than to go ahead with this enterprise, which I regard as one of the most important and useful to God in Christendom today. We consider it a very good thing to be responsible for as many souls as there are in this other world of China. 2
—Matteo Ricci
The Name of China, Ideograms, and Brushes
The first direct contact between Ricci, who turned thirty on October 6, 1582, and the Chinese population came in the Portuguese colony. He was struck by their small build, their youthful appearance belying their actual age, their eyes which he described in his history of the mission 3 as “small, black, markedly oval, and protruding,” 4 their minute noses and ears, and their straight black hair worn long by both sexes, under a sort of cap for the men and held in place with valuable ornamental hairpins for the women of the upper classes. While most of the Chinese living in Macao belonged to the lower class, visiting officials clad in silk were sometimes seen in the streets. When it was very sunny, they walked in the shade of large paper parasols held by servants, as did the wealthy Portuguese traders. 5
Having settled in at the Saint Martin residence and in the absence of Ruggieri, who had made another trip to Canton, Ricci set about following the Visitor’s instructions by learning about the government, customs, and way of life of the great empire stretching out on the other side of the wall. In accordance with Valignano’s orders, which he asked Superior General Acquaviva to confirm by letter, Ricci was to be assigned no other duties so as to avoid distracting him from the task he had been set. He was delighted to enjoy a considerable degree of freedom from the local clergy and their dogged incomprehension of the China mission. As he wrote to Acquaviva, “They are all very devout but the things of Christianity are understood only by those who actually deal with them.” 6
Ricci knew that the great Chinese empire was of ancient origin, was richly endowed with culture, and was proud in the conviction of its superiority to other peoples. It was commonly believed that the Chinese took no particular interest in discovering what was happening outside their borders. The Jesuit was only exaggerating a little when he described them as “convinced that all the knowledge in the world is contained in their kingdom and all the others are ignorant barbarians. Speaking in their books and writings of foreign kingdoms, they always assume them to be peoples slightly inferior to animals.” 7
Ricci remembered what he had learned in the courses of history and geography at the Roman College and compared his knowledge with what he read in Chinese books with the aid of interpreters. He knew that China was the country referred to as Sinai in Ptolemy’s Almagest and that it corresponded to Serica , the term used in Greco-Roman antiquity to designate the eastern region from which silk came. He was surprised to discover that the name Cina or China used by Westerners was completely unknown to the Chinese, who referred to their country as the Zhong-guo , or “Middle Kingdom,” an expression still in use today, or with the name of the reigning dynasty, the Ming at the time, often preceded by the adjective da , meaning “great,” hence Da Ming . Matters were further complicated by the fact that not all of the Eastern countries used the same name for China. While the Japanese still referred to it by the name of the Tang dynasty, in power from the sixth to the ninth century of the Common Era, the inhabitants of Cochin China, a region of present-day Vietnam and Thailand, then called Siam, used the name of the Chin or Qin dynasty ruling in the second century bc , from which the name “China” is thought to have then derived. The capital was called Beijing , meaning “northern capital,” which the Portuguese transformed into Pequin on the basis of its pronunciation in the Cantonese dialect, and which Ricci wrote as Pachino , Pacchino , Pequinum , or
—Matteo Ricci
The Name of China, Ideograms, and Brushes
The first direct contact between Ricci, who turned thirty on October 6, 1582, and the Chinese population came in the Portuguese colony. He was struck by their small build, their youthful appearance belying their actual age, their eyes which he described in his history of the mission 3 as “small, black, markedly oval, and protruding,” 4 their minute noses and ears, and their straight black hair worn long by both sexes, under a sort of cap for the men and held in place with valuable ornamental hairpins for the women of the upper classes. While most of the Chinese living in Macao belonged to the lower class, visiting officials clad in silk were sometimes seen in the streets. When it was very sunny, they walked in the shade of large paper parasols held by servants, as did the wealthy Portuguese traders. 5
Having settled in at the Saint Martin residence and in the absence of Ruggieri, who had made another trip to Canton, Ricci set about following the Visitor’s instructions by learning about the government, customs, and way of life of the great empire stretching out on the other side of the wall. In accordance with Valignano’s orders, which he asked Superior General Acquaviva to confirm by letter, Ricci was to be assigned no other duties so as to avoid distracting him from the task he had been set. He was delighted to enjoy a considerable degree of freedom from the local clergy and their dogged incomprehension of the China mission. As he wrote to Acquaviva, “They are all very devout but the things of Christianity are understood only by those who actually deal with them.” 6
Ricci knew that the great Chinese empire was of ancient origin, was richly endowed with culture, and was proud in the conviction of its superiority to other peoples. It was commonly believed that the Chinese took no particular interest in discovering what was happening outside their borders. The Jesuit was only exaggerating a little when he described them as “convinced that all the knowledge in the world is contained in their kingdom and all the others are ignorant barbarians. Speaking in their books and writings of foreign kingdoms, they always assume them to be peoples slightly inferior to animals.” 7
Ricci remembered what he had learned in the courses of history and geography at the Roman College and compared his knowledge with what he read in Chinese books with the aid of interpreters. He knew that China was the country referred to as Sinai in Ptolemy’s Almagest and that it corresponded to Serica , the term used in Greco-Roman antiquity to designate the eastern region from which silk came. He was surprised to discover that the name Cina or China used by Westerners was completely unknown to the Chinese, who referred to their country as the Zhong-guo , or “Middle Kingdom,” an expression still in use today, or with the name of the reigning dynasty, the Ming at the time, often preceded by the adjective da , meaning “great,” hence Da Ming . Matters were further complicated by the fact that not all of the Eastern countries used the same name for China. While the Japanese still referred to it by the name of the Tang dynasty, in power from the sixth to the ninth century of the Common Era, the inhabitants of Cochin China, a region of present-day Vietnam and Thailand, then called Siam, used the name of the Chin or Qin dynasty ruling in the second century bc , from which the name “China” is thought to have then derived. The capital was called Beijing , meaning “northern capital,” which the Portuguese transformed into Pequin on the basis of its pronunciation in the Cantonese dialect, and which Ricci wrote as Pachino , Pacchino , Pequinum , or
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