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Abstract
The present reflective notes on Matteo Ricci's cultural and scientific posterity in China stress more upon the role of Ricci as a genuine cultural diplomat than as a militant figure of Catholic missiology in China. Regardless of Ricci's own intentions and sometimes probably against his will, the acknowledgement of his prominent undertakings in cultural diplomacy as a friendly mate, strategic missiologist and scientific apostle prevails over widespread interpretations of his compromising accommodationism and opportunistic syncretism. In other words, depicting Ricci as an outstanding cultural diplomat could stand as an alternative reading of sweeping apperceptions regarding the overall Jesuit mentality associated with political conspiracies, intransigence and lust. A plausible alternative reading inspired by Ricci's own life and deeds aptly reveals that (at least) some Jesuit missionaries and defenders of the Christian Catholic faith took a pious posture in their daily lives, andshared unrelentless beliefs in reason, erudition, education and rhetoric excellence. Reading Ricci through such lenses would not only do justice to his posterity but would also elevate his personality to the forefront of early modern cultural diplomacy.
Keywords. Matteo Ricci, Catholicism, Confucianism, missiology, scientific apostolate, friendship.
Geopolitics, Catholic politics and Jesuitism in the age of Matteo Ricci
The large circular sculpture surrounding the round room of the Chinese Millenium Monument includes the most notorious figures associated with the growth of Chinese civilization for the past 5000 years of historical evolution. Inaugurated by the Chinese government at the turn of the 21st century, the collection of frescoes pays tribute to only two influential European personalities who decisively contributed to the progress of Chinese culture and civilization, Marco Polo and Matteo Ricci. Beyond perennial controversies regarding the impact of European civilization on the religious, cultural and scientific emancipation of China, paying homage to Polo and Ricci as civilizational figures surpasses the more narrow-sided outlooks on the (real) political and evangelic goals of European missionary ventures worldwide. The present reflective notes on Matteo Ricci's cultural and scientific posterity in China stress more upon the agency of Ricci as a genuine cultural diplomat than as a militant figure of Catholic missiology in China. Regardless of Ricci's own intentions and sometimes probably against his will, the acknowledgement of his prominent undertakings in cultural diplomacy as a friendly mate,...