The Enlightened Man from the West: Matteo RIcci's Extraordinary Mission to 'Open' China

Dr. Balbina Hwang

In 1582, Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit missionary and polymath from Macerata (Italy) arrived in Macao, the only place in all of China that foreigners were allowed to visit and inhabit at the time. In the ensuing years until his death there in 1610, Ricci introduced Christianity and Western scientific ideas to Ming China, which had remained largely closed to the Western world for centuries. Most remarkably, Ricci was the first Westerner in over a century to be granted entry into mainland China and welcomed at the Imperial Court in Beijing. No other European since Marco Polo during his famed journeys 300 years earlier became an astute observer of the ancient Chinese civilization, providing crucial insights whose legacy remains relevant today. Most remarkably, Ricci mastered the Chinese language and culture garnering tremendous respect among the Chinese people and ruling elite, and is still one of the most respected and well-recognized Western figures in contemporary China. While Ricci is less well-known in the Western world, his remarkable mission was one of the most significant in the history of the West’s engagement with China, and has profoundly affected the development of relations between West and East.