “Sapienza” Università di Roma

“Questa è la storia di un piccolo gruppo di uomini che, rompendo con lo spirito dominante del loro tempo e richiamandosi ad un passato lontano, restituirono una posizione centrale al concetto di adattamento culturale nella missione cristiana nel mondo […] Raccontare la loro storia val bene la pena non semplicemente perché si tratta di un importante segmento della storia mondiale, ma perché essa ha molto da insegnare […] a un mondo che non ha ancora imparato ad abbattere le barriere dell’orgoglio culturale, raziale e nazionale”.
Le parole di George H. Dunne a conclusione del prologo di Generation of Giants (1962) sono state l’elemento propulsivo per la realizzazione del presente numero monografico. Gli autori di questo volume offrono al lettore un ritratto vivido, pur nella sua brevità, delle principali figure della missione gesuita in Cina nei secoli XVI-XVIII. La scelta dei missionari presentati è stata ispirata da molteplici fattori. Anzitutto, dalla volontà di fare conoscere e apprezzare alcune personalità probabilmente meno note del pioniere della missione cinese, Matteo Ricci, ma non per questo meno influenti nella storia dei rapporti tra la Cina e l’Occidente.
In secondo luogo, si è voluta scegliere una rosa di talenti quanto più variegata possibile, includendo anche alcuni missionari che, per ragioni cronologiche, erano stati esclusi dalla trattazione di Dunne, che si concentrava sugli ultimi decenni della dinastia Ming (1368-1644). Infine, ha avuto un peso determinante la definizione di “giganti” offerta da Giuliano Bertuccioli in Italia e Cina (1996) in riferimento ai gesuiti nel Celeste Impero: […] “quei missionari si dimostrarono veramente dotati di eccezionali doti fisiche e intellettuali. Lo provano la loro resistenza alle infinite traversie e fatiche, comprese quelle del lungo e pericoloso viaggio dall’Europa alla Cina; la loro capacità di adattarsi e soprattutto di trovare i mezzi per vivere in un mondo straniero […]; la notevole produzione, in alcuni casi eccezionale, in campo culturale. Astronomi, matematici, geografi, teologi, filosofi, pittori, musicisti, esperti in idraulica, esperti in balistica: i gesuiti operanti in quel secolo in Cina erano davvero ad omnia parati”.
Dopo un’introduzione sull’avvio della missione cinese, presentiamo dunque quelle che si è ritenuto siano state figure chiave in Cina nel periodo preso in considerazione - con la consapevolezza che altri mancano all’appello - che, per avere sopportato e superato enormi difficoltà e disagi, dalle intemperie alle pestilenze alle persecuzioni, nonché per essersi saputi affermare come letterati e scienziati in Cina, vincendo la diffidenza e l’ostilità non solo dei cinesi ma anche dei missionari degli altri ordini, possono essere a buon diritto definiti “giganti”:
Johann Schreck (1576-1630), che “voleva emigrare in un paese dove, secondo quanto si diceva, governavano gli uomini di cultura, e dove non esistevano persecuzioni per gli studiosi” (Iannaccone); Giulio Aleni (1582-1649), l’umile “apostolo del Fujian” che per primo “descrisse ai cinesi il mondo così come era conosciuto e immaginato in occidente nel XVII secolo” (De Troia); Adam Schall (1591-1666), “il primo missionario cristiano incaricato di dirigere l’Ufficio Astronomico Imperiale” (von Collani); Michael Boym (1612-1659), “in parte un missionario, in parte uno scienziato, un diplomatico, un viaggiatore e un sognatore” (Miazek); Martino Martini (1614-1661), “colui che presentò per primo e in gran dettaglio la realtà della Cina ai lettori europei” (Masini); Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-1688), colui che trasmise “la scienza e la tecnologia occidentale all’estremo oriente” (Golvers); Prospero Intorcetta (1625-1696), “ottimo conoscitore della lingua e della civiltà cinese” (Paternicò); Tomás Pereira (1646-1708), che “seppe farsi apprezzare per il talento musicale come anche per l’abilità nel riparare orologi, costruire strumenti musicali ed automi” (Antonucci); Joachim Bouvet (1656-1730) “che fu costretto dalle circostanze a proporre una strategia di adattamento alternativa” (Paternicò); Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), pittore di corte la cui “lunga e prolifica attività artistica spaziò anche nei campi dell’architettura e delle arti minori, fino alla traduzione in lingua cinese di trattati artistici occidentali” (Salviati).

La mostra e il convegno sono stati organizzati in occasione del IV centenario della morte del gesuita P. Matteo Ricci (1552-1610).
Massimo studioso delle fonti ricciane è stato certamente padre Pasquale D'Elia, gesuita, missionario e sinologo, nato a Pietracatella nel 1890. Alla sua morte, nel 1963, donò alla Confraternita del suo paese natio, antica istituzione fondata nel 1754, un buon numero di sui testi, compreso il grande volume del Mappamondo Cinese del p. Matteo Ricci, edito nel 1938, opera conservata in originale presso la Biblioteca Vaticana.
La mostra è stata ideata e realizzata per gli alunni delle Scuole primarie e secondarie di I grado, per fornire un rapido ma efficace approccio alla figura di padre D'Elia, al quale è stata intitolata la locale scuola media.
Gli eventi sono stati promossi dall'Arcidiocesi di Campobasso-Boiano, dalla Diocesi di Macerata, dalla Pontificia Università Gregoriana, dal Comune di Pietracatella, dalla Parrocchia San Giovanni Battista di Pietracatella, dalla Confraternita Maria SS. di Costantinopoli, dalla ProLoco Pietramurata, dalla Biblioteca Provinciale P. Albino di Campobasso, dalla Pastorale Missionaria di Campobasso, e con il patrocinio del Comitato per le Celebrazioni del IV Centenario della morte di padre Matteo Ricci.

An historical survey of the pipe organ in China between 1600 and 1775, covering the work of Matteo Ricci, Lazzaro Cattaneo, Tomas Pereira, Teodorico Pedrini, Florian Bahr, August von Hallerstein, Charles Paris, and others from the late Ming era through the first century of Qing rule.

The paper introduces the major developments of the Chinese Rites Controversy (XVII-XVIII centuries), which had a devastating impact on China missionary endeavor. Special attention is given to religious and ideological background of the various missionary groups and personalities involved in the controversy. Particular attention is also given to the participation of Chinese converts and officials in the debate and the progress of the controversy.
The Rites controversy initiated in Fujian province in mid 1635, when newly arrived Dominican and Franciscan missionaries objected to the method of the Jesuits, introduced in China by Matteo Ricci S.J., and in Fujian by Giulio Aleni S.J. The Holy See was called in to declare whether the participation in the ancestral Rites was permissible for the Christians. Rome was unable to make a clear cut decision, and the controversy dragged on for several decades.
After the prohibition to the Rites issued by the Apostolic Vicar of Fujian Charles Maigrot MEP (1693) the Controversy regained momentum, with the personal involvement of China’s Emperor Kangxi and pope Clement XI. The Controversy reached an incredible level of complication and animosity. A vast amount of writings by clergy and intellectuals alike, were produces in China and in Europe. The two Papal Legations to China (XVII century) could not defuse the tension between Beijing and Rome, and among the various missionary groups. Actually the Legations, and the Roman decisions, added to the ambiguity, exasperation and bitterness.
From 1704, when pope Clement XI condemned the Rites, it was clear that Holy See was determined to disapprove the Rites, but also to save the China Mission from destruction. But the two objectives were not compatible. In 1742 Benedict XV condemned in the most solemn way the Rites, putting to a definitive end not only to the century-long controversy, but also to the China Mission initiated by Matteo Ricci, and indeed, creating the premises to the same suppression of the Society of Jesus (1773).
In 1939, due to the influence of Holy See Delegate to China Celso Costantini, the prohibition on the Rites is dramatically reversed.

Lo scritto introduce ai principali sviluppi della controversia sui Riti cinesi (secoli XVII-XVIII), che ha avuto un impatto devastante sulla vicenda missionaria in Cina. Particolare attenzione viene data al background religioso e ideologico dei gruppi missionari, delle personalità coinvolte nella controversia, inclusi convertiti e funzionari cinesi.

La controversia sui Riti iniziò nella provincia del Fujian a metà del 1635, quando i missionari domenicani e francescani appena arrivati ​​si opposero al metodo di evangelizzazione dei gesuiti, introdotto in Cina da Matteo Ricci, e nel Fujian da Giulio Aleni. La Santa Sede fu chiamata a dichiarare se ai cristiani fosse consentito o meno di partecipare ai rituali ancestrali. Roma non è stata in grado di prendere una decisione chiara e la controversia si è trascinata per diversi decenni.

Dopo il divieto ai Riti emanato dal vicario apostolico del Fujian Charles Maigrot MEP (1693), la controversia ha ripreso slancio, con il coinvolgimento personale dell'imperatore Kangxi e di papa Clemente XI. La controversia ha raggiunto un livello incredibile di complicazione e animosità. Una grande quantità di scritti di chierici e intellettuali fu prodotta in Cina e in Europa. Due legazioni papali in Cina (XVII secolo) non riuscirono a risolvere la questione, quanto piuttosto adaumentare la tensione tra Pechino e Roma e l'amarezza dei missionari.

Dal 1704, quando Roma condannò nuovamente i Riti, Clemente XI era determinato a salvare comunque la missione in Cina dalla distruzione. Ma i due obiettivi non erano compatibili. Nel 1742 Benedetto XIV condannò i Riti nella maniera più solenne, mettendo definitivamente fine non solo alla secolare controversia, ma anche alla Missione in Cina avviata da Matteo Ricci. I gesuiti persero una grande battaglia, la loro reputazione crollò, al punto che la stessa Compagnia di Gesù fu soppressa nel 1773.

Nel 1939 la Santa Sede, sotto l'influenza di Celso Costantini, a suo tempo Delegato Apostolico in Cina, annullò il divieto dei Riti.

The study introduces the major developments of the Chinese Rites Controversy (XVII-XVIII centuries), which had a devastating impact on China missionary endeavor. Special attention is given to religious and ideological background of the various missionary groups, to personalities involved in the controversy and to the Chinese converts and officials.
The Rites controversy initiated in Fujian province in mid 1635, when newly arrived Dominican and Franciscan missionaries objected to the method of the Jesuits, introduced in China by Matteo Ricci S.J., and in Fujian by Giulio Aleni S.J. The Holy See was called in to declare whether the participation in the ancestral Rites was permissible for the Christians. Rome was unable to make a clear cut decision, and the controversy dragged on for several decades.
After the prohibition to the Rites issued by the Apostolic Vicar of Fujian Charles Maigrot MEP (1693) the Controversy regained momentum, with the personal involvement of China’s Emperor Kangxi and pope Clement XI. The Controversy reached an incredible level of complication and animosity. A vast amount of writings by clergy and intellectuals alike, were produces in China and in Europe. The two Papal Legations to China (XVII century) could not defuse the tension between Beijing and Rome, and among the various missionary groups. Actually the Legations, and the Roman decisions, added to the ambiguity, exasperation and bitterness.
From 1704, when pope Clement XI condemned the Rites, it was clear that Holy See was determined to disapprove the Rites, but also to save the China Mission from destruction. But the two objectives were not compatible. In 1742 Benedict XV condemned in the most solemn way the Rites, putting to a definitive end not only to the century-long controversy, but also to the China Mission initiated by Matteo Ricci, and indeed, creating the premises to the same suppression of the Society of Jesus (1773).
In 1939, due to the influence of Holy See Delegate to China Celso Costantini, the prohibition on the Rites is dramatically reversed.

Matteo Ricci (1552-1610)
Missionario della Compagnia di Gesù, scienziato e umanista, introdusse, primo nell'epoca moderna, la fede cristiana in Cina attraverso la via dell'amicizia, del dialogo culturale e della produzione di nuovi saperi scientifici.
Grazie al metodo dell’accomodamento, Ricci unì mondi lontani e reciprocamente “altri”. Lasciò una eredità preziosa, studiata e apprezzata in Cina e nel mondo.
L’alleanza fra fede e ragione fu la caratteristica principale della sua missione. Il missionario umanista aveva una sconfinata fiducia nella forza della ragione, della parola, dei libri e delle immagini. E ciò lo rende un missionario profetico e un uomo moderno, per quanto ancora talvolta incompreso. Questa ‘biografia intellettuale’ si propone di illustrare l’impianto teologico e ideale da cui Ricci ha attinto ispirazione e motivazione.

耶稣会传教士Matteo Ricci（1552-1610）进入中国后，为了适应本土文化，替自己起了汉名“利玛窦”和尊名“西泰”。但“利玛窦”这一中文名出现的时间、来源和意义，以及尊名“西泰”到底是字还是号，历来众说纷纭、莫衷一是。在前人研究的基础上，根据《利学资料》中的一些细节、方济会士利安定神父的一封信以及意大利语语音规则，并通过查阅三类中西文史料：明朝宫廷记录、利玛窦友人为其汉文作品所作的序言以及利氏本人的记载，证明“利玛窦”这一汉名取自1585 年之前，是由其原名“Matteo Ricci”根据意大利语发音音译而来，并参照中国姓名文化而最终确定的。其中，“利”为姓，“玛窦”为名。其尊名“西泰”为号，取自1585 年8 月到11 月间。
关键词：利玛窦；西泰；音译

Upon his arrival in China, Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), a missionary of the Society of Jesus, adopted a Chinese name“LI Ma-dou”and an honorific title“Xi-tai”, as a means of the adaptation to local culture. However, among historians of all times, there is no consensus around the time of the emergence, origin and connotation of his Chinese name LI Madou,
as well as whether Xi-tai is a courtesy name (Zi) or an art name (Hao), which is unable to decide which is right. Taking a step forward from previous researches, according to the details of Fonti ricciane and a letter from Cleric Agustín de San Pascual, a Franciscan, as well as the phonetic rules of Italian, also consulting three types of historical materials in Chinese and Western languages, i.e. imperial court records of Ming Dynasty, preface of Matteo Ricci’s Chinese work written by his
Chinese friends, and Ricci’s own recordation, this article proves that the Chinese name“LI Ma-dou”was adopted before 1585, and was transliterated from the pronunciation of his Italian name“Matteo Ricci”, the final determination being also based on referring to Chinese naming culture, among which LI is the last name while Ma-dou is the first name. His honorific title Xi-tai is an art name, named between August to December during the year 1585.
Key words: Matteo Ricci; Xi-tai; transliteration

The world map Kun Yu Wan Guo Quan Tu, a map completely labeled in Chinese and previously thought to be the works of the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci in 1602, is incompatible with the authorship of Matteo Ricci or European cartographers. The map portraying an outdated Europe without the Papal States, Tuscany and Florence is inconsistent with Ricci's status as an Italian Jesuit living in the Renaissance era. On the other hand, the geography of America on this map is not discovered by Europeans until 200 years after Ricci's death. For these reasons, the world map is nicknamed " Impossible Black Tulip ". According to a statement and the historical background of place names on the map, it is constructed between 1428 and 1430, more than 60 years before Christopher Columbus' first voyage. Martino Martini's Novus Atlas Sinensis also supports the capability of Chinese cartography in Ming dynasty. The loss of original Chinese documents, translational errors, and Ming politics have kept this secret for the past 600 years, until the details of this map are publicly available. The entire history of cartography and Age of Exploration should be revised to include the pioneering voyages (1405-1433) and cartographical development led by Zheng He, the Chinese Admiral.

It may well be considered a case of historical irony that
arguably the most influential Italian in East Asia is not
particularly well celebrated in his native land. Neither Dante
Alighieri, nor Leonardo da Vinci, not even Michelangelo
Buonarroti, have been as influential or significant in the East
Asian cultural realm as the humble Italian Jesuit missionary,
Matteo Ricci (1552-1610). The Jesuit from Macerata, who, in a
relatively short period of time mastered the Chinese language
with great skill and dexterity, has for several centuries been a
revered (and sometimes reviled) figure, responsible for sowing
the seeds of Catholicism in both China and Korea, despite
never having travelled to the “land of the morning calm”.

Nevertheless, a copy of Ricci’s magnum opus, which was
written in Chinese and called Tianzhu shiyi (天主實義; Kor.
Chŏnju sirŭi) [The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven], was
brought to Korea by Korean envoys who had sojourned in
Beijing. Though it was initially criticised and derided by
Korean scholars, it eventually inspired a group of Korean
Confucians to convert to the religious teachings of this foreign
“Western Learning” (西學; Kor. Sŏhak), as it became known to
them.

This paper has three objectives: firstly, to examine
Ricci’s letters and journal for information on Korea, which is
important from a historiographical point of view. Secondly, it
examines Ricci’s accommodation to Chinese and Confucian
ways, culminating in Tianzhu shiyi, usually referred to by
Ricci in his own writings as a “catechism”. It highlights
Ricci’s rejection of Neo-Confucianism and return to “original”
Confucianism, at a time when Korea was a tributary state of
China, known as Chosŏn (朝鮮), a place where Neo-Confucianism
had firmly taken root. Thirdly, I will outline the
reception of Ricci’s Catholic ideas in Korea, from their initial
rejection, to their acceptance by a group of Korean scholars,
where they transformed Korea’s religious and intellectual
landscape forever.

The 1602 Chinese world map, long believed to be the work of Matteo Ricci, is mostly drawn by Chinese prior to 1430. The Papal States, Florence and other Renaissance names are notably absent in the map, which is inconsistent with the status of Ricci as a Jesuit. Half of the place names in America has no equivalent in European maps. The geography of western North America then unknown to Europeans is  labeled accurately with Chinese place names not found in contemporaneous European maps. Most of the information on the map is dated prior to 1430, after the first six voyages of the Chinese Admiral Zheng He.The 1602 Chinese world map provides the evidence that Ming Chinese circumnavigated and mapped the world more than 60 years before Christopher Columbus.

In 1982, at the Macerata Conference commemorating the 400th anniversary of the arrival in China of Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) described the Italian missionary as “a veritable bridge between the two civilizations: European and Chinese.” Because of these eminent words, in the years that followed a considerable academic literature flourished, which tended to celebrate Ricci’s efforts to bring Western knowledge to the Middle Kingdom. To use modern epistemological categories, the Italian Jesuit’s labours can actually become a metaphor for a (cultural) bridge. However, anthropological theory, for example, would maintain that Christian missions were occasionally trying to undermine beliefs and practices with which they were coming into contact, supplanting them with the message they were bringing. There appears to be no doubt that Ricci established a connection between West and East. But was this actually the Jesuit Father’s real intention? This paper – through some critical remarks – attempts to pose (or to pose again) some questions, providing elements for constructive debate.

Why were Chinese and Indian ways of thinking excluded from European philosophy in early modern times? This is a study of what happened to the European understanding of China and India between the late 16th century and the first half of the 18th century.

Investigating the description of these two Asian civilizations during a century and a half of histories of philosophy, this book accounts for the change of historiographical paradigms, from Neoplatonic philosophia perennis and Spinozistic atheism to German Eclecticism. Uncovering the reasons for inserting or excluding Chinese and Indian ways of thinking within the field of Philosophy in early modern times, it reveals the origin of the Eurocentric understanding of Philosophy as a Greek-European prerogative.

By highlighting how this narrowing and exclusion of non-Western ways of thought was a result of conviction of superiority and religious prejudice, this book provides a new way of thinking about the place of Asian traditions among World philosophies.

Table of contents:
List of Abbreviations
General Introduction
Preliminary Note to Some Terms
1. India and Chinese Philosophy in the Late-16th Century Europe
2. The Rise of the Myth of an Asiatic Atheism
3. The Exclusion of Asian Philosophical Thought in Europe
Conclusion
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Secondary sources
Index

Indexed in Chinese Christian Text Database as no.14207 http://heron-net.be/pa_cct/index.php/Detail/objects/14751

It is well known that the Tianzhu shiyi (1603) is a development of a previous catechism published some twenty years before, which Matteo Ricci completely remodeled according to his discussions with Chinese intellectuals. This research paper shows that Ricci’s mentor, Alessandro Valignano, and particularly his Catechismus japonensis, written in Japan in 1579-1582 shaped Ricci’s method and ideas. This overlooked connection between the two works enables us to understand better Ricci’s debt toward his predecessor and his breakthrough in terms of engagement with indigenous culture.

One of the attributes of the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) was his prodigious memory. The humanistic education received at the Roman College enabled him to master the classical art of memory. In China, Ricci discovered that memorization was essential to the learning process required for the civil service examinations to hold posts within the empire, and so he composed the Xiguo Jifa (1596) (Occidental Method of Memory), based on one of the commonest mnemonic systems—the architectural type—to help candidates memorize contents for these examinations. Ricci chose Chinese characters as mnemonic images to be placed in mental structures. This article aims to show how Ricci’s choice of Chinese characters as mnemonic images in China deviated from one of the main functions of an art of memory: to mediate between words and images, creating bridges and modes of translation from one another, thus rendering those images “untranslatable.”

Matteo Ricci e Giulio Aleni, due vite incrociate
Ricci ed Aleni non si sono mai incontrati.
Eppure la loro vita è profondamente collegata. Forse nessuno, come Aleni, si avvicina a Matteo Ricci per personalità, formazione, spiritualità, genialità, ecletticità, erudizione, zelo, stile e metodo missionario. Tra i vari missionari che si sono succeduti a Ricci, nessuno ne ha raccolto l’eredità tanto felicemente quanto Giulio Aleni. Ed Aleni è riuscito a completare l’opera iniziata da Ricci, il quale non poteva che aprire la strada, dare legittimità e sicurezza alla presenza cristiana, affinché poi missionari come Aleni potessero dispiegare in pieno l’attività apostolica, in particolare attraverso la predicazione del kerigma cristiano.

Lo scritto introduce ai principali sviluppi della controversia sui Riti cinesi (secoli XVII-XVIII), che ha avuto un impatto devastante sulla vicenda missionaria in Cina. Particolare attenzione viene data al background religioso e ideologico dei gruppi missionari, delle personalità coinvolte nella controversia, inclusi convertiti e funzionari cinesi.

La controversia sui Riti iniziò nella provincia del Fujian a metà del 1635, quando i missionari domenicani e francescani appena arrivati ​​si opposero al metodo di evangelizzazione dei gesuiti, introdotto in Cina da Matteo Ricci, e nel Fujian da Giulio Aleni. La Santa Sede fu chiamata a dichiarare se ai cristiani fosse consentito o meno di partecipare ai rituali ancestrali. Roma non è stata in grado di prendere una decisione chiara e la controversia si è trascinata per diversi decenni.

Dopo il divieto ai Riti emanato dal vicario apostolico del Fujian Charles Maigrot MEP (1693), la controversia ha ripreso slancio, con il coinvolgimento personale dell'imperatore Kangxi e di papa Clemente XI. La controversia ha raggiunto un livello incredibile di complicazione e animosità. Una grande quantità di scritti di chierici e intellettuali fu prodotta in Cina e in Europa. Due legazioni papali in Cina (XVII secolo) non riuscirono a risolvere la questione, quanto piuttosto adaumentare la tensione tra Pechino e Roma e l'amarezza dei missionari.

Dal 1704, quando Roma condannò nuovamente i Riti, Clemente XI era determinato a salvare comunque la missione in Cina dalla distruzione. Ma i due obiettivi non erano compatibili. Nel 1742 Benedetto XIV condannò i Riti nella maniera più solenne, mettendo definitivamente fine non solo alla secolare controversia, ma anche alla Missione in Cina avviata da Matteo Ricci. I gesuiti persero una grande battaglia, la loro reputazione crollò, al punto che la stessa Compagnia di Gesù fu soppressa nel 1773.

Nel 1939 la Santa Sede, sotto l'influenza di Celso Costantini, a suo tempo Delegato Apostolico in Cina, annullò il divieto dei Riti.

Giulio Aleni wrote the biography of Matteo Ricci in Chinese in Fuzhou in 1630, twenty years after the death of the founder of the Jesuit mission in China. Aleni's work is a fundamental document for studying Ricci and Jesuit mission from a Chinese viewpoint. Aleni named 55 Chinese officials and scholars who met Ricci. Aleni informs that Ricci kept a diary containing his spiritual musings, and many other precious information that are not found in other sources. The 1630's edition includes other important documents, such as an after-word by Li Jubiao, a short biography of Ricci by Zhang Weishu, high official Wu Daoan's supplication for a piece of land to bury Ricci, and a tomb inscription in honour of Ricci by Wang Yinglin
要旨 ジュリオ・アレーニは中国でのイエズス会創設者マテオ・リッチの没後20年にあたる 1630年に福州にて中国語で彼の伝記を書いた。アレーニの作品は、中国人の視点からリ ッチとイエズス会宣教師を研究する際の基本的文書となっている。アレーニはリッチ が、精神的な憂慮、他の情報源にはない多数の貴重な情報を含む日記をつけていたこと を伝える。1630年版には、Li Jubiaoによる後記、Zhang Weishuによるリッチの短い伝 記、リッチを埋葬するための土地を請う高官のWu Daoanの嘆願、Wang Yinglinによるリ ッチを敬う墓碑銘といった重要な文書が含まれる。

基督教学术 (Christian Scholarship)
14 (December 2015)
pp.82-97

1610年，在利玛窦逝世后不久，他的接班人龙华民用他的论文开启了一场争论：龙华民对于利玛窦和其追随者对于基督宗教的神和天主教神学关键词语的中文译名产生疑窦。被流放到澳门的日本耶稣会士对此持有更为强烈的批判态度。尽管在耶稣会传教士中对于译名的争论产生了妥协，接受了利玛窦所提出的几个译名的可能性，但是这也带来了更为深远的影响：一篇耶稣会内部的论文，约在1623-1624年由龙华民撰写而成，于1701年在巴黎出版。通过该论文的法文版，莱布尼茨在他的论文Discours sur la théologie naturelle des Chinois中得出一个与龙华民截然不同的结论，他在龙华民所访查的中国基督教文人的观念中发现了“自然神学”，而他认为这样的“自然的神学”比笛卡尔更接近基督教信仰的精神。为建立中国神学的谱系学，龙华民论文中对于经书注释的研究很有价值：龙华民非常真诚记录了中国基督教文人向他坦言的有关术语和教义的问题，但他个人显然无法全然理解中国文人的 “心灵神学”：他们的感受性与龙华民长期所接受的西方经学的思考方式截然不同。然而，具有讽刺意味的是：对于现代读者而言，中国的皈依者所使用的神学方法更倾向于罗耀拉式的灵修内观，而不是龙华民所使用的神学方法。
关键词：译名之争 ;利玛窦 ;龙华民 ;莱布尼茨 ;经学注解 ;中国神学


Niccolò Longobardo and the Genealogy of Chinese Theology
——The Terms Controversy, the Memoir of Longobardo and the Invention of Chinese “Natural Theology”
Benoît Vermander
(Translated by SHEN Xiuzhen and CHEN Wenfei)
Abstract：Soon after the death of Ricci (1610), his successor as head of the Jesuit mission of China, Niccolò Longobardo, opened a debate among his confreres: he was feeling very much ill at ease with the terms that had been adopted by Ricci and Jesuits close to him to refer to the Christian God and to other theological notions. Jesuits from the Japanese mission exiled in Macao were even more critical. Though the quarrel among Jesuits was settled through a compromise that confirmed several of the choices made by Ricci, it had long-term consequences: an internal Memoir by Longobardo, probably written around 1623-1624, was published in Paris in 1701. Leibniz wrote his Discours sur la théologie naturelle des Chinois (1716) on the basis of the French translation of Longobardo’s Memoir while reaching conclusions opposite to the ones of the Sicilian Jesuit, finding in the opinions of Chinese Christian Literati surveyed by Longobardo a « natural theology » that was, he asserted, closer to Christianity than the one expounded by Descartes. The hermeneutical study of Longobardo’s Memoir remains extremely interesting for discussing the genealogy of Chinese theology: Longobardo relates very honestly what Chinese converts tell him about terminological and doctrinal questions, but he is obviously unable to understand the kind of “spiritual theology” they are developing: their sensitivity is very different from the scholastic way of reasoning he had been trained to utilize. The irony is that, for the modern reader, Chinese converts are using a way of theologizing which recalls much more Loyola’s spiritual insights than the theological style used by Longobardo himself does.

This essay focuses on the gestures of courtesy described by Matteo Ricci (1552– 1610) in his treatise "Della entrata della Compagnia di Giesù e Christianità nella Cina" (1600 ca.). The Italian Jesuit was the first European missionary of the early modern period to settle in the capital of the Ming Empire. He gained the approval of the establishment only after practicing the Jesuit method of accommodatio, that is, adapting to the civilization he wanted to spiritually “conquer.” One of the most complicated aspects of Chinese culture were gestures, which in recent years have become the subject of fascinating and interdisciplinary research: not only in history, but anthropology, social studies, psycholinguistics, and others. Although not verbal, gestures are a fundamental aspect of any communication. This was true especially in the early modern Far East, where European missionaries constantly struggled because of unsurmountable linguistic differences. The gestures that Ricci described did not pertain only to religious men but had to be performed by anyone who wanted to immerse and integrate in such a refined society, in his case with the aim of converting it.

This article traces Chosŏn’s Neo-Confucian encounter with Matteo Ricci’s catechism,
known as Ch’ŏnju sirŭi (天主實義) in Korea.1 It explores how this inter-cultural experience culminated in a transformation from philosophical investigation, towards praxis, and its embodiment in a self-evangelizing Catholic Church. It outlines the spiritual metamorphosis which took place as Korean scholars, motivated mainly by Yi Pyŏk, converted to Catholicism without any foreign missionaries, based mainly on Ricci’s ideas about God. This inspired them to convert, and then to proselytize their new beliefs.

This article draws upon “deconstruction,” stemming from the work of Jacques Derrida
(1930–2004). It deconstructs Korean Neo-Confucian rejections of Ricci’s concept of
God (天主, Ch’ŏnju), which undermined their dependency on principle (理, i), and illustrates how the incarnation of Jesus, as God-in-man, also threatened to overturn
constructed Neo-Confucian hierarchies, which controlled their modus vivendi. Finally, it
deconstructs the earliest Catholic texts written by Koreans, showing how Confucian
ideas were supplemented with Christian ones, sowing seeds of social transformation,
visible in their writings. These early Catholics would face the wrath of Neo-Confucian
authority, which set about oppressing their beliefs, their writings and their burgeoning
sense of equality.



VIEW: http://newcms.kmu.ac.kr/sites/actakoreana2/issue_file/06%20Kevin%20Cawley%2015-1.pdf

The manuscript travel journals of the jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci (Della Entrata della Compagnia di Giesù e Christianità nella Cina) were published in a latin translation (De Christiana Expeditione apud Sinas suscepta ab Societate Iesu) in 1615. The translation has been, for centuries, the most detailed description of the Celestial Empire accessible to the European readers. It was, however, also  the product of a manipulation by their translator, the Flemish jesuit Nicolas Trigault. The aim of his manipulation - obtained for the most part by censoring some descriptions and by translating 'creatively' some terms - was ecclesiastic strategy: it was in fact necessary to 'justify' Ricci's 'soft' approach by even more exalting the wisdom of China's rulers. The translation had a role, for centuries - and perhaps even now - in determining the western idealized perception of Ming China.

Replicas of Marian images, especially the Salus Populi Romani, played an important role in the conversion of Chinese literati and commoners to Christianity. This article examines the diffusion of replicas of the Salus Populi Romani in the Ming Empire during the late sixteenth century, including both copies produced in situ and those coming from Europe. It focuses particularly on the role of miraculous and conversion tales related to the vision of Salus Populi Romani reproductions. This paper also focuses on the renowned conversion of the Chinese literatus (Paul) Xu Guangqi 徐光啓 (1562-1633) as it has been narrated by the Jesuit missionaries and the controversial role in his conversion played by a Marian devotional image. Conversely, this piece takes into consideration the role played by the production and reproduction of Marian devotional images in the Ming dynasty cultural context, including a new change in the enthusiasm in China for "Western" artworks and the wide diffusion of Roman Catholicism through "European" and "European-like" devotional images.