Ricci, relevance of tolerance
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The history of exchange between ancient China and the West cannot be complete without mentioning the contributions of Marco Polo (1254-1324) and Matteo Ricci, SJ (Li Madou, 1552-1610). If Marco Polo, a merchant from Venice, introduced China to Europeans and left them a magic and rich Orient, then Matteo Ricci was the "cultural icon" who introduced Western science to China, married Chinese cultural and spiritual values to Catholicism, and established cultural communication and collaboration between the East and the West.
This year is the fourth death centenary of Ricci, who was buried in Beijing on the orders of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) for his contributions to China's science, cartography, mathematics and philosophy.
The Pope praised the Jesuit thus: "Ricci dedicated long years of his life to weaving a profound dialogue between the West and the East working incisively to root the Gospel in the culture of the great people of China. Even today, his example remains a model of fruitful encounter between European and Chinese civilizations."
Why has Ricci enjoyed such a high reputation in China and Europe both? "Ricci mapped out the policy of the Catholic mission in China - the policy of cultural accommodation, which is 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do'," says Zhang Guogang, a Tsinghua University professor whose areas of research are Studies on Society and Institutions of Medieval China and Sino-Foreign Relations.
"Ricci's cultural accommodation approach is essentially a line of thinking and attitude that, with genuine humility, shows respect to Chinese people and culture", Zhang says. "Thanks to this attitude he could be accepted by officials and scholars, and deepen his understanding of China and gradually develop a set of feasible behavioral patterns for missionaries coming to the Middle Kingdom."
Ricci's journey began in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1578. He traveled via India and reached Macao in 1582 where he applied himself to the study of Chinese language and customs. "Like other Europeans, before dealing directly with Chinese people, Ricci could rely only on his European experience and the ideas and practices left by his predecessors to understand China," Zhang says.
The Portuguese Jesuit was different from many Europeans traveling to China, but he could retain or renounce the experiences he had acquired from his predecessors only after being exposed to Chinese culture. His respect for Chinese culture and customs, and his keen insight played a big role in it, though.
Ricci founded the Jesuit tradition of learning the Chinese language and Confucian classics. "Seeing that Chinese culture was strongly intertwined with Confucian values, he realized Christian teachings could be presented as Confucian principles, such as filial piety, reciprocity and personal virtue."
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