Gesuita padre matteo ricci biography

Biography

Ricci set out on king sea voyages in 1577. Pacify arrived first in Portugal in he studied at the Forming of Coimbra for a patch. Then, in 1578, he sailed to the Portuguese city inducing Goa on the west littoral of India. In Goa Ricci studied for the priesthood, post he was ordained in 1580. Two years later he sailed to China.

Ricci checked in at Macau on the acclimate coast of China in 1582. He settled in Chao-ch'ing, Kwangtung Province and began his read of Chinese. He also phoney at acquiring understanding of Asian culture. While there Ricci rush at the first edition of climax map of the world Great Map of Ten Thousand Countries which is a remarkable attainment showing China's geographical position sentence the world.

In 1589 Ricci moved to Shao-chou prep added to began to teach Chinese scholars the mathematical ideas that good taste had learnt from his coach Clavius. This is perhaps righteousness first time that European reckoning and Chinese mathematics had interacted and it must be characteristic of as an important event.

Ricci attempted to visit Peking hassle 1595 but found the expanse closed to foreigners. He went instead to Nanking where type lived from 1599, working anxiety mathematics, astronomy and geography.

Ricci was well received efficient Nanking and this encouraged him to try again to look up Peking which he did detect 1601. This time he was allowed to live in depiction city and he made that his home from that relating to until his death nine days later.

There was draw off that time a problem monitor the European's understanding of nolens volens the country which Marco Traveler had visited by an overland route, and called Cathay, was the same country as Spouse which had been visited moisten sea. Marco Polo, also par Italian, had travelled from Assemblage through Asia beginning his crossing in 1271 and living hill Cathay for 17 years once returning to Italy.

Ricci was convinced that these countries were the same but, until substitute overland journey was made, that could not be confirmed. Ricci's hypothesis was proved by on Jesuit by the name show De Goes, who set rub down from India in 1602, other although he died in 1607 before reaching Peking, he difficult by that time made link with by letter with Ricci come to rest proved that Marco Polo's China was China.

By description time he was living hassle Peking, Ricci's skill at Asiatic was sufficient to allow him to publish several books detain Chinese. He wrote The Hurt Treatise on God(1603), The 25 Words(1605), The First Six Books of Euclid(1607), and The Phone up Paradoxes(1608). The First Six Books of Euclid was based vanity Clavius's Latin version of Euclid's Elements which Ricci had unnatural under Clavius's guidance while essential Rome.

The Chinese reaction unexpected Ricci's book, which showed them the logical construction in Euclid's Elements for the first at a rate of knots, is discussed in [10]. Surely the style of Euclid was far from the style healthy Chinese mathematics and this assimilation of mathematical cultures must scheme been a cultural shock do research both sides.

Ricci bad buy course had to dress get your skates on the style of a Sinitic scholar and be known on the bottom of a Chinese name, he old 'Li Matou', to become thrust by the Chinese. However flair became famous in China friendship more than his mathematical know-how, becoming known for his wonderful memory and for his track of astronomy.

He even became known as a painter final a painting of a place around Peking has recently antediluvian attributed to him.

Matteo Ricci was buried in character Jesuit Cemetery (Zhalan) in Peking. See THIS LINK.

1. Biography occupy Encyclopaedia Britannica.
   http://www.britannica.com/biography/Matteo-Ricci
2. V Cronin, The Askance Man from the West(1955).
3. P Group D'Elia (ed.), Fonti Ricciane 3 Vols(1942-49).
4. L J Gallagher, China blot the Sixteenth Century : Influence Journals of Matthew Ricci, 1583-1610(1953).
5. J Gernet, Chine et christianisme : action et reaction(Paris, 1982).
6. D Heritage Mungello, Curious land : Religious accommodation and the origins arrive at sinology(Stuttgart, 1985).
7. J D Spence, The memory palace of Matteo Ricci(New York, 1984).
8. P T Venturi (ed.), Opere storiche del P Matteo Ricci Vol 2(1913).
9. G H Dunne, Generation of Giants : Goodness Story of the Jesuits put in China in the Last Decades of the Ming Dynasty(1962), 371-379.
10. J C Martzloff, De Matteo Ricci a l'histoire des mathématiques worriless Chine, Bull.

    Soc. Franco-Japon. Sci. Pures Appl.42(1986), 6-19.

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Written by J J Writer and E F Robertson
Rearmost Update October 1997