Ricci
Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), a Catholic Jesuit missionary to China in the late Ming Dynasty, was an Italian and a native of Xitai. In 1568 he went to Rome to study jurisprudence. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1571, studied theology in Rome, and was ordained a priest in 1580. In the tenth year of Wanli of the Ming Dynasty (1582), he was ordered to study Chinese in Macao, and settled in Zhaoqing, Guangzhou the following year. In the 17th year of Wanli (1589), he moved to Shaozhou, where he studied the Four Books and the Five Classics from Qu Taisu, transparaphrased them into Latin, and annotated them, which was the earliest foreign translation of the Four Books. From the twenty-second year of Wanli (1594), under the suggestion of Qu Taisu and others, Yi monks were dressed as Confucianists, with beards and hair, and were renamed "Western Confucians". In the twenty-fifth year of Wanli (1597), he was appointed president of the Jesuit Society in China, and at the same time appointed to make Beijing his permanent missionary station. In the twenty-sixth year of Wanli (1598), he went north for the first time and wanted to pay tribute to the emperor. Later, he was forced to return south because he was not allowed to stay in Beijing. On the way, complete the repertoire of Chinese characters with Latin alphabet pinyin. In the 29th year of Wanli (1601), he went north again to pay tribute to Emperor Shenzong with images of God and the Virgin, crosses and other items, and was allowed to stay in Beijing. He traveled with officials and scholars in Beijing, such as Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao, Yang Tingyun, Feng Yingjing, Ye Xianggao, and spread Catholicism through the introduction of Western science and technology. He has co-translated and published works with Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao and others, including "The Original of Geometry", "The Meaning of Measurement", "The Calculation of the Same Text", "The Comparison of Meanings", and "The Diagram of the Hun Gai Tongxian". He is the author of "The True Meaning of God", which advocates the integration of Catholic doctrine with the Tao of Confucius and Mencius and the Chinese idea of ancestor reverence, and declares that the "heaven" or "God" in ancient Chinese books is the "God" believed in in the West. Matteo Ricci's missionary strategy of tolerating social practices such as honoring Confucius and worshipping ancestors caused controversy among the West and missionaries in China, and after his death, the "Chinese Ritual Controversy" erupted.
"The Chinese Etiquette Controversy"
The "Chinese Ritual Controversy" was a political and religious controversy over "worshipping ancestors and honoring Confucius" and "on the name of God" after Catholicism came into contact with Chinese culture during the Qing Dynasty, which lasted for a hundred years.
John Soup
John Tang (Johann Adam Schallvon Bell, 1591-1666), a Catholic Jesuit missionary to China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, was a German. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1611. In the 48th year of Wanli of the Ming Dynasty (1620), he arrived in Macao with Jinnige, and two years later went to Guangzhou, where he soon went to Beijing to study Chinese, and was later sent to Xi'an, Nanjing and other places to preach. In the third year of Chongzhen (1630), he was recommended by Xu Guangqi to come to Beijing to participate in the compilation of the "Chongzhen Almanac", and was appointed to manage the calendar bureau after Deng Yuhan and build astronomical instruments. In the ninth year of Chongzhen (1636), he was ordered to set up a factory to cast cannons, and 20 cannons were cast in two years. In the eleventh year of Chongzhen (1638), he asked Emperor Chongzhen to give him the four words "Qinbao Tianxue", and made plaques to hang in Catholic churches around the country to facilitate missionary work. In the third year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1646), the "Chongzhen Almanac" was revised, renamed the "Western New Law Almanac", and the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple was added. In the seventh year of Shunzhi (1650), a thousand taels of gold were given to build a Catholic church in Xuanwumen. In the eighth year of Shunzhi (1651), Emperor Shunzhi was in charge of the government, and he was given the title of "Tongxuan Teacher" and the church plaque was given "Tongxuan Jiajing". From the 14th year of Shunzhi (1657), missionaries were allowed to be invited to preach openly in the interior. In the third year of Kangxi (1664), Tang Ruowang was impeached by Yang Guangxian and imprisoned, but was released the following year and restored to his original title and the title of "Tongwei Teacher" (changed to "Micro" in order to avoid Kangxi's suspicion. He eventually died in Beijing. He is the author of "The Patriarchal Campaign", "The Origin of the Bishop", etc.
John Soup
Nan Huairen
Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-1688) was a Catholic Jesuit missionary who came to China in the early Qing Dynasty and was a Belgian. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1641. In the sixteenth year of Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty (1659), he came to China and first preached in Shaanxi. The following year, he was summoned to Beijing to assist John Tong in revising the calendar. In the thirteenth year of Kangxi (1674), he was ordered to manufacture astronomical instruments of the observatory, and was promoted to the supervisor of Qintian, and the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple. In the fifteenth year of the Kangxi reign (1676), when Russia sent an envoy to China, he served as an interpreter for the Qing court. In the seventeenth year of Kangxi (1678), he wrote 32 volumes of "Kangxi Yongnian Calendar", and added the political envoy to the general certificate. In the nineteenth year of Kangxi (1680), he was ordered to cast 320 cannons, which was completed the following year, and wrote 70 volumes of "Shenwei Tushuo", which was presented in the twenty-first year of Kangxi (1682), and the right waiter of the processing department. Died in Beijing. He is the author of "Chronicles of Ritual Images" and "Star Map of the North and South Equators".
Nan Huairen
Lang Shining
Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766) was a Jesuit missionary, painter, and architect in China during the Qing Dynasty. Born in Milan, Italy. In 1707 he joined the Society of Jesus in Genoa. In the fifty-fourth year of the Kangxi reign (1715), he arrived in Macao, and soon went to Beijing to assist in the missionary work, and served as the court painter of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties. He introduced Western painting techniques to China, and it was with his help and guidance that Huaiguan overseer Nian Xiyao's book "Inspection" was completed, which was the first monograph on the perspective laws of Western painting in China. He also created a number of religious paintings for the Catholic Church at that time, such as the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the East Church in Beijing. He also repeatedly asked Emperor Qianlong to relax the ban on Catholicism. In the thirty-first year of Qianlong (1766), he died in Beijing.
Lang Shining