Matteo Ricci
1552-1610 16th century
The patient meeting of another culture, and friendship held as a path toward God.
Who was Matteo Ricci?
An Italian Jesuit, mathematician and cartographer, he arrived in China in 1582 and spent the rest of his life there. He learned classical Chinese, adopted the dress of the Confucian literati and won their esteem by his learning, seeking to present the Gospel without wounding the culture that received him. The first European admitted to the Forbidden City, he died in Beijing in 1610, opening a path of encounter between two worlds.
In their own words
My friend is not another person. My friend is my half, another I. So I have to regard my friend as myself.
In prosperity my friends know me; in adversity I know my friends.
The benefit of friendship lies in mutual help; without it, friendship would be idle.