Zhong Wen: Matteo Ricci was the central figure in the spread of Catholicism in Ming-dynasty China, and Xie Taiqing—who served as Prefect of Shaozhou—was the first gentry member from Quanzhou to engage deeply with him. It was precisely because people like Xie Taiqing maintained a tolerant attitude toward Ricci and the Catholic faith that Shaozhou could become an important base for Ricci’s missionary work in China.

Bo Ya: This shows that the level of openness in late-Ming society far exceeded what modern people imagine—indeed, far surpassed that of Communist China today.

Zhong Wen: When scholars discuss Ricci’s first encounter with Xie Taiqing, they usually quote a passage from Matteo Ricci’s China Journal: “Qu Taisu is a person whom we will frequently mention… It was through his efforts that the Fathers became close friends with a military officer—called the Regional Defense Inspector—and with his fellow townsman, the newly appointed Prefect of Shaozhou… With these high officials as protectors, our work began to flourish.”

The Chinese translator of Ricci’s China Journal identified “the Regional Defense Inspector” as Deng Meizheng and “the newly appointed Prefect of Shaozhou” as Xie Taiqing. However, upon examination, most writings on Ricci’s mission in Shaozhou repeat this claim without verification, resulting in the error being perpetuated.

Bo Ya: Ricci arrived in Shaozhou in 1589 (Wanli 17). According to the Tongzhi Edition of the Shaozhou Gazetteer, the Prefect at that time was Chen Qimou of Xiushui, Zhejiang (in office 1589–1591). Chen Qimou, courtesy name Hailou, passed the 1574 imperial examination and served as magistrate in several counties before being appointed Surveillance Censor of Nanjing. In 1588 he submitted his Four Urgent Matters Regarding Military Administration in the Southern Capital. Later that year, he was appointed Prefect of Shaozhou. Therefore, identifying Ricci’s “newly appointed Prefect” as Xie Taiqing is incorrect.

Xie Taiqing—courtesy name Dengzhi, sobriquet Weishen, from Jinjiang, Fujian—passed the 1580 examination and succeeded Chen Qimou as Prefect of Shaozhou from 1592 to 1597. The Shaozhou Gazetteer praises him for reducing legal penalties, cutting expenses, eliminating corruption, and promoting education; he was honored in the local “Temple of Eminent Officials.” In 1598 he became Vice-Commissioner of Guangxi.

Zhong Wen: In 1590, the year after Ricci’s arrival, Shaozhou saw its first attack on the Catholic church. Through Qu Taisu, Ricci invited Prefect Chen Qimou to inspect the site. To restore peace, Ricci and Qu agreed to a reconciliation. Afterwards, Chen issued a second, stronger protection order for the church. Ricci’s China Journal records: “As a result of the entire case, the Prefect issued a proclamation even stricter than the previous one.” Because Ricci’s assistant, Fr. Antonio Almeida, had fallen ill, Chen Qimou also granted Ricci permission to summon a replacement.

In 1592, Shaozhou’s church suffered a second assault. The new Prefect, Xie Taiqing, continued Chen’s tolerant approach and ordered the Sub-prefect Huang Huaxiu to handle the matter. In 1595, Xie Taiqing traveled to Beijing for a formal report, leaving administrative affairs to Huang Huaxiu. Ricci was relieved, for the journal notes: “The new Prefect (i.e., Xie) had welcomed Fr. de Fonseca as if he had been invited by his predecessor… During his absence, the Fourth Assistant (Huang Huaxiu) served as acting Prefect; not only was he a friend of the Fathers, he was also their special protector.”

Bo Ya: It is noteworthy that Huang Huaxiu was also from the Quanzhou region—born in Tong’an, admitted to the South-An Prefectural Academy, and a 1589 jinshi. The Shaozhou Gazetteer states that he was “clear-headed and decisive, overturning unjust verdicts and exposing fraudulent claims,” later promoted to Censor of Nanjing and also honored in the “Temple of Eminent Officials.”

After the second attack on the church, Huang imprisoned the ringleaders. The initial judgment sentenced the main offender to death and accomplices to penal servitude. Their families objected, gathered to petition, and produced an indictment accusing the missionaries of “violating Chinese law by maintaining constant foreign contacts through Macau and Zhaoqing, and of building a fortress rather than a house, in which they harbored a garrison of more than forty foreigners from Macau.” Except for Tongzhi Guan Gu, none of the local officials supported this appeal. To prevent escalation, Xie Taiqing informed Ricci directly that the petition had reached the Prefecture and advised a negotiated settlement. Ricci and Fr. de Fonseca agreed, and the offenders were lightly punished—twenty blows each and then released.

Because Prefects Chen Qimou and Xie Taiqing, and Sub-prefect Huang Huaxiu, supported him, Ricci gradually gained a firm foothold in Shaozhou, beginning a new chapter of his mission.

Zhong Wen: Shaozhou became an important Jesuit base in China—a historic first step. When Ricci first arrived (1589), only the Portuguese Fr. Antonio Almeida accompanied him. Almeida died in 1591. With official approval, the Italian Fr. de Fonseca arrived to replace him but died in 1593. Thanks to Xie Taiqing’s support, the Italian Jesuit Giogio Grespi (Guo Jujing) was permitted to enter Shaozhou. The Biography of Guo Jujing states: “After Fr. de Fonseca died, Ricci resided alone in Shaozhou and sent for Fr. Grespi to assist. During Ricci’s first journey to Nanjing, Grespi managed the church affairs… When Ricci left Nanjing for the last time, he entrusted Grespi with overseeing the missions in Nanjing, Nanchang, and Shaozhou.”

In 1597, the Italian Jesuit Nicolò Longobardi entered Shaozhou: “Longobardi arrived in China in 1597… Fr. Manuel Dias first sent him to Shaozhou, where he worked with only one brother. He preached in town and countryside alike; many joined the Church, including scholars. He stayed several years.”

Bo Ya: Men like Xie Taiqing played an immense role in enabling the spread of the Gospel in China. Ricci’s China Journal notes that before this, the Jesuit mission in China was administered from Macau. Because Shaozhou and Nanchang had grown into thriving mission centers, in 1596 the Jesuits established a “Superior of the China Mission,” equivalent to a regional superior, with Ricci appointed as the first holder. Shaozhou remained a major entry point for missionaries. Longobardi served there from 1597 to 1609 and succeeded Ricci as Superior. Emmanuel Diaz the Elder also worked there, and later missionaries—such as Álvaro Semedo, Francisco Furtado, François Noël, and Chinese Jesuits like Zhong Baxian and Huang Mingsha—all spent formative periods in Shaozhou.

Zhong Wen: It was in Shaozhou that Ricci gained his first opportunity to reach Nanjing. To him, Shaozhou was a staging ground, not the goal; Beijing was the true objective. As Ricci’s Biography states: “In 1594, with the arrival of Fr. Grespi, Ricci could finally carry out his plan to travel to Beijing.”

In that year, the Minister of War passed through Shaozhou on his way to the capital and asked Ricci to treat his son’s illness. He granted Ricci permission to accompany his retinue into Jiangxi. Prefect Xie Taiqing issued formal documents guaranteeing Ricci free passage. Ricci thus traveled with two baptized assistants, Huang Mingsha and Zhong Mingren, ultimately entering Nanjing. Though his first Nanjing mission failed, it strengthened his resolve.

Bo Ya: Ricci and his companions later relied on connections formed in Shaozhou to establish themselves in Nanchang. When Ricci had to retreat from Nanjing, he found unexpected support in Jiangxi through people he had met in Shaozhou. With help from the Provincial Governor Lu Wangai, Ricci founded a new mission center in Nanchang. Ricci’s Biography records: “In Nanchang lived a physician (Wang Jilou) who had met Ricci in Shaozhou. Upon seeing Ricci, he received him warmly and introduced him to local scholars… After the publication of The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven and On Friendship, his reputation grew… The Governor permitted him to reside in Nanchang. When Fr. Sabbatino de Ursis brought funds, they rented a small house, and visitors flocked to them.”

Zhong Wen: The Quanzhou Gazetteer records that as Prefect of Shaozhou, Xie Taiqing “cut superfluous expenses, reduced punishments, repressed powerful clans, disciplined corrupt monks, established academies, and nurtured talent.” Huang Huaxiu was likewise praised as benevolent and upright. Both were enshrined as exemplary officials. Their interactions with Ricci must be understood within Quanzhou’s unique multi-cultural heritage.

The city’s inclusive cultural atmosphere meant that Confucian gentry from Quanzhou were more tolerant toward Catholicism. Chen Liangcai of Jinjiang—who later befriended Ricci in Beijing—recalled that as a child he already knew something of Christianity because Quanzhou people who traded with Westerners brought back reports of a religion that “served the Lord of Heaven, valued love, faith, and hope, emphasized moral teaching and repentance, and urged preparation for life and death.” This shows that early in the Wanli reign—long before Jesuits formally entered Fujian—Quanzhou’s maritime networks had already introduced Catholic ideas.

This was likely because Christianity was not new to Quanzhou: as early as the Song-Yuan period, the “Luminous Religion” (Nestorian Christianity) spread there and had significant influence.

Bo Ya: More importantly, Ricci’s presentation of Catholic doctrine “did not obsess over proselytizing but instead compared Christian teachings with the native Confucian and Daoist traditions, highlighting their points of agreement.” Thus practices like “venerating Confucius and ancestors,” Ricci regarded as civil rituals rather than religious worship. As for “Chinese classics that could be harmonized with Christian thought,” Ricci believed that “flexible accommodation was acceptable.” Because Ricci and the Jesuits upheld the principle of accommodation, Chinese scholars found their teachings agreeable.

The Quanzhou scholar Zhang Ruitu praised Ricci’s The Treatise on the Human Person as full of “profound principles,” stating that Ricci’s writings aligned with Confucius and Mencius. “Who says that, though he is from a foreign land, his teachings are not in harmony with ours?” In short, Ricci hid the Cross within a Confucian framework—which explains his remarkable success.