On the Historical Status of the WritingonMaking Friends from Matteo Ricci
LUO Yi
Abstract：Matteo Ricci issued a Chinese edition of writing on Making Friends, which was both trying to make converge western culture with Chinese native culture, and was the manifestation that western culture was rooted in the thought of Chinese Confucians. Besides, the book, with the method of textual practice, firstly dealt with some matters, such as seeking the shared characters between Catholicism and Confucianism, also what the doctrines of Catholicism went beyond Confucianism, later defining the missionary way in the upper class in China. Moreover, the book made a significant influence on the following literature named Article of Seeking Friends from Martino Martini. It seems that both books had an understanding in friendships principles, however, they made use of argumentation from Natural Theology derived from Thomas Aquinas, consequently resorting to the ethical practice of Confucianism and spreading the Catholic faith. In a word, both writings laid the foundation for Chinese initiation based on acknowledging the doctrines of Catholicism, which demonstrated what place the book, On making friends, occupies in history.
Keywords：On making friendsArticle of Seeking Friendsbending with Confucianismbeyond ConfucianismNatural TheologyChinese initiation based on acknowledging the doctrines of Catholicism
Publication Date：2016-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 42-46 )