Qing Dynasty Thirteen Years: The Memoirs of Matteo Ricci: The Memoirs of Matteo Ricci

Author: Guo Xian Ma
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: This book is a memoir by Father Guo Xian Ma of Italy, recounting his thirteen years of experiences serving the Qing court and the details of his travels. It has long been regarded as a foundational work of "Sinology." The original text is in Latin, which limited its dissemination. Since the English translation was published, it has had a significant and profound impact on Western perceptions of China over the past 150 years. It not only provides detailed primary sources on the spread of Catholicism and other religions in early Qing China, as well as the Sino-Western ritual disputes, but also offers a unique "contextual" description of the Kangxi era, providing accurate and detailed supplementary materials for the study of Qing history. The attached "Correspondence Between Kangxi and Roman Envoys" at the end of the main text is also highly valuable, as it includes fourteen documents all personally edited by Kangxi with his red ink. The translator, Tian Gang Li, is an expert in Sino-Western ritual disputes, and his preface to the translation also holds academic value.