Answer to Question #262687 in History for merie

Question

 Explain in detail the eclecticism of Fr. Matteo Ricci in China.

Answer 1

Matteo Ricci was a Jesuit missionary from Italy who pioneered the conversion of China. Prior to the twentieth century, he was China's most well-known Jesuit and European. Ricci and a fellow Jesuit, Michele Ruggieri, arrived to Chaoch'ing west of Canton on Sept. 10, 1583, just after the Jesuits established themselves there. When the Chinese governor general ordered the deportation of the Jesuits in 1589, Ricci was able to secure a location in Shaochou, north of Kwangtung, where he quickly made friends with the authorities and educated elite.

Ricci's desire, on the other hand, was to travel to Peking and establish himself there. He went out towards the north in early 1595, but was stopped in Nanking because all foreigners were suspected following the Japanese invasion of Korea, so he withdrew to Nanchang, Kiangsi. In 1598, he was given another chance to travel north when Wang Hunghui, the Nanking minister of rituals, agreed to accompany him. They made it to Peking's gates, but were turned back owing to the Sino-Japanese struggle. Ricci then moved to Nanking, where he was warmly welcomed by the educated due to his vast knowledge of Western sciences and thorough grasp of Chinese classics.

In Peking, Ricci was able to negotiate a settlement that included a sustenance payment, and his popularity among the Chinese grew as a result. Aside from his missionary and scientific activity, he was also the superior of the missions, which numbered 17 in 1605. He was given a site to be buried in Peking after he died on May 11, 1610. The eminent scholar-officials Hsü Kuang-ch'i, Li Chih-ts'ao, and Yang T'ing-yün were among the notable Chinese literati with whom Ricci had contact eventually became his believers. Ricci's works span a wide range of topics, from religious and scientific works to treatises on friendship and local memory, and are largely written in Chinese. Apart from his personality and learning, Ricci's success was partly due to his "accommodation method"—an endeavor to integrate Christian teaching with Chinese custom, which established the groundwork for the Roman Catholic Church's later success in China. Though the mission was nearly destroyed by the miserable rites’ controversy (ca. 1635-1742), Ricci's name and achievements made an enduring mark on subsequent Chinese history.