Matteo Ricci : a Jesuit in the Ming Court

Front matter......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
Prologue: The Mandarin’s Clothes......Page 14
The Choice......Page 18
The Society of Jesus and the Roman College: Ad maiorem Dei gloriam......Page 22
Christopher Clavius, Mathematics, and Astronomy......Page 26
Notes......Page 31
Departure: “All Those Seas”......Page 34
In India......Page 39
“Chinese in China”: Valignano’s Policy of Cultural Accommodation......Page 42
Macao, the Gateway to China......Page 44
Notes......Page 48
The Name of China, Ideograms, and Brushes......Page 50
Books Galore......Page 54
The Charade of the Permit and the Letter from Wang Pan......Page 56
Residence on Chinese Soil in Zhaoqing......Page 59
Notes......Page 62
Chinese Life......Page 64
Discovering Chinese Society......Page 68
The Five Continents: The First Edition of the Map of the World......Page 71
Religion in China: Heaven, the Gods, and the Name of God......Page 77
Notes......Page 82
“We Have Become Chinese”: Ricci Turns into Li Madou, Xitai......Page 84
The Failure of the Idea of a Spanish Embassy to the Chinese Emperor......Page 87
Superstitions, Wondrous Potions, and False Accusations: Wang Pan’s Volte-face and Ruggieri’s Departure......Page 90
Expulsion from Zhaoqing......Page 94
Notes......Page 97
The Buddhist Monastery and the Mummy of Liuzu......Page 98
Life in Shaozhou and the Meeting with the Would-be Alchemist Qu Taisu......Page 101
Doing Sums with Brush and Paper......Page 105
Euclidean Geometry and the Achievements of Chinese Mathematics......Page 107
Social Relations and Popular Hostility......Page 110
Notes......Page 114
Distance and Nostalgia......Page 116
Minister Wang and the Reform of the Calendar......Page 118
Confucius, “Another Seneca”: The Translation of the Confucian Classics......Page 121
The Attempt to Reach Beijing: Shipwreck and the Abandonment of Buddhist Robes......Page 124
Expulsion from Nanjing......Page 128
China and the Cathay of Marco Polo......Page 132
Notes......Page 135
A Courteous Welcome to Nanchang......Page 137
I Cannot Tell a Lie......Page 139
The “Treatise on Friendship,” a Moral Essay in Chinese......Page 143
An Extraordinary Gift: The “Treatise on Mnemonic Arts”......Page 146
Astronomy and the Emperor......Page 152
Notes......Page 155
The Conjecture about Cathay, the Order to Reach Beijing, and the Gifts for the Emperor......Page 157
The Imperial Examinations for Entry into the Bureaucracy......Page 160
Along the “Grand Canal” to the Capital......Page 162
The First Time in Beijing, the City of Dust......Page 165
Withdrawal to the South......Page 168
Notes......Page 170
Social Life in Nanjing......Page 171
An Argument with a Buddhist......Page 175
A Universe of Crystalline Spheres: The “Treatise on the Four Elements”......Page 179
The Forgotten Astronomical Observatory......Page 181
Notes......Page 184
The Eunuchs, the Emperor’s Private Bureaucracy......Page 186
A Chinese Name for Europe: The Second Edition of the Map of the World......Page 189
The Journey to Beijing: The Meeting with the Fearsome Ma Tang......Page 193
Imprisonment and Liberation......Page 197
Notes......Page 201
12. In the Heart of the Empire: Beijing, 1601......Page 202
The Solemn Entrance into Beijing......Page 203
The Golden Prison of the Emperor Wanli......Page 206
The Dialogue at a Distance with the Son of Heaven......Page 209
Imprisonment in the “Foreigners’ Castle”......Page 213
Notes......Page 215
The Audience in the Forbidden City......Page 217
Other Memorials on the Ricci Case......Page 221
Ricci Settles in Beijing by Order of the Emperor......Page 223
Li Zhizao and Geography: The Third Edition of the Map of the World......Page 226
Constellations, Arithmetic, and Christian Doctrine......Page 229
Notes......Page 232
The Burning of “Idols” and Books, and the Fourth Edition of the Map of the World......Page 234
Anti-Buddhist Persecution......Page 237
Valignano’s Help to Strengthen the Mission......Page 240
Ricci’s “Catechism,” The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven......Page 241
Notes......Page 245
Paul Xu, the “Pillar” of the Mission......Page 247
Examinations and Baptisms......Page 249
Commending Virtue: The Twenty-five Discourses......Page 251
“Send Me an Astronomer”......Page 254
The Jew and the “Worshipers of the Cross”......Page 256
Notes......Page 258
The Death of Valignano......Page 260
The Search for Cathay: Confirmation of Ricci’s Conjecture......Page 263
Mathematics at the Service of the Empire......Page 266
The Translation of Euclid’s Elements......Page 268
The Perfection of Geometry......Page 270
The Fruits of the School of Mathematics: Works of Trigonometry and Astronomy......Page 274
Notes......Page 276
The Paradoxes of an Extraordinary Man......Page 277
The History of the Mission......Page 280
The Imperial Map of the World......Page 283
The End of the Journey: Ricci’s Death......Page 285
Wanli’s Tribute......Page 289
Notes......Page 292
The Jesuit Mathematicians and the Scandal of the Eclipse......Page 294
Scientific Work......Page 297
The Reform of the Calendar......Page 299
The End of the Ming Dynasty......Page 302
The Jesuit Verbiest, Emperor Kangxi, and Ricci’s Geometry......Page 305
The Chinese Rites Controversy and the Suppression of the Society of Jesus......Page 307
Remembrance of Matteo Ricci: Writings and Monuments......Page 311
Notes......Page 312
Chronology......Page 316
Chinese Dynasties1......Page 320
Glossary......Page 322
Bibliographic Sources......Page 324
Acknowledgments......Page 326
Index of Names......Page 330
About the Author......Page 336