satisfaction that the Jesuits exhibited this document over the entrance of their house.
Once the word had spread that the foreigners’ stay was authorized, the residence became a magnet for curious citizens, all eager to see the interior of such an unusual building and above all the wonderful objects it contained, which were the talk of the town, especially the “priceless precious stone” or “glass containing a piece of the sky,” as some Chinese called the prism that Ricci had presented to the prefect and that many officials had enjoyed the privilege of examining. When the Chinese saw the painting of the Virgin Mary hanging in the chapel, they were most surprised that the Westerners should worship a female god, and the missionaries hastily replaced it with an image of Christ so as to avoid misunderstandings.
Delighted to see his home visited by men of culture, Ricci placed his library of Western books on display together with the Chinese works he was studying with the aid of an interpreter. He wished to make it understood that he was the representative of a civilization as rich and as ancient as the Chinese, where “letters and sciences were held in esteem,” and that he was interested in the cultural achievements of his host country. The Chinese officials examined the works on religion and science with great interest as well as those with the illustrations showing European cities. While many confined themselves to admiring the elegant bindings, others realized that those books in an unknown language contained knowledge from distant countries and asked questions about their content.
In receiving their numerous visitors, the Jesuits soon learned the characteristics of Chinese society and the forms of behavior to be adopted during these encounters. The economic elite was represented by the great landowners and the ruling class by the guan , officials of the state bureaucracy selected through an extremely rigorous system of competitive examinations. The two social categories largely overlapped. On the one hand, the sons of rich landowners had the means to study and to sit the examinations offering access to the bureaucracy. On the other, officials appointed to positions of importance were able to purchase estates. The guan were cultured men whose studies focused primarily on Chinese history and the texts of Confucianism, the official state philosophy. Ricci realized that it was impossible to understand China without a knowledge of its most representative philosophy, and he vowed to study it in depth as soon as he had mastered the classical Chinese in which the ancient texts were written.
The official doctrine originated with Confucius (Kong Fuzi, or Master Kong, in Chinese), a thinker traditionally held to have been born in 551 bc in the small principality of Lu in the present-day eastern province of Shandong. A scion of a decayed aristocratic family, Confucius held a series of positions, including minister of justice. But he resigned every post in the state administration due to disagreements with his lord, and he began his travels through the numerous Chinese states in the hope that his teachings might have a positive influence on the political practice of their rulers. Disappointed by his failure to achieve the task he had set himself, he abandoned all hope of a political career and returned when over sixty to his hometown, where he devoted himself to private teaching and was surrounded by numerous pupils until his death at the age of seventy-two.
The philosopher left no writings, but his ideas were collected by disciples in the Lunyu , or Analects , a series of aphorisms beginning with the formula “The Master said,” and fragmentary conversations between the philosopher and his pupils or between the philosopher and the rulers who came to him for advice on sound government. Ricci was repeatedly made aware that all educated Chinese knew this work by heart.
The Confucian philosophy consisted of a set of
Once the word had spread that the foreigners’ stay was authorized, the residence became a magnet for curious citizens, all eager to see the interior of such an unusual building and above all the wonderful objects it contained, which were the talk of the town, especially the “priceless precious stone” or “glass containing a piece of the sky,” as some Chinese called the prism that Ricci had presented to the prefect and that many officials had enjoyed the privilege of examining. When the Chinese saw the painting of the Virgin Mary hanging in the chapel, they were most surprised that the Westerners should worship a female god, and the missionaries hastily replaced it with an image of Christ so as to avoid misunderstandings.
Delighted to see his home visited by men of culture, Ricci placed his library of Western books on display together with the Chinese works he was studying with the aid of an interpreter. He wished to make it understood that he was the representative of a civilization as rich and as ancient as the Chinese, where “letters and sciences were held in esteem,” and that he was interested in the cultural achievements of his host country. The Chinese officials examined the works on religion and science with great interest as well as those with the illustrations showing European cities. While many confined themselves to admiring the elegant bindings, others realized that those books in an unknown language contained knowledge from distant countries and asked questions about their content.
In receiving their numerous visitors, the Jesuits soon learned the characteristics of Chinese society and the forms of behavior to be adopted during these encounters. The economic elite was represented by the great landowners and the ruling class by the guan , officials of the state bureaucracy selected through an extremely rigorous system of competitive examinations. The two social categories largely overlapped. On the one hand, the sons of rich landowners had the means to study and to sit the examinations offering access to the bureaucracy. On the other, officials appointed to positions of importance were able to purchase estates. The guan were cultured men whose studies focused primarily on Chinese history and the texts of Confucianism, the official state philosophy. Ricci realized that it was impossible to understand China without a knowledge of its most representative philosophy, and he vowed to study it in depth as soon as he had mastered the classical Chinese in which the ancient texts were written.
The official doctrine originated with Confucius (Kong Fuzi, or Master Kong, in Chinese), a thinker traditionally held to have been born in 551 bc in the small principality of Lu in the present-day eastern province of Shandong. A scion of a decayed aristocratic family, Confucius held a series of positions, including minister of justice. But he resigned every post in the state administration due to disagreements with his lord, and he began his travels through the numerous Chinese states in the hope that his teachings might have a positive influence on the political practice of their rulers. Disappointed by his failure to achieve the task he had set himself, he abandoned all hope of a political career and returned when over sixty to his hometown, where he devoted himself to private teaching and was surrounded by numerous pupils until his death at the age of seventy-two.
The philosopher left no writings, but his ideas were collected by disciples in the Lunyu , or Analects , a series of aphorisms beginning with the formula “The Master said,” and fragmentary conversations between the philosopher and his pupils or between the philosopher and the rulers who came to him for advice on sound government. Ricci was repeatedly made aware that all educated Chinese knew this work by heart.
The Confucian philosophy consisted of a set of
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