Matteo Ricci's Mappa Mundi and its Challenge to Chinese Traditional Thinking
Abstract
As one of the most eye-catching and intuitive evangelical tools, the Mappa Mundi was brought to China by the first group of Jesuit missionaries who entered this Asian country in the 16th century. Their purpose was to change the Chinese view of the universe and thus affect their traditional beliefs by introducing geography, astronomy, and cartography knowledge from the West. However, the indifference and resistance among Chinese scholars show that they perceived these missionaries’ scheme as an attempt to thoroughly shake the national ideology and social structure based on Confucian philosophy. This paper aims to reveal the fundamental tension between Confucianism and Christianity through the Mappa Mundi in dynastic times.
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