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Handout #194 |
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The Evangelization of China |
| A new style of missionary, Mateo Ricci (1552-1610 A.D.) Father Mateo wore the dress of the men of letters, chiefly that of those who call themselves preachers of the law. This dress is truly modest; the hat is little different from our own, and Taoism). When it came to the men of letters, however, not only is even fashioned in the form of a cross. Nor did he set out to be the preacher of the divine law in dress alone, but much more so by his speeches. For he gave himself over entirely to refuting one or another sect of idols (Buddhism did he not censure them; on the contrary, he praised them greatly, and even commended Confucius, the prince of them, because he had preferred keeping silent about what he did not know of the other life to making up fables, and had shaped the precepts of his law to give a good form to the life of the individual and good government to his family and to the kingdom, in law and equity. This way of dressing and going about in public seemed quite new, but it was greatly approved of by the men of letters. Father Mateo had composed a summary of Christian doctrine in Chinese, in such a way as to suit it mainly to pagans. Extract from Nicolas Trigault, Histoire de 1"Expedition chretienne au royaume de la Chine(1617). |
