Ep. 98 | The Great Jesuit Scholars: Ricci, Schall, and Verbiest
In this longer than usual episode, we feature the three giants of the Jesuit China Mission of the 16th and 17th centuries. In addition to their work in introducing Catholicism to China, these three men, Matteo Ricci, Johann Adam Schall von Bell, and Ferdinand Verbiest made a collective contribution to the scholarship of China that has not been matched to this day.
They were the first to write books and dictionaries unlocking the intricacies of Mandarin. Their ways of building bridges with the Chinese served as a model for later generations of Western scholars and diplomats who went to China.
For this 18th and final episode in the series, we'll focus on the rival philosophies of Lu Xiangshan 陆象山 and Zhu Xi 朱熹。