In order to cope with the Chinese cultural tradition, Matteo Ricci and his colleague Michael Ruggieri had, from the beginning taken Chinese names, posing us traveling monks from India Ricci also assumed another Chinese name, “Xi Tai” in addition to his formal Chinese name of Li Madou, to suggest he had come from a place west (“Xi” in Chinese) of India. However, from the first time they practiced their religious missions in Zhaoqing of Guangdong, the two “Indian monks” found themselves facing an antagonistic public. They, on August 10, 1583, Matteo Ricci and Michael Ruggieri obtained the local government’s approval to stay as resident missionaries in Zhaoqing. This did not change the hostility of the local people, who considered them agents of the “foreign devils” in Macao and even attacked their houses.
Under such conditions, Matteo Ricci tried to make himself appear as an enthusiastic admirer of Confucian doctrine and a follower of Chinese traditional rites in order to win friends among local officials and intellectuals in Zhaoqing. He managed to attract the attention of Chinese scholars by displaying his attractive Western books, a world map drawn by himself and various astronomical instruments made with his own hands. The missionary library of Zhaoqing, set up by Ricci and Ruggieri as China’s first language library, created an impression on many Chinese intellectuals who admired the printed and bound books displayed there. Of these, the book which drew most attention from the visitors was the two-volume Canon Law with its covers finished in gold letters. These impressively-finished books led the Chinese to feel a new respect for Western culture and science, sensing the superiority of the West in the field of knowledge.
翻译的根本看不懂啊....