Ricci, Schall, and Verbiest

The Vicissitudes of their “Scientific Apostolate” in China

Abstract

This essay explores the continuity between the “scientific apostolate” associated with Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest, and the original mission strategy of “cultural accommodation” developed by Ricci, Ruggieri, and Valignano. Though it stirred some controversy within the Jesuit community, as if it were a violation of the community’s rules against members of the order accepting political offices, Schall’s acceptance was approved in Rome, on the assumption that it was necessary to preserve the Jesuit mission of evangelization in China. After all, Ricci himself had petitioned his Jesuit superiors in Rome to send missionaries who not only could communicate in Chinese but who also possessed specific expertise in mathematics and astronomy. Ricci’s initial contribution to the strategy of “cultural accommodation,” however, entailed making strategically important friendships with the Chinese literati, friendships based on mutual respect for each other’s learning and mutual interest in the advancement of science, which was the basis for the hospitality that Ricci and his companions received from some of the Confucian
literati. But by the time Schall and Verbiest sought to carry on the strategy of cultural
accommodation, the task was significantly complicated by the violent transition from the Ming to the Qing dynasty, and was far more controversial, both in Beijing as well as in Rome. This essay seeks to explore some of that complexity.