Zhong Wen: Indeed, it was extremely difficult for European religious customs to enter China.

In 1582, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci was instructed by Alessandro Valignano, the Visitor of the Jesuit missions in the East, to go to China to carry out evangelization.

Ricci was a student of Valignano and had been influenced by Francis Xavier, which made him deeply curious about India. He therefore went to India and preached there for four years.

During this period, Ricci studied much about Eastern cultures and gradually developed his own missionary strategy—approaching others with an open and inclusive mind, and allowing converts to encounter other beliefs at the same time. Ricci regularly reported his ideas and achievements to the Jesuit headquarters and gained its approval.

Nicolò Longobardo, the priest responsible for entering Macau and evangelizing China, learned of Ricci’s abilities and considered Ricci an irreplaceable talent. Thus he recommended Ricci to Valignano, asking that Ricci be sent to Macau as his assistant. With Valignano’s approval, Ricci set off for Macau.

After arriving in Macau, Ricci worked with Longobardo and other missionaries to plan methods of evangelization and to find ways to enter mainland China. They eventually decided to study Chinese together and translate Catholic doctrine into Chinese so they could share it with the Chinese people. Two years later, Ricci and his companions finally received an opportunity to enter Guangdong and begin missionary work.

The Governor-General of Guangdong, Guo Yingpin (1520–1586), was an official devoted to Wang Yangming’s School of Mind. Influenced by its inclusive cultural spirit, he maintained an open attitude toward Catholicism. As a result, Ricci and the others were approved to enter Guangdong and even granted residency rights—an extraordinary breakthrough for missionaries at that time.

After entering Guangdong, Ricci settled in Zhaoqing (modern Zhaoqing) and Shaozhou (modern Shaoguan), calling himself “a monk from India” while preaching locally.

In Zhaoqing, Ricci’s teachings about the Lord of Heaven deeply impressed Wang Pan, the prefect of Zhaoqing, and the two became close friends, frequently exchanging ideas. With Wang Pan’s support, Ricci not only built the first Jesuit residence in mainland China—the “Temple of the Immortal Flowers” (Xianhuasi)—but also produced the first world map in Chinese, the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu.

Two notable events took place during the construction of Xianhuasi.

The local gentry worried that building a church would disrupt local geomancy and accused Ricci of not “choosing an auspicious day” for construction. Ricci, helpless, suspended the project and negotiated with the gentry. Only after gaining their consent did they move the site to an uninhabited piece of land.

Bo Ya: Clearly, this is a typical “cultural conflict.”

Zhong Wen: Exactly. When the new site was chosen, another issue arose. Because the earlier construction had already consumed significant funds, the church no longer had sufficient money to continue. Longobardo therefore left Guangdong and returned to Macau to seek financial help from the Portuguese community. Fortunately, he obtained funding and returned to Guangdong to resume the project with Ricci.

A year later, Xianhuasi was completed. Ricci named it the “Church of the Purity of the Holy Child,” while Wang Pan inscribed the elegant name “Xianhuasi” and hung it at the main entrance. He also wrote another plaque, “Pure Gentlemen from the West,” for the main hall.

Bo Ya: These two names clearly reflect two different religious traditions—which is not surprising. Ricci also discovered that Ming Dynasty scholars generally lacked knowledge of world geography. He believed that helping the Chinese understand the actual relationship between China and the West would benefit his missionary work. Thus he asked Wang Pan to help him produce a map.

After the map was finished, Ricci happily presented it to Wang Pan and was delighted that Wang Pan treated it so seriously. Wang not only supervised its printing, but also distributed it as a prestigious gift to influential Chinese. Ricci considered this a promising beginning for his mission.

Unfortunately, the map contained numerous errors in Ricci’s own view. First, because Ricci drew it entirely by hand, inaccuracies were unavoidable. Second, Wang Pan was so excited upon seeing the map that he immediately ordered it printed, leaving Ricci no time for proofreading.

Zhong Wen: This is how many things end up happening—by sheer coincidence.

After completing the church and publishing the map, Ricci felt that the Chinese had begun to accept Western knowledge, and therefore he decided to start formal evangelization.

He and Longobardo published The True Record of the Lord of Heaven, a Chinese-language introduction to Catholicism, and attempted to translate the Four Books, hoping to merge Catholic teachings with Confucian thought and thus attract Chinese converts. Ricci also removed his monk’s robe and adopted Confucian scholar’s dress, integrating himself into Chinese society so the locals would feel more at ease with him—an advantage for his mission.

Despite these pioneering efforts, Ricci’s mission in Guangdong was not particularly successful. After six years in Zhaoqing, he persuaded only eighty locals to adopt Catholicism. His missionary activities even provoked resentment among local elites. Local thugs repeatedly attacked him, forcing Ricci to flee Zhaoqing. In Shaozhou, he faced assault again and suffered a severe injury to one foot, leaving him permanently lame.

Bo Ya: It seems that people in Guangdong were very resistant to outsiders. Later, during the Opium War, the “Sanyuanli anti-British uprising” also took place there—something seldom seen in other provinces. And both Hong Xiuquan and Sun Yat-sen were also from Guangdong.