“Matteo Ricci is a paragon of cultural exchange between China and the West,” said a scholar.
In the conference themed “Individuals, Organizations, and Cultures Spanning across China and the West” held on September 25 in Shanghai, Li Qiang from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences shared an academic report entitled "Matteo Ricci's Rule and Cross-cultural Communication: Interpretation and Understanding of Modern Missionaries".
“Matteo Ricci is a paragon of cultural exchange between China and the West.” Li said, “His adaptive strategy is called the Matteo Ricci's Rule.”
When the Jesuits came to modern Chinese society, they continued Matteo Ricci's adaptive strategies, including spreading Western learning, studying Sinology, training Chinese priests, etc. They also carried out academic missionary work (cultural missionary work) and bottom-level missionary work.
The representatives of protestant missionaries, such as Joseph Edkins, William Scott Ament, and Timothy Richard, had a certain understanding of Ricci's historical position and recognized his missionary strategies and methods. Gilbert Reid, a modern American missionary in China, also delivered a speech about Ricci's contribution and methods in Chinese history. He believed that Ricci was a European scholar as well as a Chinese scholar. He hoped that missionaries could learn from the missionary, and so as a result he also founded the International Institute of China.
The scholar concluded, "Some missionaries who came to China in the late Qing Dynasty learned from Matteo Ricci's role in the history of cultural exchanges between China and the West, which was beneficial to their interaction with Chinese society. Hid experience in cultural exchanges between China and the West also inspires us to walk out. The methods or ideas of cross-cultural communication represented by Ricci are also helpful and enlightening for us to study specific problems.”
-Translated by Stephen Huang
上海社会科学院的李强老师分享了题为《‘利玛窦规矩’与跨文化交流：近代传教士的解读与理解》的学术报告。
“利玛窦是中西文化交流的一个典范性人物。” 李强老师说：“利玛窦的适应性策略被称为是‘利玛窦规矩’。”
当耶稣会来到近代中国社会，他们还是延续了利玛窦的适应性策略，包括传播西学、汉学研究、培养中国的神父等，并继续进行学术传教（文化传教）和底层传教。
新教传教士代表人物艾约瑟、梅子明、李提摩太等对利玛窦的历史地位有一定的认识，同时也认可他的传教策略和方法。近代美国在华传教士李佳白也曾发表过演讲，是关于利玛窦在中国历史上的贡献和方法，他认为利玛窦是一个欧洲学者同时也是中国学者，他希望传教士可以从利玛窦的身上学到为人所借鉴的东西，他也因此创办了尚贤堂等。
最后，李强老师总结道：“晚清来华的传教士中的一部分人从利玛窦中西文化交流史上的作用学到了有益于他们与中国社会互动的经验。利玛窦的中西文化交流经验对我们走出去也有一定的启发。利玛窦所代表的跨文化交流的方法或思路对我们研究具体问题时，也有一定的帮助和启发。”
学者报告 | “利玛窦规矩”与跨文化交流：近代传教士的解读与理解
“Matteo Ricci is a paragon of cultural exchange between China and the West,” said a scholar.
In the conference themed “Individuals, Organizations, and Cultures Spanning across China and the West” held on September 25 in Shanghai, Li Qiang from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences shared an academic report entitled "Matteo Ricci's Rule and Cross-cultural Communication: Interpretation and Understanding of Modern Missionaries".
“Matteo Ricci is a paragon of cultural exchange between China and the West.” Li said, “His adaptive strategy is called the Matteo Ricci's Rule.”
When the Jesuits came to modern Chinese society, they continued Matteo Ricci's adaptive strategies, including spreading Western learning, studying Sinology, training Chinese priests, etc. They also carried out academic missionary work (cultural missionary work) and bottom-level missionary work.
The representatives of protestant missionaries, such as Joseph Edkins, William Scott Ament, and Timothy Richard, had a certain understanding of Ricci's historical position and recognized his missionary strategies and methods. Gilbert Reid, a modern American missionary in China, also delivered a speech about Ricci's contribution and methods in Chinese history. He believed that Ricci was a European scholar as well as a Chinese scholar. He hoped that missionaries could learn from the missionary, and so as a result he also founded the International Institute of China.
The scholar concluded, "Some missionaries who came to China in the late Qing Dynasty learned from Matteo Ricci's role in the history of cultural exchanges between China and the West, which was beneficial to their interaction with Chinese society. Hid experience in cultural exchanges between China and the West also inspires us to walk out. The methods or ideas of cross-cultural communication represented by Ricci are also helpful and enlightening for us to study specific problems.”
-Translated by Stephen Huang
Scholar Says Matteo Ricci Is a Paragon of Cultural Exchange Between China and the West
