Ricci, Matteo
Ricci, Matteo (1552–1610). Jesuit missionary in China. He gained the attention of Chinese intellectuals by displaying and explaining to them European clocks, a map of the world, etc., planning thereby to bridge the difference in cultures and convert the country from the official classes downwards. His missionary success also owed much to his accommodation of Christianity to Chinese religion (cf. de Nobili). In 1603, he prescribed the observance of traditional honours to Confucius and the cult of ancestors in Jesuit churches in China. These rites, however, gave rise to a protracted controversy after his death, and were pronounced by the Holy See in 1704 and 1715 to be incompatible with Christianity.
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Ricci, Matteo
