Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Beijing (Agenzia Fides) - "Matteo Ricci – A Meeting of Civilizations in Ming China," the exhibition commemorating the 400th anniversary of death of the Italian Jesuit missionary, was opened in Beijing with ample coverage from the official press in Chinese and English, including the agency “Xin Hua,” which emphasized that the great Italian missionary was the first European who brought the successes of technology and art to China. From February 7 to March 20, 2010 at the Capital Museum in Beijing, the Chinese audience can admire the Jesuit from Macerata who "became Chinese," by far the most respected, known, and loved foreigner over the course of centuries in China. Today, his figure once again shines in the country to which he devoted his life, where he died and was buried exactly 400 years ago.
The exhibition, sponsored by the Marche Region of Italy, the Exchange Center for Chinese Archaeological Findings, and the Capital Museum in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of the Italian Embassy in Beijing, traces the extraordinary life of Fr. Li Ma Dou, as the Chinese like to call Fr. Matteo Ricci. The exhibition also presents two hundred works - paintings, engravings, maps, clocks ... - to tell the path of Fr. Li Ma Dou in the history of the Ming Dynasty. The exhibition will then be shown in Shanghai (Shanghai Museum: April 3 to May 23) and Nanking (Nanjing Museum: June 5 to July 25). (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 24/02/2010)
