(from Vincent Cronin’s The Wise
Man from the West.) Painted in 1610 by the Chinese brother Emmanuel Pereira
(born Yu Wen-hui), who had learned his art from the Italian Jesuit, Giovanni
Nicolao. The age is incorrect: Ricci died during his fifty-eighth year.
Probably he himself believed he was older than that, for as early as 1571, when
he entered the novitiate, he could not be certain whether his age was eighteen
or nineteen. The portrait was taken to Rome in 1616 and displayed at the Jesuit
house together with paintings of Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier. It
still hangs there.
Who was
Matteo Ricci?
Matteo Ricci was an Italian Jesuit priest
and missionary, scientist, humanist, and educator–a Renaissance Man. He
ranks as the most cultivated man of his time and "one of the most
remarkable and brilliant men of history." The founder of the modern
Chinese Church, Matteo Ricci is respected as a national figure even by the
Chinese Communist Party.
For Ricci, learning and academic
excellence in the Jesuit way served as a magnet that could draw people to God.
As with all things, learning comes from God, and finally, nothing is really
secular. An authority on mathematics, astronomy, apologetics, literature,
popular catechesis, poetry, and a lover of art and music, Ricci fascinated and
attracted the Chinese intelligentsia. He approached evangelization primarily,
but not solely, through the scientific apostolate.
Ricci also used music to further his
missionary goal. He did not much care for Chinese music with its five-tone
scale. He missed the sweet four-part harmonies of his native Italy and the
keyboard instruments used to support these sonorities.
The second of the eight songs appears
below:
A shepherd boy fell sad one day,
Hating the hillside on which he stood;
He thought a distant hill he saw
More beautiful from afar,
And that going there would wipe away his sorrows.
So he set off to that distant hill,
But as he drew near it
It looked less good than it had from afar.
O shepherd boy, shepherd boy,
How can you expect to transform yourself
By changing your dwelling place?
If you move away can you leave yourself
behind?
Sorrow and joy sprout in the heart,
If the heart is peaceful, you’ll be
happy everywhere,
If the heart is in turmoil, every place brings sorrow.
A grain of dust in your eye
Brings discomfort speedily;
How can you then ignore this sharp awl!
That pierces your heart?
If you yearn for things outside
yourself
You will never obtain what you are seeking
Why not put your own heart in order
And find peace on your own hillside?
Old and new writers alike give this
advice:
there’s no advantage to roaming outside,
Keep the heart inside, for
That brings the profit. *
Ricci opened his remarkable mind and heart
to appreciate the dignity of Chinese culture. With the help of some friends, he
translated the Ten Commandments finding Chinese equivalents for the Latin. The
Chinese viewed the commandments in a positive light because they conformed to
reason and natural law.
Ricci responded to the curiosity of the
Chinese intelligentsia about the Christian God in The True Meaning of the
Lord of Heaven, a "pre-evangelical dialogue," a preparation for
the gospel. It is "the first attempt by a Catholic scholar to use a
Chinese way of thinking to introduce Christianity to Chinese
intellectuals." The dialogue treats of the Incarnation and Redemption but
makes no mention of Revelation, the Trinity and, apart from Baptism, does not
address the sacraments. Because Ricci valued Chinese respect "for
philosophical consideration, explanation or proof of God, the nature and act of
creation, the differences between the human soul and the souls of birds and
animals," and the soul’s immortality, Ricci discussed these topics in
The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven. To these topics, Ricci added the
question of intention and the goodness of human nature.
The True Meaning of the Lord of
Heaven is "also deeply colored both in its contents and in its
structure by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and by
the Constitutions which he composed for the Society of Jesus." The
writings of Matteo Ricci as found in The True Meaning of the Lord of
Heaven are as relevant today as they were in seventeenth-century China for
he strove "to expound Catholic thought with the aid of China’s
existing cultural heritage." (Quotations from this section are taken
from the Translator’s Preface in The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven,
3-53.)
The reader may savor a few of the
interchanges between the Chinese scholar and the Western scholar (Father Matteo
Ricci) in this masterpiece of inter-faith dialogue at its best.
The True
Meaning of the Lord of Heaven
The Chinese scholar
says: I have heard it said that the teachings of your revered
religion are profound and that its ideas are mysterious and subtle so that it
is impossible to expound them in just a few words. Nonetheless, your esteemed
country worships only the Lord of Heaven, and you say that in the beginning He
created heaven and earth, man and all things, and that He exercises authority
over them and sustains them. This ignorant scholar has so far heard nothing
concerning these matters, and none of our wise men and respected scholars of
former times has ever expounded them. I shall regard myself fortunate if you
will instruct me. (20)
The Western scholar
says: this doctrine about the Lord of Heaven is not the doctrine
of one man, one household, or one state. All the great nations from the West to
the East are versed in it and uphold it. That which has been taught by sages
and worthies has been handed down, from the creation of heaven and earth, men
and all things by the Lord of Heaven, to the present times through canonical
writings and in such a manner as to leave no room for doubt. But the scholars
of your esteemed country have seldom had contact with other nations, and are
therefore unable to understand the languages and cultures of our regions and
know little of their peoples. (21)
I shall explain the universal teaching of
the Lord of Heaven in order to prove that it is the true teaching. But before I
talk about the number of those who believe in it and their goodness or about
what its canonical writings have to say, I shall first present the principles
upon which it is based. (22)
Of all things which mark off all men as
being different from animals, none is greater than the intellect. The intellect
can distinguish between right and wrong and between that which is true and that
which is false, and it is difficult to deceive it with anything which lacks
rationality. . . . (23)
Man, then, transcends all other creatures
since he is endowed with a spiritual soul within, and the ability to observe
the principles of things without. By examining the outcome of things, he is
able to know their origins, and by observing their existence he can know that
by which they exist. Thus, without leaving this world of toil, he can devote
himself to the cultivation of the Way and prepare himself for an eternity of
peace and joy following his death. (24)
That which is brought to light by the
intellect cannot forcibly be made to comply with that which is untrue.
Everything which reason shows to be true I must acknowledge as true, and
everything which reason shows to be false I must acknowledge as false. . . .
(25)
The Chinese scholar
says: Nature must always harbor virtue; if it does not, how can
it be good? That is why it is said that the superior man is simply the one who
restores the nature he originally possessed! (433)
The Western scholar
says: If goodness means the restoration of original nature, then
every person would be a sage at birth. Why should a distinction be made between
"knowing it at birth and knowing it through education"? If you say
that virtue does not represent new knowledge, and that it is merely a
restoration of what I already have, then its loss was a great offence. To
restore what one has lost cannot be said to be a work of great merit. (434)
You must admit, then, that there are two
kinds of goodness! The goodness of virtue is "acquired goodness."
Innate goodness" is the virtue originally bestowed on man by the Lord of
Heaven, and man can claim no merit for that. The merit I am speaking of here is
limited to the goodness of that virtue which man himself accumulates through
his own efforts. (435)
Children love their parents, but so do
animals. When ordinary people suddenly see a child about to fall into a well,
they will feel fearful and apprehensive for it whether they are humane or not.
Such concern results from "innate goodness." But what virtue is there
in this when even animals and the inhumane all possess this kind of
"innate goodness"? Virtue can only be regarded as such when a person
does what he sees to be right. If people are unable to do what is right when
they see it, or are neglectful of it, they will not be able to be virtuous.
(436)
. . . . I may have beautiful qualities,
but if I do not adorn them with virtue, of what can I boast? (437)
Now adornments can be either worn or
discarded. To attain to righteousness by happily thinking of doing good is to
be what is called a sage or a worthy man, who is opposed by the wicked. But
virtue and wrong-doing are both incorporeal adornments, and only the
incorporeal mind–what I have called the spirit–can wear such
adornments. (438)
The Chinese scholar
says: Formerly, Chinese scholars studied the teaching of our
sages and themselves became sagely men; but for a long time now, no sage has
arisen, and I am therefore led to doubt whether present-day learning is the
learning of sages. May I ask you, Sir, to give me detailed instruction on how
to study the Way. (445)
The Western Scholar
says: . . . You can accept or reject what I shall say as you see
fit. The word "learning" has not only a specialized connotation
according to which one emulates the deeds and words of past men of vision as
these have been recorded for us, but it also refers to personal understanding
and to the significance for men of deduction arrived at as a result of
investigating heaven and earth and all phenomena. It is therefore said that he
who is wise does not fear lest he have no books or teachers since heaven,
earth, and all things are his teachers and his books! (446)
The meaning of the word
"learning" is so broad that it embraces orthodoxy and heterodoxy,
what is great and what is small, what is sharp and what is blunt. (447)
Not only are our spirits of great worth,
but they are also the lords of our bodies, so that spiritual cultivation is
also the cultivation of the body. When our spirits are cultivated to
perfection, our physical bodies will be perfectly cultivated. Therefore, the
superior man devotes himself solely to the spirit or what the men of your
esteemed country refer to as the formless or incorporeal mind. (448)
The supreme task of the intellect is the
clarification of what is right, and the greatest foundation of the affections
is humanity; therefore, the constant concern of the superior man is for
humanity and righteousness. These two things are related to each other, and
neither the one nor the other can be neglected. But it is only after the
intellect has made it clear that humanity is good that the affections are able
to develop an affection for it and to preserve it; and it is only after the
affections have formed an affection for righteousness that the intellect will
examine it and seek after it. But humanity is the essence of righteousness, so
that a man who is rich in humanity is bound to have an intellect capable of
even greater understanding. Thus, the education of a superior man is
principally concerned with humanity. (451)
Humanity is the noblest of virtues . . . .
The student of morality must first rid himself of evil habits before he can
enter the realm of goodness. There must be things one must refrain from doing
before one can begin to act. Before beginning one’s study, every effort
must be made to uproot outrageous and dissolute habits and evil practices which
are firmly rooted and which have penetrated deep into the mind. The meaning of
courage is self-conquest. If a person applies himself to study whilst still a
child, the efficacy of a moment’s effort will be magnified ten times. The
reason for this is that a child does not carry the burden of earlier habits.
(452)
. . . When a wise man does anything, he is
sure to achieve it. For example, a man who is about to travel a great distance
must first decide where he wishes to go, and must then inquire which road will
lead him there. His ultimate destination must be decided on at the very
beginning. (453)
When we come to moral training, we must
also know the nature of our goal–why do I wish to undergo moral
training?–otherwise it will be haphazard in character, and we shall not
know why we are doing what we are doing. (454)
The Chinese scholar
says: All that you have said is true. May I ask how one sets
about it? (460)
The Western scholar
says: I always compare this kind of task with the planting of
vegetables: First one prepares the soil, pulls up the weeds, rids the ground of
broken earthenware and stones, and guides accumulated water so that it flows
into ditches. Only when all this has been done does one plant seeds. (461)
The definition of humanity can be summed
up in the following two sentences: Love the Lord of Heaven, for He is supreme;
and love others as you love yourself for the sake of the Lord of Heaven. If you
carry out these two commands, everything you do will be perfect. But these two
commands are, after all, only one command. If one loves a person passionately,
one will love what that person loves. The Lord of Heaven love people; if I
genuinely love the Lord of Heaven can I fail to live the people He loves? (468)
The student of morality must first rid
himself of evil habits before he can enter the realm of goodness. There must be
things one must refrain from doing before one can begin to act. Before
beginning one’s study, every effort must be made to uproot outrageous and
dissolute habits and evil practices which are firmly rooted and which have
penetrated deep into the mind. The meaning of courage is self-conquest. If a
person applies himself to study whilst still a child, the efficacy of a
moment’s effort will be magnified ten times. The reason for this is that a
child does not carry the burden of earlier habits. (452)
In September 2001, Ricci’s cause for
beatification was completed in Macerata, the city of his birth. The Catholic
Church in China, the Society of Jesus, his descendants, admirers, and
prospective Renaissance Men and Women anticipate the canonization of Blessed
Matteo Ricci of the Society of Jesus.
Life of
Matteo Ricci in Summary
Ricci was born in 1552 in Macerata, a
small town in Italy, just east of Rome. The elder Ricci sent his son to Rome to
study law. Instead, the young man of sixteen entered the Jesuit novitiate of
Sant’Andrea. Later, at the Roman College, he studied under Christopher
Clavius, the famous Jesuit polymath, astronomer, humanist and Renaissance Man.
The lectures Matteo heard by the future Jesuit saint Robert Bellarmine inspired
the young man.
Ricci’s ardent desire to serve in the
Chinese mission was realized first with studies in Goa, a district of Portugese
India. After ordination to the priesthood, he was sent to Macao, the Portugese
territory in South China in 1582. There, he overcame poor health, completed
theological studies, taught humanities and followed an intensive language
course in Chinese which he mastered to perfection.
With Michael Ruggieri, his Jesuit
companion, Ricci entered the province of Kwantung in 1583, making every
possible concession to establish themselves in China. They shaved their heads,
adopted the garb of Buddhist monks and later the attire of Confucian mandarins
with its ceremonial square bonnets and silk robes of the upper class. In terms
of converts, Ricci labors do not impress. But as "Doctor from the Great
West Ocean," Ricci lectured with great authority in his newly acquired
social status.
Ricci had a phenomenal memory, a fact which prompted
Jonathan Spence to write The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci. Ricci had
taught himself how to construct a memory palace, a kind of storage space for
the thousands of names and facts, concepts and images that daily enter the
mind. As a suggestion, one could enter "the real" into one location,
the fictive in another, and, in a third, a combination of "the real"
and the fictive. It is no wonder that Chinese fascination with Ricci’s
genius increased when he taught them how to build a memory palace.
In 1601, Emperor K’ang-hsi of Peking
sent for Ricci who drew up a list of "toys" to win the emperor: a
small modern painting of Christ, the true Lord of Heaven and Earth, a large
antique painting of the virgin, the Mother of the Lord of Heaven, a modern
painting of the Virgin with the Christ Child and John the Baptist, a breviary,
with gold-thread binding, a cross inlaid with precious stones and pieces of
polychrome glass, containing relics of the saints, an atlas–the
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of Ortelius, a large clock with weights, and a
small striking clock of gilded metal worked by springs, two prisms, a
harpsichord [clavichord], eight mirrors and bottles of various sizes, a
rhinoceros tusk, two sand clocks, the Four Gospels, and several other items.
When the clock stopped and no Chinese
scholar could start it again, the emperor sent for Ricci who repaired it. Soon
the cordial Ming court hosted Ricci and other Jesuits. For nine years, Ricci
won the respect of the intelligentsia. Conversions came steadily. But even more
important, Ricci laid the groundwork for the Chinese to accept Christianity
into their culture.
In his book, Generation of Giants,
George H. Dunne, S.J. notes that Ricci’s "primary object was not
simply to establish a certain number of Christian communities on the fringes of
a hostile society; it was rather to build a Sino-Christian civilization."
Christianity would attract others through learning, affection for a different
culture, and exemplary lives.
In 1610, Matteo Ricci–known in China
as "Li-ma-teu," died from "the strain of the apostolate which
demanded a multiplication of the self." He left 2,500 Chinese Catholics,
including many of the educated class. Of the eighteen Jesuits laboring there,
half were indigenous Chinese. Matteo Ricci, S.J. embodied the best goals of the
Society of Jesus: spiritual depth, a love for learning and intellectual
curiosity, finding of God in all things, a practical vision. He is a model for
inculturation.
A Ricci
Scholar Is a Rich Scholar. Ricci’s Approach to God through Learning
To be a Ricci scholar is to be a rich
scholar. It means embody the meaning of his name: rich of mind, rich of heart
and of spirit. The key to satisfying Chinese curiosity was through mathematics
and astronomy. Ricci demonstrated to the Chinese such novelties as Venetian
prisms, exotic clocks, European books, paintings and engravings, sundials, a
series of maps, clocks and, yes, a harpsichord. Those who came in contact with
him were impressed with his learning, affection, and tact.
In the field of astronomy, Ricci could
predict eclipses more accurately than the Chinese college of mathematicians.
The Gregorian calendar, largely the work of his master teacher, Christopher
Clavius, had been adopted in 1582 in western Europe. It was promulgated
throughout the Indian province the next year. Ricci hoped that the Chinese
would accept the new calendar as well. He had already adjusted the Gregorian
system to the lunar year and translated it into Chinese, so that Christians
could calculate the liturgical calendar. But he had not recorded his research.
Because the Chinese lunar calendar bestowed and confirmed imperial power, to
have printed his manuscript would have jeopardized his life.
Poetry and
Music
To prepare for a future harvest in China,
Among the presents he had brought with him to the Peking court in 1601 was a
small harpsichord. Ricci composed a cycle of eight madrigals, each of which
bore a moral and religious significance.
In translating the text into Chinese,
Ricci exerted sensitivity with the connotation of life "outside" with
the "inside" world–the foreign and the Chinese world. The song
cycle appealed to the Chinese upper class, and a Chinese newspaper of his day
called him "blue-eyed with a voice melodious like a bell."
Ricci’s
Respect for the Chinese Culture
Jesuit-historian, William Bangert notes
that Ricci "concentrated efforts primarily on the conversion of the
educated classes and making the natural sciences the beginning of Catholic
apologetics." Ricci biographer, Vincent Cronin notes several facts that
raised his hopes in his missionary work. The Chinese prized reason, and
Christianity, a reasonable religion, appealed to them at an intellectual as
well as a supernatural level.
Books circulated freely, a fact that could
only strengthen his literary apostolate. The curious Chinese valued western
metaphysics and theology more than their own. The natural piety of the Chinese
gave Ricci hope, and a peaceful China would give Christianity a permanent
status. By adapting themselves to Chinese psychology and etiquette,
missionaries would undoubtedly be accepted as learned and holy men. Ricci
approached the Chinese with "respect, attention, and devotion," even
as he approached a Sino-Christian culture through reason and respect for the
dignity of the Chinese culture which he embraced–its food, clothing,
humor, and respect for Confucian moral standard of living. Adaptation was a key
word in their vocabulary.
When land was given to him and Ruggieri,
they chose to build in the Chinese style, and, as Cronin narrates, "he
taught Euclid’s Elements of Geometry by inventing Chinese terms for
each stage of argument for argument at each lesson." His commitment to
embrace Chinese life as far as was possible won for him the reputation of being
a saint.
Bangert notes that "particularly
troublesome was the problem of finding Chinese expressions for Catholic truths,
a problem like the one which faced the early Christians who had at their
disposal a vocabulary of a pagan civilization." After long and profound
study of ancient texts and consultation with scholars, Ricci thought that Tien
as Heaven and Shang as Sovereign Lord, described a Sovereign with the
attributes of the God of the Christians. He had used discretion, reserve, and
gentleness in understanding the difficulty the Chinese faced in their encounter
with a strange religion.
Ricci’s Personality Wins
Him Respect from Chinese
Ricci had a first-class temperament. He
was convinced that the Jesuit approach to the humanities and liberal arts give
a person insight into human beings–how they think and feel, reasons for
acting as they do, external factors affecting their way of life.
While it was true that learning and an
exemplary life attracted the Chinese literati to Christianity, Ricci’s
genuine love for the Chinese won for him as much respect as did his grasp on
learning. Not all was rosy however. Though Ricci engaged in non-threatening
diplomacy which permitted entrance to the inner realm of Peking, he was
ridiculed by some adversaries who tried to thwart his apostolic projects.
Ricci Is Relevant . . . Ricci
Speaks to College Students.
"Time past must be thought of as gone
forever."
"Man is a stranger in this
world."
"True longevity is reckoned not by
number of years but according to progress in virtue. If the Lord of Heaven
grants me one day more of life, He does so that I may correct yesterday’s
faults; failure to do this would be a sign of great ingratitude."
"The virtuous person speaks little
or not at all."
"Nothing is more conducive to a
better life than to examine our conscience and discover our faults."
"The rich miser is more unhappy than
the poor beggar."
"By foolishly trying to discover the
future, a man incurs misfortune."
"The sanction of good and evil will
become evident in the next life."
"To think of the future life
contributes to progress in virtue."
"To think of the future life prepares
for a favorable judgment after death."
"After death, the good are rewarded
and the wicked punished."
(From The True Meaning of the
Lord of Heaven)
"The learning I shall now discuss is
a learning entirely to do with the inner life and which is for oneself–in
a word, it is that learning whereby a man is made whole."
"The Lord of Heaven has bestowed on
man both a physical body and a spirit, and both are complete in every respect.
I ought to use both of them to serve Him. . . . Man alone is capable of
building palaces and sacred halls; of worshiping, of offering sacrifices, and
of reciting scriptures as an expression of thanks. He has, out of His fatherly
love, commanded sagely men to set up these external rites and ceremonies to
educate our inner virtue so that we can constantly preserve and examine it, and
so that we will daily look up to and pray for the grace of the Lord of
Heaven."
Writings by
Matteo Ricci
1595 Treatise on Friendship
1596 Treatise of Mnemonic Arts
1607 Translates into Chinese Euclid’s
Elements of Geometry
1603 The True Meaning of the Lord of
Heaven. The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, translated, with
introduction and notes by Douglas Lancashire and Peter Hu-chen, S.J. A
Chinese-English Edition edited by Edward J. Malatesta, S.J. St. Louis: The
Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1985 in cooperation with The Ricci Institute,
Taipei, Taiwan.
1608 Ten Discourses by a Paradoxical
Man
A Short
Bibliography of Matteo Ricci, S.J.
Bangert, S.J. William V. A History of
the Society of Jesus. St. Louis: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1972.
157-61.
China in the Sixteenth Century: The
Journals of Matthew Ricci: 1583-1610. Translated from the Latin by Louis J.
Gallagher, S.J. New York: Random House, 1953.
Cronin, Vincent J.: The Wise Man from
the West. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1955.
Dunne, S.J., George H. Generation of
Giants Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1962. Chapters 1 and
2, 23-52.
Rouleau, F.A., "Ricci, Matteo,"
The New Catholic Encyclopedia, 12: 470-72.
Spence, Jonathan D. The Memory Palace
of Matteo Ricci. New York: Viking Press, 1985.
