On this day in 1610 Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary, died in Beijing, China. He contributed a lot to Europe’s understanding of China and vice versa. More so than Marco Polo I'd argue. I will tell you why.

Ricci was born close to Rome in 1552. He moved to the eternal city to study law and entered the Jesuit college two years later. There he became a true polymath by studying not only theology, but also philosophy, astronomy and mathematics. Inspired to spread the word of god and discover the world, he moved to Lisbon, learned Portuguese and joined the Portuguese mission in the Far east. He spent some time in Goa, India, before settling in Macau, the Portuguese trading post in the south of China. From there he wanted to set up a Jesuit mission in China and convert the country.

Matteo Ricci was not that successful in his mission to convert Chinese people to Catholicism, but he did achieve many other great things due to his work methods and open mindedness. Right from the start, Ricci realized that learning Chinese and understanding Chinese customs, traditions and culture would be essential for the success of his mission. He became the first Western scholar to master Chinese and would later make a Portuguese-Chinese dictionary and translate Chinese works into Latin.

He also started to dress as a Chinese scholar, read about Confucianism and adopted a Chinese name, 利玛窦. By becoming like a Chinese scholar, he gained access to the high circles of Chinese society and befriended important people that were intrigued by his scientific knowledge. He introduced new scientific concepts to China, created a map of the world in Chinese (showing the Americas for the first time) and published original works in Chinese. This eventually gained him access to the forbidden city in Beijing as the first European ever.

Ricci should be remembered as someone who built a bridge between China and Europe by exchanging knowledge, translating works and setting an example how one should approach foreign cultures by truly integrating in a different society with an open mind.  

Originally posted on Instagram on May 11, 2021