Authors: Michela Fontana
43.
Having arrived in China in 1715, he remained at the court for fifty-one years.
44.
FR, book V, ch. XXII, p. 626, no. 2.
45.
Some bones found near Ricci’s grave are kept in an urn at the Jesuit archives in Rome, but their authenticity has yet to be established. See Angelo Lazzarotto, “Le onoranze cinesi a Matteo Ricci,” in
Atti del convegno internazionale di Studi Ricciani, Macerata-Roma, 22–25 ottobre 1982
(Macerata: Centro Studi Ricciani, 1984), p. 123. For the history of the Jesuit cemetery, see also Edward J. Malatesta,
Departed, Yet Present: Zhalan, the Oldest Christian Cemetery in Beijing
(San Francisco: The Ricci Institute, University of San Francisco, 1995).
46.
This was the “southern church” built in 1650, during Schall’s lifetime, reconstructed in the twentieth century.
v
1552 | October 6. Birth of Matteo Ricci in Macerata, Italy. |
1571 | August 15. Begins novitiate to enter the Society of Jesus in Rome. |
1572 | September 17. Start of attendance at the Roman College. |
1578 | March 24. Departure from Lisbon for India. |
1582 | April 26. Leaves Goa for Macao. |
September 10. Arrival in Zhaoqing. | |
1583–1588 | Compilation of a Portuguese-Chinese dictionary together with Ruggieri. |
1584 | Translation of the Ten Commandments, Hail Mary, and Credo, Zhaoqing. |
First edition of the Ricci map of the world, Zhaoqing. | |
1589 | Translation of the Gregorian calendar. |
1591–1594 | Translates the Four Books of Confucianism into Latin. |
1595 | May 18. Departure from Shaozhou for Beijing with the vice minister of war. |
May 31. Stop in Nanjing. | |
June 28. Arrival in Nanchang. | |
Writes the | |
1596 | Writes the |
1597 | August. Appointed superior of the China mission and instructed to move to Beijing. |
1598 | June 25. Departure from Nanchang with minister Wang. |
July. Stop in Nanjing. | |
September 7. Arrival in Beijing. | |
November. Leaves Beijing for Nanjing. | |
December. Stop in Linqing. | |
1599 | January. Arrival in Danyang. |
February 6. Arrival in Nanjing and decision to move there. | |
Writes the | |
1599–1600 | Writes the |
1600 | Second edition of the Ricci map of the world. |
May 19. Departure for Beijing on a eunuch’s junk. | |
July. Arrives in Linqing and is taken prisoner by Ma Tang. | |
August. Transferred to Tianjin. | |
1601 | January. The emperor gives orders for Ricci to be brought to Beijing. |
24 January. Entry into Beijing. | |
27 January. Presentation of gifts and a memorial to Emperor Wanli. | |
Writes | |
Writes the | |
1602 | Third edition of the map of the world. |
1603 | Fourth edition of the map of the world. |
Publication of the | |
1605 | Publication of the |
1607 | Writes the |
Writes | |
Writes | |
1608 | Writes the |
Writes the | |
Starts work on his history of the mission ( | |
Printing of the “imperial edition” of the Ricci map of the world. | |
1609 | Writes |
1610 | May 11. Dies after nine days of illness. |
June 19. Wanli grants the Jesuits a burial plot for Ricci. | |
1611 | 22 April. Ricci’s remains are transported to Zhala. |
November 1. Ricci’s burial. | |
1613 | February 9. Nicolas Trigault leaves for Rome with Ricci’s manuscript. |
1615 | September–October. First edition of Ricci’s manuscript expanded and translated into Latin by Nicolas Trigault. |
1622 | Publication of the Ricci-Trigault history in Italian as |
1629 | September 1. Emperor Chongzhen gives orders for the calendar to be reformed with the Jesuits’ help. |
1644 | The Jesuit Adam Schall von Bell is appointed director of the office of astronomical observations. |
1692 | Kangxi issues an edict of tolerance toward the Christian religion. |
1724 | Catholicism is banned in China. |
1773 | Pope Clement XIV orders the suppression of the Jesuit order. |
1774 | Death of the last director of the astronomical office, a member of the suppressed Jesuit order. |
v
Xia
3rd millennium–18th century
bc
Shang
18th–16th century
bc
Zhou
11th century–256
bc
Western Zhou (11th century–771
bc
)
Eastern Zhou (770–256
bc
)
Spring and Autumn (722–481
bc
)
Warring States (403–256
bc
)
Qin
(first emperor)
221–207
bc
Han
206
bc
–
ad
220
Western Han (206
bc
–
ad
9)
Xin (reign of Wang Mang) (9–23)
Eastern Han (25–220)
Wei
(Three Kingdoms)
220–265
WESTERN JIN
265–316
Northern and southern dynasties
317–589
North
Tuoba Wei
Eastern and Western Wei
Northern Qi
Northern Zhou
South
Eastern Jin
Liu Song
Qi
Liang
Chen
Sui
581–618
Tang
618–907
five dynasties
(period of division)
907–960
Song
960–1279
Northern Song (960–1127)
Liao (Khitan in Mongolia) (916–1125)
Southern Song (1127–1279)
Jin (Jürchen in Manciuria) (1115–1234)
Yuan
(Mongols)
1264–1368
Ming
1368–1644
Qing
(Manchu)
1644–1912
chinese Republic
1912 (on Taiwan since 1949)
people’s Republic of china
1949–present
[
1
].
Based on Anne Cheng,
Histoire de la pensée chinoise
(Éditions du Seuil, 1997)
.
v
Bei Tang
—Northern church.
Beijing
—Northern capital, formerly known as Peking.
Cha
—Tea.
Chan
—School of meditation, Chinese variant of Buddhism. Zen in Japanese.
Da Ming
—“Great Ming,” China.
Dadu
—“Great Capital,” Beijing.
Daoren
—Master of the Way.
Datong
—Calendar introduced during the Yuan era and used in the Ming dynasty.
Ding
—Chinese name used by Ricci for Christopher Clavius.
Feng shui
—Geomancy, literally “wind-water.”
Fuchengmen
—Western gate of the Inner City.
Fuchu
—“Restorer,” Chinese honorific adopted by Michele Ruggieri.
Guan
(or
Guanyuan
)—Official of the imperial bureaucracy.
Guanxi
—personal network of social relations.
Haidao
—Superintendent of the coastal areas.
Hao
—Honorific.
Hu
—Ivory tablet to be held in front of the face during imperial audiences.
Huangdi
—Emperor.
Huihui
—Term originally indicating a Muslim ethnic minority and used by extension for all those practicing foreign religions.
Hutong
—Narrow lanes.
Jinshi
—“Literatus presented [to the court],” or metropolitan graduate, a graduate of the third level of the imperial examinations.
Juren
—“Literatus recommended [to the court],” or provincial graduate, a graduate of the second level of the imperial examinations.
Kang
—Sleeping platform of brick heated with hot air from the cooking area.
Kowtow
—Act of kneeling and bowing the head to the ground.
Ling
—dew drop, term used for zero.
Lingchisi
—Slow slicing or death by a thousand cuts.
Nanjing
—Southern capital, formerly known as Nanking.
Qi
—Flow, vital energy.
Qing qing
—Polite expression of invitation, encouragement, or the like.
Ren
—Benevolence, humanity.
Shangdi
—Lord on High, Lord Above.
Shenfu
—Spiritual fathers.
Shi Huangdi
—First emperor of a unified China.
Shidafu
(or
Wenren
)—Scholar or literatus.
Shuyuan
—Academy.
Taiji
—Cosmological term translated as “Supreme Ultimate” or “Supreme Pole.”
Taijian
—Eunuch.
Tian
—Sky or heaven.
Tao
—Way.
Tao Te Ching
—
The Classic of the Way and Virtue
, the basic text of Taoism.
Tianzhu
—Lord of Heaven, God.
Wumen
—Meridian Gate, southern entrance to the Forbidden City.
Wuqi
—game of war.
Xie zhai
—Mythological animal embroidered on the mandarin square of a censor.
Xitai
—“From the Farthest West,” honorific adopted by Ricci.
Xiucai
—“Budding talent,” a graduate of the first level of the imperial examinations.
Xuanwumen
—Westernmost of the three southern gates of the Inner City.
Yin
and
Yang
—Male and female principles in Chinese philosophy.
Yuan Ming Yuan
—“Gardens of Perfect Brightness,” the Old Summer Palace.
Zhong Guo
—Middle Kingdom, China.
Zi Jin Cheng
—Purple Forbidden City.
v
The primary sources of this biography are the history written by Ricci himself and the letters from China to his superiors, family, and friends. The edition of the
Fonti Ricciane
,
Storia dell’Introduzione del Cristianesimo in Cina
, 3 vols., ed. Pasquale D’Elia S.J. (Rome: La Libreria dello Stato, 1942–1949) is the essential text of reference together with the edition of the correspondence in
Opere storiche del P. Matteo Ricci S.I.
, 2 vols., Comitato per le onoranze nazionali, with introductions, notes, and tables by Fr. Pietro Tacchi Ventura S.J. (Macerata: Stab. Tipografico Giorgetti 13, 1911–1913),
I Commentarj della Cina, Le lettere dalla Cina
.
Attention is also drawn to the previous edition of the history: Matteo Ricci and Nicolas Trigault,
Entrata nella China de’ Padri della Compagnia del Gesù (1582–1610)
(Naples: printed by Lazzaro Scoriggio, 1622); new edition with an introduction by Joseph Shih and Carlo Laurenti:
Entrata nella China de’ Padri della Compagnia del Gesù (1582–1610)
(Rome: Edizioni Paoline, 1983).
The most recent editions of the history and correspondence are
Della entrata della Compagnia di Giesù e Christianità nella Cina
, ed. Maddalena del Gatto (Macerata: Quodlibet, 2000) and
Matteo Ricci, Lettere
, ed. Francesco D’Arelli (Macerata: Quodlibet, 2001).