HIS333H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Counterforce, Japanese Language, Gratefulness
Document Summary
Ricci should be viewed within the context of accommodation, which is the process whereby missionaries relied upon existing cultural and religious practices to proselytize. For ricci, in particular, this was not simply relegated to the realm of. Christianity but more broadly to european humanistic and scienti c endeavours, including and especially astronomy. There is no emperor who ever converted, but ricci wanted to elaborate a method of accommodation in the chinese mission that lasted until 1705. Until 1705-10, the practice in the chinese mission was accommodation. Ricci himself focused in his years in china on expanding his in uence on the most powerful families and at court when he is nally introduced thereto. They were practical and didn"t think they would convert, but they wanted to exert enough in uence to protect their fellow missionaries. They thought the best way to do this was to convert the ways of.
