From

Matteo Ricci

to Today,

400 Years of

Christianity in Nanjing

• "The Master from the West," an exhibit that commemorated the 400th anniversary of the Jesuit's death, visited Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Macao.

• Macao, October 2010

• Most famous landmark in Macao is the façade of St. Paul’s Church, built by the Jesuits at the same time Ricci left for China

• A statue had been placed outside the Macao Museum in honor of the Ricci anniversary

1578, leaves Portugal for Goa, India

• 1579-1582 Completes three-year course in theology, sails to Macao

• 1582• Macao• 1583-89• Zhaoqing• 1589-94• Shaozhou• 1595• Nanchang• 1599• Nanjing• 1601• Beijing

Stage 1 – Buddhist Monk StageGuangdong

• 1583-89 Zhaoqing

• Ricci produces 1st world map in Chinese

• They translate the Ten Commandments, the Credo, and the prayers of the Christian faith

• Ruggeri publishes 1st

catechism in Chinese

• 1588 Rugerri to Rome

• 1589-93 Shaozhou

• begins to translate Confucius' Four Booksinto Latin, and composes a paraphrase of it, also in Latin.

• His house was raided by thieves; he jumps out of a window to seek help

• 1594,

• Begins to wear the long robe of the literati, hire servants and secretaries, and gets around on a sedan chair.

If at first you don’t succeed…

• 1594 – attempts to go to Beijing, but on the way, the boat overturns; Ricci is saved but a Chinese assistant is drowned. He takes refuge in Nanjing but is chased out of town, so he goes to Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi Province

1595-98 Nanchang

• He is well received

• Publishes his first book in Chinese, “On Friendship”

• Impresses with his prodigious memory, gives a presentation on his secret: mnemonics

Mnemonics

• Greek for ‘memory’

• Mnemonics are easy-to-remember devices, acronyms, phrases, or whatever that help you recall information.

1598 Tries again to go to Beijing

• He follows the Minister of Rites Wang Zhongming to Beijing with a plan to reform the Chinese calendar. After two months in the northern capital, he is forced to go back to where he came from because foreigners are eyed with suspicion there.

1599-1600 Nanjing

• On January 6 he settles in Nanjing and establishes a fourth Jesuit house.

• Even though only 15 months in Nanjing, they are more fruitful than all previous; his reputation continued to grow and his influential friends increased

1600 Never give up

• In May he again leaves for Beijing; this time his plan is to bring gifts to Emperor Wanli. But while navigating down the imperial canal he is arrested by Ma Tang, a powerful eunuch, who shuts him up in the fortress of Tianjin and keeps him there until January of 1601.

1601 Beijing at last

• On January 24, Ricci enters Beijing. He has with him numerous significant gifts from the West for Emperor Wanli, whom he will never actually meet, but by whom he will be supported through the state budget until his death

1601 - 1610

• Publishes the treatise The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, the Doctrine of the Lord of Heaven and Twenty-five Sayings

• Continues to improve the world map

• With Chinese Christians, translates scientific and mathematic treatises

• Writes the first systematic description of China and the history of the Jesuit mission in China from 1579

May 11, 1610 Ricci dies

• On May 11, Ricci dies in Beijing after a short illness. For the first time in the history of China the emperor allots a piece of land for the burial of a foreigner.

• Matteo Ricci's tomb lies within what is now Beijing Administrative College

• Ricci’s tombstone is very large, flanked by those of Adam Schalland Ferdinand Verbiest

• This retired professor bicycled from home to give us a tour

• The compound still bears evidence of having been a Catholic church center

Xu Guangqi, pride of Shanghai

XuGuangqi, the highest level official to become a Christian.

They translate the first six books of Euclid's Elements of Geometry

•The Rites Controversy

• Chinese emperors did not accept that anyone outside of China could have authority over Chinese citizens, so when the Pope decreed the rites were unacceptable, Christianity was banned

Spence, on Ricci and the Map

• “I’m an unabashed Ricci admirer,” Spence told the audience in the Coolidge Auditorium on April 13. He said Ricci is “one of the most impressive persons anyone can encounter.”

World map, a 20-year project

• “Ricci was six things at once,” said Spence. “He was a scholar, an observer, a linguist, a scientist, a writer and a man of God. All six are present in the map in different ways.”

The 1602 map, that measures 5.5 feet tall by 12.5 feet wide, drawn by Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci (1552-1610)

• Cathedral of

Immaculate

Conception

• 3,000-4,000

believers

• 1 small church

• In suburbs, several hundred believers

Xuzhou Catholic Church

• Robert Morrison, first Protestant missionary in China, 1807 - 1834

• After twenty-five years of work he had translated the whole Bible into Chinese and baptized ten Chinese believers. He pioneered translation of the Bible and wanted to distribute the Scriptures as widely as possible.

• 1807 – Morrison, firstProtestantmissionary

• 1842 – Treaty of Nanking opened five treaty ports to foreigners: Guangzhou, Amoy (Xiamen), Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai

• From 1860 – Further action forced open other treaty ports and the interior of China to trade and evangelization

Christianity in Nanjing in 2012

• Nanjing is the capital city of Jiangsu Province, and its largest city. The urban area has a population of 5.25 million persons, and more than 8 million, counting rural residents.

Churches• 252

• Including

Meeting

points

Believers

•100,000 to 150,000

Ministers

• 34 pastors

• 18 elders

• other ministers

• Total about 60-70

Urban Churches

St. Paul’s Church, Gao Qiao Branch

Mochou Road

Jiangsu Lu Church

Dao Sheng Church

Seventh Day Adventist

Hexi Dajie

Sheng Xun

Olympic Stadium

Jiangsu ProvincePopulation:85.5 million

4,500 Churches& Meeting Points

1.8 millionbelievers

230 pastors, 2000 lay leaders and preachers

Jinling Union Theological Seminary

JiangsuBible

School

Jiangsu Bible School