Wanli 1592

Chapter 326 Matteo Ricci's Mission

On the way to Macau, Xiao Ruxun became very interested in the world map presented by Matteo Ricci.

"Is this the world you're talking about?"

Holding the hand-painted world map presented by Matteo Ricci, Xiao Ruxun felt a little emotional.

He has seen a lot of world maps, so he doesn't find it strange at all, but in this era of Daming, there are very few people who know the concept of "world", and everyone still stays in the place where the sky was round and the place was long ago. According to the China Center, the "China" in this period does not refer to China in the modern sense, but the empire in the center of the world. The ancient Chinese believed that the land under their feet was the center of the world, and they were the most powerful country. Hence the name.

Until now, people in Ming Dynasty still think that they are the center of the world. After understanding this point, Matteo Ricci draws such a whole map of the world according to the Chinese people's mind, and places China's place on the whole map. The most central part, which means the central empire, is very suitable for the tastes of the scholars of the Ming Dynasty. It is also the first time for them to know that there are so many divided continents in this world that can only be reached by sea boats.

In fact, anyone can be in the center in the sense of the East and the West, it’s just that the orientation of the drawing is different, but in Da Ming’s view, I, Da Ming, is the strongest in the world, so I have to be in the center of the world, otherwise it won’t work!
Matteo Ricci worked hard to get the Chinese to accept the theory of geography. It can be said that he was the one who understood the rules of Chinese society best among the Western missionaries who came to China during this period.

"Yes, General, this is Daming Kingdom."

Matteo Ricci pointed to a large piece of land in the center of the map and said.

This world map is only the prototype of the modern world map, and many places look weird. These Europeans themselves have not figured out what the world is like, but with the prototype, they can understand some things in general. So Xiao Ruxun asked: "Where is your country? By the way, are you from Frangji?"

Matteo Ricci was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to explain it for a moment, he thought about his wording, and said, "No, General, this old man is not a Francois, and a Francois is called a Spainman in our place, and here in Daming it should be No one has figured it out yet, but Franji is actually two countries that were merged into one country not long ago, and it is more appropriate to call it Spain now, the earliest Frangji people have now been annexed by the Spanish people."

"Annexed? The Franji people were powerful at the beginning, but now they are annexed by this... Spanish?"

Xiao Ruxun didn't know how to translate the Spanish pronunciation according to this pronunciation, so he could only use Spanish instead, which was almost the same anyway.

Spain?The literal translation ability of Chinese is really powerful...

Ricci guessed so.

"Yes, more than ten years ago, the country of the French people was annexed by the country of the Spanish, so now these two countries are one country, the one in Luzon is the Spanish, and the one in Macau is the Spanish. Francois."

Xiao Ruxun pretended to be suddenly enlightened.

"It turned out to be two countries. That's it. It seems that we made a mistake before. Where are the Spaniards and the Franji people?"

Matteo Ricci pointed to the location of the peninsula in the lower left corner of Europe.

"This is the hometown of the Spaniards and Francines, and now they all belong to the Spanish country."

Xiao Ruxun nodded, and then asked, "It's a long way from Daming. How did your boat get here from here? What's the route like?"

Matteo Ricci reached out and drew a line from Europe, crossed the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, and then reached the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. That was his route.

"That's how it came. It took several months, and there was a storm on the road, and I almost lost my life."

"It's thousands of miles away, and there are many difficulties and obstacles in the middle. Why do you come here? Isn't it good to stay in your hometown? Why do you have to come to Daming from such a far away place? What is the purpose? ?”

This is the most important question, right?
Ricci guessed so.

This general is not easy to be fooled. I am afraid that it cannot be easily explained by what he said to others. It is estimated that he must tell the truth. Otherwise, if the general hears that there is a problem, he may not be able to please him.

Matteo Ricci really wants to meet the emperor of China to achieve his own goals, and this general is from the capital of China, which means that he has the qualifications to meet the emperor, if he has a relationship with this general , Maybe it can satisfy my desire to meet His Majesty the Emperor.

So Matteo Ricci confessed honestly.

"We people are actually monks in our country, the same as monks in your country. They are all devout believers who believe in God. Monks believe in Buddha. We believe in God. The purpose of our coming to Daming is to spread the word in Daming. Our faith allows more people to believe in God, so that they can bathe in the glory of God."

He used easy-to-understand language to connect Catholicism and Buddhism to help Xiao Ruxun understand, because the word God comes from the Four Books.

Xiao Ruxun closed the world map, reached out and picked up the globe and began to fiddle with it.

"I probably understand what you mean. Monks and Taoists have done what you have done. Daming does not lack people who believe in Buddha and Sanqing. Simply put, you are here to preach what you believe in. religion? Your religion is called Catholicism?"

Matteo Ricci nodded: "Yes, it can be called Catholicism."

"This God, what kind of god?"

Matteo Ricci said: "God is called Jesus, the Son of God. He lived in a long, long time ago. He spread good teachings and taught people to walk on the road of goodness and escape from the abyss of suffering. But in a disaster , Jesus sacrificed himself, but although he sacrificed, his teachings and spirit remained, and his believers continued to spread his teachings, continue to follow his footsteps, and never forgot his teachings.”

Xiao Ruxun continued to fiddle with the globe, and said: "Actually, I don't believe in any religion, and I don't really believe that there are gods in this world. If there are gods in the world, why are there so many disasters in the world and so many devout believers? Can't see the gods coming to rescue?"

"That's because people are born with original sin, and the suffering they have experienced is original sin. They must go through the torment of these sufferings to redeem their sins. All the sufferings they experience are not accidental, but inevitable, because we must You have to go through suffering before you can get God's salvation."

Matteo Ricci began to preach because he found it very interesting.

(End of this chapter)