Matteo Ricci: 利玛窦

侯怡

Matteo Ricci was born in 1552 and he was an Italian priest1 who introduced Christianity2 and Western ideas to  China in the sixteenth century. Matteo Ricci was the oldest child in his family， and he studied first at home and then entered a school that was opened in 1561. He completed his classical studies， and at the age of 16， he went to Rome to study theology3 and law in a Jesuit4 school.

利玛窦出生于1552年，他是一名意大利神父，他在十六世纪时将基督教和西方思想介绍到了中国。利玛窦是家中长子，一开始他在家中自学，随后进入一所开设于1561年的学校学习。在完成了传统学业后，十六岁那年，他前往罗马的一所耶稣学校学习神学和法学。

In 1577， soon after he had begun the study of science under the mathematician Christopher Clavius， he became a missionary5 to India. Afterwards， he went to Portugal， where he studied at the University of Coimbra. On March 24， 1578， he left Lisbon， arriving on September 13 at Goa， the Portuguese colony6 on the central west coast of India， and he continued his studies for the priesthood7 here.

1577年，在数学家克里斯多夫·克拉维于斯那里开始学习科学没多久，他便成为一名传教士前往印度。随后，他前往葡萄牙，在那里的科英布拉大学学习。1578年3月24日，他离开了里斯本，之后于9月13日抵达果阿。果阿是印度中西部海岸的葡萄牙属殖民地，在这里他继续学习传教。

After arriving in Macao in 1582， Matteo Ricci began to learn the Chinese， and eventually he could understand Chinese classical works. Many Chinese officials and scholars were interested in Matteo Ricci when he showed his knowledge of astronomy， mathematics and geography. Besides， he introduced European clocks， oil paintings， musical instruments， and picture books to them. At first， Matteo Ricci wore like a Buddhist monk， but after realizing that he had to do in China as a person of Ming Dynasty does， he dressed as a Chinese scholar. Matteo Ricci produced the first world map in Chinese， and wrote a number of Christian works in Chinese. He also made the first translation of Confucian texts into Latin.

1582年抵達澳门之后，利玛窦开始学习中文，最后他能够读懂中国经典典籍。当利玛窦展现出他在天文学、数学和地理方面的学识时，中国许多官员和文人便对他产生了兴趣。同时，利玛窦还将欧洲的时钟、油画、乐器和图书介绍给他们。刚开始，利玛窦穿得像佛教僧侣一样，但在他意识到自己应入乡随俗后，便穿得和中国文人一样。利玛窦绘制出了第一幅中文世界地图，并用中文撰写了许多基督教著作。他还第一次将儒家著作翻译成了拉丁文。

In 1601， Matteo Ricci became the first foreigner from the West to enter the Forbidden City. In addition to establishing Christianity in China， he showed Chinese scholars that people in foreign countries were actually polite. Matteo Ricci was the first person who distinguished8 between religion and culture. He also realized that it was possible for people to become Christians without having to know about European culture at the same time.

1601年，利玛窦成为了第一位进入紫禁城的西方人。除了在中国建立基督教，他还向中国的文人显示了其他国家的人其实都是很文明的。利玛窦是第一个将宗教和文化区分开来的人。他还意识到人们可以成为基督教徒但不必了解欧洲文化。