When St. Francis Xavier(1506-1552) arrived on Sancian, thirty leagues off the coast of China, the conversion of the Chinese to Christianity lay at the forefront of his mind, but he spent the last months of his life searching for a ship to take him there. The Chinese traders, for fear of death, refused to send him to the mainland because of the “very severe edict against foreigners entering and natives assisting[landing in China].”i Xavier,though seized by a fever, waited months for his opportunity, but instead he died in a miserable hut of fever on December 2,1552 with the conversion of China in his dying thoughts. Understanding the extreme Xavier went to requires knowledge of his beliefs as a member of the Jesuit Order and the conditions…show more content… It’s not difficult to believe that a people such as the Chinese, who value the arts and sciences, could be persuaded to accept a few people. They set to establish themselves as spiritual and intellectual equals. Their diligence in Chinese culture and science eventually paid off because in 1582 when Ruggierei was invited into the house of a Grand Admiral, to whom jurisdiction of foreigners was given. This was because the Grand Admiral enjoyed Ruggieri's fascination of learning and his honesty.viii The Chinese were aware that Europeans often neglected their religion in regards to secular goals. One simple example is the idea of classes. The Chinese thought it was absurd how Europeans could preach that the soul of all men are equal, but have classes that divide them and if taken seriously would destroy culture by dragging the upper class to the lower class. So men such as Ruggieri, who distinguished himself from European stereotypes by adhering to their creed, were valued amongst the…show more content… Ricci was well versed in cartography and mathematics before he was a Jesuit. Vagiliano chose Ricci exactly for this reason because he knew that being a missionary-scientist would prove beneficial in upholding their reputation. In 1583, Ricci quite possibly made the second major and most important breakthrough when he astounded the Chinese with his knowledge of math and astronomy, most notably that the Earth wasn't flat. Given his skills as a cartographer, he was able to create a map that defined China’s position relative to the rest of the world. The Chinese empire was so vast and isolated that they believed they were the center of the world and that the world was flat until Ricci disillusioned them with his map of China relative to the rest of the world. They simply found it hard to believe on his map, China was not the center and instead Europe was, but the geographer simply changed the orientation to make China the center which appeased them. More importantly, they noticed the large stretch of distance between Europe and China which essentially relieved them of their fear of European presence.xi In doing so Ricci not only established credibility for the
