biography of Matteo Ricci

After preliminary studies at home, Ricci entered a Jesuit school in 1561 in his home town, and after
completing his classical studies, he set out for Rome to study law, where he was attracted to the
life of the Jesuits, and in 1571 requested permission to join the order.

The Jesuits were well known for their scientific research and their voyages to the new worlds. Ricci
devoted himself to work in both fields. Shortly after beginning study under the mathematician Clavius,
he volunteered for work in the Far East. In 1577 he studied for a short time at the Portuguese
University of Coimbra, before embarking for Lisbon 1n 1578, arriving at Goa on September 13. There
he carried on his studies for the priesthood and was ordained in 1580. In 1852, he was ordered to
proceed to China.

The Jesuits had long wished to enter and evangelize China. St. Francis Xavier, died in 1552 on the tiny island of
Shangzhuan in sight of the mainland. When Ricci arrived, China was still closed to outsiders; but the
missionary strategy of the Jesuits now laid great stress on the importance of learning Chinese language
and culture, having previously attempted to impose Western customs and the use of the Latin in
religious rites. Ricci and Michele Ruggieri were called to the Portuguese province of Macau to prepare
to evangelize China; but Ruggieri returned to Italy in 1588, leaving to Ricci the honour of founding the
church in China.

Ricci arrived at Macau in 1582, and began his study of Chinese at once. The following year he and
Michele Ruggieri were given permission to settle in Zhaoqing, then the capital of Guangdong Province.
Ruggieri published the first Catholic catechism in Chinese, while Ricci produced the first edition of his
map of the world

In 1589, Ricci moved from Zhaoqing to Shaozhou, where he became a close friend of the Confucian
scholar Qu Taisu; who introduced him into the circles of mandarins. Noting that Ricci wore the habit of
a Buddhist monk, Qu suggested that it would be better for to dress as a Chinese scholar, a suggestion
Ricci eventually followed.

Ricci's first attempt to enter Beijing failed. He returned from Beijing, stopping first at Nanchang and
then Nanjing,where he settled in 1599, devoting himself chiefly to astronomy and gegraphy.

Encouraged by his reception at Nanjing, Ricci made a second attempt to reach Beijing, and entered the
city in 1601. He was given permission to remain in the capital, and from then on, never left Beijng,
dedicating the rest of his life there to teaching science and preaching the gospel. His efforts to attract
and convert the Chinese intelligentsia brought him into contact with many outstanding personalities,
among them Li Zhizao, Xu Guangqi, and Yang Tingyun (who became known as the "Three Pillars of
the Early Catholic Church" in China and who assisted the missionaries, especially in their literary
efforts). During his years in Beijing, Ricci indeed wrote several books in Chinese.