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of the prestige and honor that it conferred on its occupant. Agents of
Orthodoxy is certainly a book worth reading by those who want to better
understand the many meanderings and secrets of the Lusitanian Holy
Tribunal in America.
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
DANIELA CALAINHO
Far Eastern
A Jesuit in the Forbidden City: Matteo Ricci 1552–1610. By R. Po-chia Hsia.
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. xiv, 359. $57.50. ISBN 9780-199-59225-8.)
Among the abundance of publications and events in 2010, to honor the
400th anniversary of the death of Matteo Ricci, R. Po-chia Hsia’s book is
surely among the most remarkable both for academic and lay readers. Ricci
was the best-known Jesuit in late-Ming China. In the past 400 years, his fame
and story have continuously been interpreted, circulated, and debated. Given
such extensive research on this legendary figure, to write about Ricci is definitely not easy. The summary on the back cover of this book calls it “the first
critical biography of Ricci.”
Hsia’s narrative starts with the triumphal ending to Ricci’s glorious burial
in Beijing in 1611, then ventures into his life—from his birthplace in
Macerata, Italy; to Rome; his journey on the Portuguese seas as well as to
India and Macao; and finally his arrival in mainland China—in the subsequent
twelve chapters. It reveals a vivid missionary tour in the changing world
from Europe to China. Guided by the author, this historical account lasts into
Ricci’s posthumous periods: in the epilogue, the undulating fate of Ricci’s
documents and the China mission, as well as the public interest and academic research surrounding him up to the present, are all critically
reviewed. Hsia occasionally reminds readers of his position as a “reader” of
Ricci’s life—by means of fine photos he had taken of Macerata, Guangdong,
Nanijng, and other places—simultaneously showing a historical distance and
personal connection between the narrator and narration. This historical
journey can be read with much greater interactive interest.
Moreover, as a well-reputed scholar in the field of early-modern Europe,
Hsia has contributed his insights on the use of Ricci’s sources in the following three ways. First, Ricci wrote his own version of the journey two years
before his death. This work much resembles a life memoir of Ricci himself.
The best-selling book on China in seventeenth-century Europe (first published in 1615) was an appropriated text based on Ricci’s memoir and edited
by another Jesuit, Nicolas Trigault (1577–1628). For a long time, Ricci’s
account in manuscript and Trigault’s text in print have been considered the
most important and most often cited works for an understanding of Ricci. In
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this book, however, Hsia actually makes more use of Ricci’s letters than is
available in Ricci’s account, revealing Ricci’s private voice and persona.The
unprecedented advantage of those personal letters is their simultaneity and
spontaneity with the years in which the occurrences are described. In addition to this new method of telling Ricci’s story, Hsia also encompasses many
of Ricci’s Chinese works and related Chinese primary sources in his narrative, so that this book can be considered as the first truly balanced account
of Ricci. Hsia also gives the first full translations of some Chinese Christian
sources. In addition, this book is the first in Hsia’s œuvre to appeal in a serious and favorable way to scholars of Chinese history. As the work of a wellestablished scholar of European history delving into an intercultural context,
Hsia’s accomplishment is both amazing and admirable. Third, Hsia’s archival
discovery of a manuscript journal of the Jesuit Michele Ruggieri
(1543–1607) and his moving portrait of this overlooked missionary are
among the most original and surprising aspects of the research for this book.
By highlighting the tension and difference between Ruggieri and Ricci (pp.
102 ff.), Hsia’s descriptions open up a neglected aspect of the early China
mission. The figure of Ruggieri was “partially obscured by the posthumous
glorification of Ricci” (p. 88).
There are two minor points to mention. Possibly because of limited space
and editing concerns, the notes for sources seem considerably reduced. A
few descriptions might have been improved if they had been accompanied
by their sources—for example, the comments on Ricci’s Chinese style by a
Nanchang mandarin (p. 167); the story of Ricci’s first journey to Beijing (pp.
170–72); and the miserable, first martyrdom of a Chinese Jesuit, Wang
Mingsha (Francisco Martins, pp. 265–66). In addition, Beijing does not
encompass Ricci’s full story. The scope of Ricci’s journey and Hsia’s lively
portraiture are not fully suited to the book’s title,“a Jesuit in the Forbidden
City.”
The value of this book lies in its research on the Jesuit China missions and
cross-cultural history of both sides.The style of this book is a blend of interesting and readable narration and thus will appeal to a wider readership.
National Taiwan University
Taipei, Taiwan
HUI-HUNG CHEN
Aborigeno con gli Aborigeni per l’evangelizzazione in Australia: il testo
della Relazione (1883) per Propaganda Fide del vescovo Rudesindo
Salvado. By Giulio Cipollone and Clara Orlandi. [Pontificio Comitato di
Scienze Storiche, Atti e Documenti, 32.] (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice
Vaticana. 2011. Pp. 497. €45,00. ISBN 978-8-820-98533-2.)
Rosendo Salvado was born in Spain on March 1, 1814, and died in Rome
in 1900. He was ordained as a Benedictine at Naples in 1839 and left for