A 16th century Italian Jesuit, Matteo Ricci was the founder of the Catholic Mission in China and one of the most famous missionaries of all time. A pioneer in bringing Christianity to China, Ricci spent twenty eight years in the country, in which time he crossed the cultural divides between China and the West by immersing himself in the language and culture of his hosts. Even 400 years later, he is still one of the best known westerners in China, celebrated for introducing western scientific and religious ideas to China and for explaining Chinese culture to Europe.
This symposium, held in partial celebration of the publication of Ronnie Hsia’s A Jesuit in the Forbidden City: Matteo Ricci, 1552-1610 (Cambridge University Press, 2010), will feature talks by a number of internationally renowned scholars of early modern China, as well as a musical performance by Joyce Lindorff (Boyer College of Music and Dance, Temple University), who will play selections from the music of Ricci’s time in China.