ALESSANDRO VALIGNANO FAN LI-AN (°1539-†1606)
STRATEGIST OF THE JESUIT MISSION IN CHINA

§1. INTRODUCTION

Matteo Ricci has rightly been credited with establishing Catholicism in China during modern times and with pioneering, on a superior level, Chinese-Western Cultural exchange. But Ricci might not have gone to China, made his way to the capital and achieved his remarkable success if it had not been for another sixteenth century Italian Jesuit, Alessandro Valignano. 1[...]

Ricci entered the Order at the noviciate of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, in Rome, in August 1571. Because the Master of Novices Fabio de Fabii was ill, Valignano, who was Minister of the House, took his place for a while. At least for some months Valignano and Ricci were in the same community.

In August 1573, after Valignano had completed his theological studies, served as a confessor and as Rector of the College of Macerata, Ricci's birthplace, Fr. General Mercurian appointed him to be Visitor with authority over all the Jesuit missions of the East Indies which then extended from Goa to Japan. 2 In his journals entitled Della Entrata dell a Compagnia di Giesù e Christianità nella Cina, Ricci first mentions Valignano when giving a panorama of the various attempts that had been made to introduce Christianity to China. He introduces Valignano as the one who revived the effort which had been half given up because of obstacles which seemed to increase every day. 3 Valignano arrived in Goa, on the 6th of September 1574. After visiting India from 1575 until 1577, 4 he came to Macao for the first time, in September 1578. He was to stay there ten months until taking ship for Japan, on the 7th of July 1579. The Portuguese had been in Macao since 1557, but in 1573 a wall had been erected to separate them from the Chinese Mainland. The Europeans in Macao spoke of a mission to China as an "impresa desperata."5 But during his first stay in the Portuguese enclave, Valignano "came to understand well the nobility and grandeur of that kingdom governed with such peace and prudence, and was persuaded that such a talented and studious people would not refuse entrance to some Jesuits of good life who would know their language and literature [...]" Valignano therefore determined to assign some Fathers to study Chinese in Macao. 6 He himself says that his decision resulted from "desiring to try to open in some way that door [of China] which until then had remained so closed, and to have some Fathers live within the land."7 Valignano wrote to the Provincial of India, Rodrigo Vicente, asking him to send Bernardino de Ferraris to Macao to prepare for work in China. But the Rector of Cochin could not be spared. Michele Ruggieri was chosen instead and he reached Macao on the 20th of July 1579, just two weeks after Valignano had left for Japan. 8 Later that year, Ruggieri wrote to Valignano strongly requesting that Matteo Ricci, with whom he had travelled to India, be sent to join him in Chinese studies. Valignano acted on the suggestion and Ricci, who was engaged in his third year of theological studies, received Valignano's summons on about the 15th of April 1582. By the 26th of April he was on his way, reaching Macao on the 7th of August. 9

We do not have the written instructions Valignano prepared for Ruggieri regarding cultural adaptation, but we do have the directives he composed as a result of the consultations held in Japan. 10 On the 12th of February 1582, Valignano added to the original text of that memorial for the Superiors of Japan the suggestion that four scholastics be assigned in Macao solely to the study of China and its literature, since without the language it would be impossible to attempt effectively that so longed-for conversion of China. From the beginning, Valignano ordered that Ruggieri and Ricci have no other occupation than the study of Chinese. Later on, when he learned of their good progress, in the margin of the Japanese Summary, he repeated that order, adding that they should have their own teachers, a house apart, and all the facilities they needed. 11

Ricci tells us that during Valignano's second visit to Macao (9th of March-31st of December 1582), "one of his major occupations was the China enterprise."12 He established the Confraternity of the Name of Jesus with rules and directives for its functioning. The membership would consist of Chinese and other Asian Christians, but no Portuguese. The Prefect was to be one of the Frs. dedicated to China. He appointed Ricci to be the first Director. 13 When the Viceroy of Guangxi and Guangdong Provinces ordered the Bishop and Captain of Macao to appear before him at Zhaoqing, Valignano arranged for Ruggieri to replace the Bishop in hopes that he might be able to remain in China, but he was forced to return. 14 Later when the Viceroy, out of a desire to obtain precious girls, invited the Jesuits to establish a Church and House in China, Valignano sent Ruggieri and Pasio. They remained four or five months, obtained permission for Ricci to join them, but when the Viceroy was deprived of his office, they had to return to Macao. 15

Valignano, very happy to learn that Ruggieri and Ricci were established in Zhaoqing and that their efforts were achieving good results, took decisive steps to assist them. He assigned Duarte de Sande to be Superior of the mission; he would report directly to the Provincial of India and the Vice Provincial of China and Japan. Together with him he sent António d'Almeida. They arrived in Macao towards the end of July 1585; shortly after, first de Sande and then d'Almeida received permission from Chinese officials to enter China. 16 Valignano obtained, sometime during 1585 or 1586, from the Viceroy of India, Duarte de Meneses, sufficient funds to support the Jesuits in China. These would be paid from Malacca and the arrangement was confirmed in perpetuity by King Felipe II [of Spain]. In addition the Viceroy offered gifts for the new House and the Church. 17 Valignano continued to follow closely the advances and setbacks of the China mission. Coming to realize that the Fathers, in Zhaoqing, needed to gain more esteem from officials and literati, and that they could not remain securely in China without permission from the Emperor, he decided, during his third visit to Macao (28th of July 1588 - 29th of June 1590) to request a Papal Embassy to the Emperor. In a long letter to the General dated the l0th of November 1588, Valignano proposed his idea.

He hoped that the successful visit to Rome of the four Japanese Ambassadors, still fresh in everyone's memory, might lead the Holy See to send a representation to the Emperor. He was even willing to sacrifice one of his few men in China to present this request to the Pope personally, and for this reason he sent Ruggieri to Rome. The successive deaths of four Popes and other obstacles finally dissuaded the General from pursuing the project further. 18

The Elders of Guangzhou attempted, through calumnious charges, to have the Jesuits sent back to Macao. However, friendly officials obtained a favourable judgement for them and the danger passed. Valignano, hearing of the accusations, had "arranged for many Masses and continuous prayers to God to deliver them. When he learned the happy outcome, he thanked the Divine Majesty and had a grand celebration with all the Fathers."19

In November of 1588, Valignano, to encourage the China missionaries, changed the assignment of the gifted Fr. Francesco de Petris, who was already in Macao, from Japan to China. He at once took up the study of Chinese and arrived in Zhaoqing, in December 1591, shortly after the death of d'Almeida which ad occurred on the 17th of October. But de Petris himself passed away scarcely two years later on the 5th of November 1593. 20 The loss of two such companions in such a brief period left Ricci ben assai malancolico. 21

Probably around the beginning of April 1589, largely because of the hostility of the local bonzes and of the Viceroy himself, the Fathers were threatened with expulsion from Zhaoqing. Ricci sent a messenger to report this news to Valignano who was still in Macao. Ricci told him he thought it would be good to give in for a time and transfer the Residence to Nanhua or some other place the Viceroy would grant. The Visitor at first disagreed. They should defend their cause, try to stay in Zhaoqing and in no way accept another place. If they failed, then they should return to Macao where there was plenty of work for them. Fortunately, the Intendent of the Western Regions sent Ricci, in great style, to Macao to arrange for some Beijing Mandarins the purchase of scarlet cloth and other European goods. Valignano received him with great affection and after discussion decided that if it were not possible to remain in Zhaoqing, the Fathers would seek permission to go to another place. 22

In August 1589 the Zhaoqing Fathers were once again given an order of expulsion to Macao. When they reached Guangzhou they wrote to Valignano and other confréres telling them of their dismissal and that in two or three days they would be in Macao. 23 But the day after their arrival in Guangzhou, the Viceroy sent a group to recall them to Zhaoqing where they were given permission to move to Shaozhou. On the 9th of September, Ricci wrote to Valignano telling him what had happened. In reply to the good news, Valignano sent a courier "with letters full of love, in which he consoled the Fathers for their past trials, rejoiced with them at the good result God was beginning to give, advised them to obtain that they stay in China in whatever way possible. For news of this mission had been sent to the King of Spain and the Pope. Its renown had spread through all Christendom and so it was fitting not to disappoint the hopes that all had conceived. Because God had made them endure such trials at Zhaoqing, they could be certain, according to God's manner of working, that they would reap great fruit."24

Three years later, on a visit to Zhaoqing, Ricci received confirmation of Valignano's arrival in Macao for his fourth visit (24th of October 1592 - 15th/16th of November 1594). The Visitor asked Ricci to come to Macao to deal with many serious matters pertaining to the Mission, and to have medical care for his foot which had been injured during an attempted robbery of the Residence. Ricci tells us he did in fact deal with many things favorable to the promotion of the China enterprise, but the Portuguese doctors could do nothing for his foot. 25

Valignano's ever-increasing esteem for Ricci is evident from what he wrote in the Catalogue of February 1593: "He is a man of very good intelligence, judgement and prudence, of good education, virtuous and a very good worker, whom Our Lord uses at present and, whom, it can be hoped, He will use much more with time." And in a letter written to the General about the same time: "He is well educated, virtuous and prudent, and although he has not yet had experience of weighty administration, it seems he could be apt for directing a House or College."26

During that same fourth visit, Ricci informed Valignano of the need to abandon the appearance and manner of bonzes for the style of the literati. Since October 1583 they had shaved their hair and dressed as bonzes. 27 They should now let their hair and beards grow, wear suitable clothes for visiting and receiving scholars and officials, and eventually go also to another Province where there would be better air and the advantage of an additional residence. Valignano agreed to all these proposals and took it upon himself to inform the General and the Pope. Consequently, during the second half of 1594 Ricci began to let his beard grow and in May 1595, for the first time appeared in the attire of the literati with long hair and beard. At the same time the Fathers began to use the formal courtesies of the scholarly class and took the new name of "educated preachers."28

Valignano, who since the 24th of September 1595 had been relieved of responsibility for India, but remained Visitor of Japan and China, wanted, during his fifth sojourn in Macao (20th of July 1597 - 14th of July 1598) to advance the China work before he left for Japan. Since there was no hope of a Papal Embassy to China, 29 he resolved to do what he could with the means he had. He made Ricci, Superior of China and encouraged him to establish a Residence in Beijing in order to gain the Emperor's favour. Valignano sent presents to Ricci for him to take to the Court. Ricci was to report to the Superior of Macao who would provide him with whatever was necessary. Valignano named Manuel Diaz to this position because he was so well disposed to China. Valignano made the Procurator of Japan to be the Procurator of China also. 30

In 1601, Piero Gomez, Vice Provincial of China and Japan died. He was succeeded by Francesco Pasio. He had been a member of the China mission, had great love for it, and so favoured it ever more and more. In 1602, the Visitor appointed Valentino Carvaglio, Rector of the College of Macao, who in turn sent Manuel Diaz to visit the Houses of China. The China Fathers were so happy with his presence that they asked Valignano to assign him permanently to China, which he did in 1603. 31

After the establishment of the community in Beijing, it was necessary to change the site a number of times. The Fathers had to spend lots of money but never had a suitable place for a chapel. Because of the loss of ships and other obstacles Valignano was not able to do as he wished, namely, to send enough funds to enable the purchase of an adequate Residence which could be retained on a stable basis. 32 On the 27th of August 1605 they finally celebrated the opening of a newly acquired Residence of some forty rooms. Valignano was extremely pleased by this news and ordered that as soon as possible money be sent to pay the expense incurred and to acquire suitable furnishings. De Ursis reports that Valignano hoped with the arrival of the ship from Japan, to send the necessary funds, but if necessary, he would be willing even to sell the chalices of the sacristy. 33

When Valignano reached Macao for what would be his last visit (10th of February 1603 -20th of January 1606), he was pleased to learn of the progress made in the China mission. Indeed, Ricci implied that Valignano came because he had been hearing of the promising growth. 34 Ricci himself considered such an achievement to be a miraculous gift. Valignano wanted to facilitate the enterprise from nearby considering that the field was open for a great conversion not inferior to those which had taken place from the beginning of the apostles' preaching until our own day including that of Japan. 35 Ricci sent Cattaneo and Diaz, to Macao, to report personally to Valignano who, seeing that the progress made was even greater than what he had heard, resolved to assist in every way possible.

Diaz left Macao towards the middle of February 1604 with two new recruits. Valignano assigned seven of those in Macao and promised more when the next ship would arrive from India in July or August of that year. 36 Valignano also arranged that the Procurator of Japan and China should send each year the necessary monies and other things, so the missionaries would not have to leave their work and go to Macao to obtain what they needed for their Houses. 37 Valignano provided many gifts for the Churches and the Houses, for the Mandarins and other friends. He gave permission for three Chinese, born of Christian parents in Macao, to enter the Society. They began their novitiate on the 15th of August 1605. 38

Perhaps most important of all, he approved the policy Ricci had established concerning the Chinese Rites. 39 He modified the government of the mission by giving more power to the General Superior (Ricci), who was no longer to be subject to the Rector of Macao, but only immediately to the Vice Provincial of China and Japan, and immediately to the Provincial of India. In consultation in Nagasaki, in the 10th of January 1603, then, in Macao, on the 20th of July and in the 20th of October, it was decided to create the Vice Province of China and Japan independent of the Province of India. 40

Ricci wanted very much to be relieved of the office of Superior. His consultors were contrary to this request, but they lightened the task by appointing Manuel Diaz Rector of the three Residences of Shaozhou, Nanchang and Nanjing. 41

Fr. Lazzaro Cattaneo had gone to Macao, from China, at the end of 1602. Valignano wanted him to remain there for reasons of health, but also to strive to obtain conversions in Macao and in the surrounding villages. To facilitate contact with the Chinese, he wore long hair and dressed as the China missionaries. The Catalogue of 1603 lists him as having care of the Christians, but that year there were only six baptisms and time showed that his ministry bore little fruit. In July of 1606 he returned to China with De Ursis. Ricci assigned him to Nanjing and De Ursis to Beijing. 42

Twenty-three years after he had sent Ricci to China, Valignano was preparing his own first visit to the Middle Kingdom. His intention was to travel with Fr. Cattaneo who was planning to return in early 1606. But on the 11th of January, shortly before the fixed departure time, while waiting for the arrival of a ship from Japan which would deliver the money and other gifts he wanted to take into China, Valignano suffered a serious attack of uremia, a condition which had troubled him for some years. On the 17th and 18th he wrote his will. Towards six o'clock in the morning of the 20th he passed away. Ricci, writing to the General, spoke of Valignano as "the Father of this mission, at the loss of whom we remain as orphans and I do not know with whom Your Paternity can restore the mission for us."43

In the manuscript which he began to prepare towards the end of 160844 and on which he worked until February 1610, three months before his own death, 45 Ricci dedicated a short chapter to the memory of Valignano which he entitled Dalla Morte del P. Alessandro Valignano Visitatore della Cina e Giappone e Primo Fondatore della Impresa della Cina. 46 Valignano also received expressions of praise from other Jesuits who greatly admired him. He was considered to be "the pillar of India,"47 "an angel of God for all."48 Even Francisco Cabral, with whom the Visitor had such differences and whom he removed from the office of Provincial of Japan, had to admit the greatness of soul which characterized Valignano. 49 In addition to speaking of his Superior and friend as "the first founder of the China enterprise," Ricci calls him "the first author of this mission," and says he had great experience of matters concerning the new Christian communities, and knew how to give suitable orders regarding every matter, and that with determination. 50

Like Xavier, he had wanted to enter China for the good of so many souls, but both died at the door of that Kingdom without having been able to realize their dreams. 51 In his very death Fr. Alessandro demonstrated the love he had for this enterprise. He who had always provided that the China Mission be properly assisted, ordered that after his death two other members of the Society be sent with Fr. Cattaneo when he should return to China. Valignano himself had been planning to go at the same time for his first visit to the Chinese mainland. Valignano also donated to China all the things he had brought from Japan including sacred pictures, liturgical vestments and similar things he had for his own use. 52

When Valignano arrived in Goa, in 1574, Japan had one Japanese Jesuit and twenty European Jesuits. No Jesuits at all were in China which was still closed. At Valignano's death there were in Japan about one-hundred-and-thirty missionaries of whom practically half were Japanese. In addition, there was an indigenous secular clergy, three-hundred catechists, one-hundred-and-ninety custodians of Churches, a total of some nine-hundred persons dedicated to the pastoral work of the Church. Japan had two Seminaries, a Jesuit Novitiate, some twenty Residences and about three-hundred Churches and chapels. In addition to the College of Macao, there were Colleges in Nagasaki and Arima; Colleges were beginning in Omura and Miyako. Eight years after Valignano's death, there were one-million Japanese Christians, about seven-hundred-and-fifty-thousand of whom were in areas cared for by the Jesuits. In China, there were Residences in five Cities staffed by fifteen Jesuits, five of whom were Chinese, to care for over one-thousand converts and to evangelizenon-Christians. 53

One readily subscribes to Pasquale D'Elia's assessment: "Valignano not only opened the China mission; he sustained, helped, and guided it; overcame the difficulties which continually blocked the way, dedicated to it men of outstanding talent, provided financial assistance, and finally gave it those wise directives which would bring Ricci to the capital of the Empire and allow him to impress in an unquestionable way the high society of the Middle Kingdom."54

Valignano's outstanding contribution can be attributed in part to his gifts of observation, evaluation, and decisiveness; to his ability to organize, direct, and inspire. He had an extraordinary capacity to envisage great enterprises and to work towards them with patience and prudence. He was firm but suave in his manner of governing and was therefore highly regarded by most of his subjects. But surely the deepest root of his manner of proceeding was his fidelity to his Jesuit calling. In a letter intended only for Fr. General Aquaviva and which he sent from Cochin, on the 14th of December 1584, he gives a rare glimpse into his interior life. 55

§2. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA (°1491-†1556) AND THE FOREIGN MISSIONS

Shortly after his conversion, Ignatius visited the Holy Land where he had hoped to live out the rest of his life imitating Christ in poverty, humility, and service to the gospel in whatever way that might be possible. When the pilgrim came to believe it was not God's will for him to remain in Jerusalem, he thought much about what to do, and finally decided to study for a while in order to be of greater spiritual assistance to others. 56 Perhaps in Barcelona, but certainly in Alcalá, 57 others began to join themselves to him, to receive instruction. In his Salamanca prison cell, he decided to continue his studies in Paris. At the same time he wished to keep the disciples he had and to seek out others who would share his ideas. 58

According to some early sources, it was the intention of the group of seven friends when they pronounced their vow in Paris, in 1534, to go to the Holy Land and stay there permanently; if they could not remain there, they would return to Rome and present themselves to the Pope. 59 According to others, including Favre, who presented the petition to the Pope, it was their intention from the beginning only to spend some time in the Holy Land, and then return to Europe. A text of Simon Rodriguez to Mercurian, dated the 25th of July 1577, says that opinions were divided, and it was their plan to deliberate about the matter once in Jerusalem and then follow the majority opinion. War between the Turks and Venetians prevented them from sailing and so they went to Rome. They still clung to their desire of Jerusalem, which led Pope Paulo III to say to them: "Why do you so desire to go to Jerusalem? Italy is a good and true Jerusalem, if you want to accomplish something in God's Church." And so they offered themselves to go anywhere the Pope would send them. This decision influenced the content of the Formula of the Institute, the foundation of the Order's Legislation, where explicit mention is made of such readiness.

"In addition to that ordinary bond of the three vows, we are to be obliged by a special vow to carry out whatever the present and future Roman pontiffs may order which pertains to the progress of souls and the propagation of the Faith; and to go without subterfuge or excuse, as far as in us lies, to whatsoever provinces they may choose to send us - whether they are pleased to send us among the Turks or any other infidels, even those who live in the region called the Indies, or among any heretics whatever, or schismatics, or any of the faithful."60

In May 1539, after they had decided to form a religious Order, the companions determined unanimously that if anyone indicated to the Superior or to the Society a desire to go to the lands of unbelievers and the Pope left the matter up to that person, the one in question should spend ten days in spiritual exercises to know what spirit was guiding him, in accord with the words of Scripture "Test the spirits to see whether they are from God" (Jn 4,1 ). 61 Furthermore, they agreed that those who would apply to enter the Society, whether they had greater or lesser talent, must all be ready to make a vow of obedience to the Pope and to go on missions among the infidels. 62

In the light of these experiences, Granero is led to conclude that the thought of mission [in the sense of being sent by legitimate authority in the Church to engage in apostolic work was not only a key idea of Ignatius and his companions at the origins of the Order. The thought of mission was itself born of the desire for foreign missions. Further, he concludes, rightly it would seem, that the Society is properly, officially and juridically a missionary Order, in contrast to the Orders which preceded it. 63

In 1540, even before the Pope had given definitive approval to the new religious family, King Dom João III of Portugal requested missionaries for India. Ignatius sent Simón Rodriguez to Lisbon. On the 16th of March, Francisco Xavier left Rome, in place of Bobadilla who was ill. On the 27th of the same month, Paulo III issued a Brief naming the two Fathers his Nuncios. 64 The King retained Rodriguez in Portugal and so, in 1541, Francisco Xavier, Pablo Camerte, and Francisco Mansilhas were the first members of the new Society to sail to the Far East. 65 On the 10th of October 1549, the first mission of the Order was made a Province; until then only Portugal and Spain had been Provinces. 66

Between 1547 and 1555, there was a brief mission effort in the Congo. Ignatius greatly desired to establish a Mission in North Africa and to go there himself. He was only able at first to send two Fathers as military chaplains for short stays, but some Saracens were baptized. 67

Six Jesuits, together with the new Governor Tomás de Souza, arrived in Brazil on the 1 st of April 1549. Just four years later Ignatius would make Brazil, the Order's sixth Province.

Ignatius's greatest interest was in Ethiopia because of the prospect of re-establishing its union with Rome. He wrote his longest instructions regarding a mission to the Fathers involved in this. 68

In the second part of this remarkable book on the missionary activity and methods of Ignatius, Granero reveals, with abundant references to primary sources, the principles which guided the founder in his decisions pertaining to the missions of the newly established Order. 69 Ignatius maintained a delicate balance between obedience to the Pope and cooperation with the King of Portugal. He insisted on the qualities missionaries should possess and the training they should receive, especially in the languages of the peoples they were to serve. 70 In contrast to those who would be baptized too quickly, Ignatius always insisted on careful instruction in the Faith. For this purpose he recommended the establishment of Colleges for young people, even for small children, and of Residential centers for catechumens.

The prescription of the constitutions about the regular writing of letters between subjects and Superiors had important effects in informing Europe about the work of the missions. 71

Ignatius, who was the initiator and promoter of many works of charity and beneficence in Rome, was convinced that the same good effects would obtain from such works in mission lands. He encouraged the establishment of a native clergy and a native hierarchy, as well as the acceptance of natives into the Society of Jesus, but he always insisted on aptitude and testing. 72 He recommended that some indigenous students come from the mission countries to study in Portugal and Rome. While Ignatius was still living, a Japanese named Bernard was sent by Xavier to Portugal. Ignatius called him to Rome and received him into the Society there. Assigned to study at Coimbra, the new candidate died shortly after his return to Portugal. 73

The leadership Ignatius gave the Order in the foreign missions as well as in Europe, was characterized both by his fidelity to basic principle and by his flexibility in adapting to circumstances. He is himself at the origin of the Society's efforts of accommodation. 74

The missionary spirit was well established in the Order by the time the founder was to leave the scene. When Ignatius died in 1556, the Society counted between eleven-hundred and twelve-hundred members. Some one-hundred-and-fifty-six of these were in the foreign missions: one-hundred-and-twenty-two in the Far East, twenty-six in Brazil, eight in the Congo. By that time eighty-one men had sailed to the missions from Europe:

1541 Xavier and two others to the Indies

1545 three to the Indies

1546 nine to the Indies

1547 four to the Congo

1548 ten to the Indies

1549 six to Brazil

1550 four to Brazil

1551 twelve to the Indies

1553 two to the Congo, five to the Indies, seven to Brazil

1554 two to the Indies

1555 twelve to the Indies

1556 fourteen to the Indies75

Some seventy-five others had entered the Society in the mission territories. Also by 1556, six Jesuits had been martyred in the foreign missions: Fr. Antonio Criminale, Cape Comorin, 1549; Fr. Nuño Ribeiro, Amboina, 1549; Fr. Pablo del Valle, Panicale, 1552; Fr. Luis Méndez, Cape Comorin, 1552; Brs. Pedro Correa and Juan de Souza, Brazil, 1554. 76

Just a few weeks before Ignatius's death, Nadal wrote in a letter to him, "It is well known that two things can be desired in the Society: Chochin China and Germany."77 Ignatius looked upon the missions as a place where one could more readily imitate the poverty of Christ. In reply to descriptions of privations endured in Europe, Ignatius advised thinking of their Brothers in the Indies who are more deprived than they were. 78

It early became the custom to write to the General in Rome to request the missions and one of the most frequent motives invoked was the desire to imitate Christ more closely in poverty, humility and trials.

For Ignatius, the ultimate criterion for any apostolic was the Greater Glory of God. In one of his letters, he affirmed "La ida de aquellos Padres que van a la India, será para mucha gloria de Dios. "79 He saw the foreign missions, therefore, with eyes of Faith as an enterprise which depended on the Grace of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit for its success. It was said that "Fr. Ignatius sustained the missions with his prayers." 80 He encouraged his subjects, who were dispersed so far and wide, to seek guidance from the Constitutions of the Order, but also from the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the Eternal Wisdom which would be sure to guide them. 81 Because of the same vision of Faith, in view of what he perceived to be a greater spiritual good, Ignatius recalled Xavier to Europe so that in person he could give information about the foreign missions, inspire others to serve in them, and assist in the selection of apt candidates. 82 But Xavier had already died seven months before the letter was written. Xavier's lonely death on the island of Shangchuan and his unfulfilled desire to enter China would inspire generations of missionaries to follow his example. 83

§3. CONCLUSION

Valignano and Ricci first met in 1571 in the novitiate of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, in Rome. They last saw each other in the College of St. Paul's, in Macao, sometime between October 1592 and March 1594. In 1583, upon entering China, Ricci had begun what Jonathan Spence has so aptly called his "ascent to Peking."84 Twenty-three more years passed. Valignano, worn out by frequent travels and the cares of administration, ended his own pilgrimage in Macao. During a quarter of a century Valignano and Ricci rarely saw each other, but they remained closely united in the Society of "amigos en el Señor",85 while they applied in different places the same method to fulfil the same mission. During the four-hundred-and-fifty years since Ignatius the pilgrim and his nine companions established the Society of Jesus, many others have answered a similar call, and each has heeded Ignatius' advice "to keep before his eyes God and then the nature of this Institute which he has embraced and which is, so to speak, a pathway to God."86

The policy of Accommodation which Valignano ingeniously formulated and strongly urged, Ricci prudently applied and patiently developed in China. One root of this policy is surely the Humanistic studies which in the sixteenth century characterize-and, to a degree, still characterized-the education imparted by the Society of Jesus to its own members and to the students who frequent its schools. Valignano and Ricci were both molded in the Greek and Roman classics whose spirit can be summarized in the phrases "Man is the measure of all things",87 and "I am a man; I count nothing human indifferent to me" (Homo sum; humani nil a me alienum puto). 88

But Ignatius himself, who was the chief architect of the plan of studies which guided the Order's educational efforts, 89 saw these studies as important means whose efficacy depended upon even more important means to achieve the end he and his companions sought, "the Greater Glory of God." The more important, and always indispensable means were goodness and virtue, especially charity, a pure intention of the Divine service, sincere zeal for souls, and familiarity with God in spiritual exercises of devotion. 90 For Ignatius, the last mentioned is the root of all the rest. Spiritual exercises, which Ignatius defines as "every method of examination of conscience, of meditation, of contemplation, of vocal and mental prayer, and of other spiritual activities [...]"91 were central to Ignatius' way of living. The only work written by him and published during his lifetime was a Latin translation of his Ejercicios espirituales, in 1548. This small work contains suggestions for a spiritual experience which in ideal circumstances is intended to last about a month. Every Jesuit is required during his training to make a month-long retreat in the spirit of these direc tives on two occasions: first, shortly after entering the Order during the course of the novitiate, and then, after the normal studies have been completed, during the final period of training called 'tertianship', or 'third probation'.92 In addition, every year each Jesuit is expected to spend eight or ten consecutive days in similar spiritual exercises. The heart of the spiritual experience proposed by Ignatius is the contemplation of the life of Christ as narrated in the Gospels, with special attention to Christ as he travels throughout Palestine preaching in "synagogues, villages, and towns"93 When the person engaged in the complete spiritual exercises arrives at the crucial point of reexamining fundamental, life-influencing decisions, Ignatius makes a very important suggestion to the one whose heart should have been captivated by the person and example of Christ. In answer to the invitation Christ addresses to every Christian to be with him in his mission of bringing salvation to all people, those doing the exercises are advised not only to offer themselves entirely for this enterprise, but to prefer in the course of sharing in the work, to resemble Christ in his poverty and humiliations. 94

There is no doubt that for the authors of the Synoptic Gospels, poverty and humility characterize the life of Jesus of Nazareth from his birth to his death. The contemplative author of the Fourth Gospel understands that the style of life embraced by Jesus is but the continuation of the loving condescension inherent in the Incarnation itself: "The Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us" (Jn 1, 14). The very presence of God in the midst of the human family as one of us is an "admirabile commercium", an accommodation of the uncreated to the created, of the Divine to the human. God befriends the human race, so that the human race may befriend God." No longer do I call you servants [...] but I have called you friends [...]. You did not choose me, but I chose you [...]" (Jn 15, 15-16) "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (Jn 15,13).

Frontespiece.

In: BONIFÁCIO, João Christiani Pueri Institutio, Adolescentiœ Que perfugium: [...], [...]apud Sinas, in Portu Macaensi in Domo Societatis Iesu. 1588, title page.

The spirit of Accommodation which animated the life of Jesus himself should be the source and model for the way Christians relate to individuals, communities and Cultures. This manner of proceeding was operative in the model apostle Paul, who became all things to all people, so that he might by all means save some (Cor 9,22). From the first century to the present, the Christian Churches have more or less successfully lived the spirit of accommodation in reaching out to various Cultures. The myriad ways that Jesus himself has been contemplated in private devotions, celebrated in Christian liturgy, and represented in Christian literature and art, testifies to a concern which has been a variously intense, but continually present concern. 95 In its earliest years during the last two thirds of the sixteenth century and the first third of the seventeenth, the Society of Jesus, especially in its founder and in some of its outstanding members such as Valignano, Ricci and de Nobili creatively applied the principle of accommodation by reaching out to other peoples and cultures openness, receptivity, and love. These pioneering efforts in modem times surely helped in some way to prepare the greater openness to the Cultures which characterizes the Catholic Church during these years which follow the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The Council documents speak frequently of Culture. 96 These texts all stress the need for the Church to appreciate Cultural diversity and to express itself in function of the positive values such rich plurality offers. There is presently a growing theological and missiological literature concerned with issues of inculturation. 97 The contemporary Society of Jesus wishes to remain faithful to the inspiration of its founder and to the best in the four-hundred-and-fifty years of tradition bequeathed by its most outstanding members. At the same time, the Society, in order to respond to the challenging needs of our own day, seeks to draw from and contribute to the growing store of creative contemporary forms of Christian thought and ministry. 98 For example, the Jesuits of India, drawing from their rich Cultural heritage are making significant contributions to Christian liturgy and Christian meditation. 99 In Central and Latin America, notwithstanding the threats and dangers to which they are exposed, Jesuits are striving to identify with the plight of the poor and to contribute to the creation of a new economic order by their teaching, writing, and ministry to refugees, the homeless, the exploited and oppressed. 100 In the United States, Jesuits attempt to provide answers, in words and action, inspired by Christian values to issues such as the influence of technology on commitment, 101 solidarity with the poor, 102 contemporary thought forms. 103

What Alessandro Valignano and Matteo Ricci received and applied during the last quarter of the sixteenth century and the first years of the seventeenth, those who are co-heirs with them in our own day seek to receive and apply in these last years of the twentieth century: namely, that tradition of accommodation exercised in simplicity, humility and love which derives from the founder of the Jesuit Order and ultimately from the Founder of the Christian Church, whose name the Society bears. **

The Church of St. Paul's Ruined Bell Tower, after the 1835 fire,

GEORGE CHINNERY, (°1774-†1852) Pencil on paper, [n. d.].26.6cm x 19.1cm.

Leal Senado/Luís de Camões Museum, Macao.

APPENDIX

ALESSANDRO VALIGNANO

°1539-†1606

1539 February, born in Chieti, in the Abruzzi, Kingdom of Naples.

1557 Doctor of law at Padova; returned to Chieti, then went to Rome, hoping to be favoured by Pope Paulo IV, who as Archbp. of Chieti (1504-1524; 1537-1550) had be come a friend of his father, Giovanni Battista.

16 May, receives tonsure in the Cathedral of Chieti; during the same month the town authorities confer on him the Abbacy of San Stefano del Casale.

1559 Death of Paulo IV; Valignano becomes auditor of Cardinal Sittico di Altemps, nephew of the new Pope, then returns to Padova.

Becomes a canon.

1562 Valignano involved in an unpleasant romantic adventure; from the end of this year to March 1564, detained in prison in Venice.

1563 15 December, a supplication of his to the Heads of the Consiglio dei Dieci, that he have a hearing in early January to prove his innocence in response to calumnies expressed by Franceschina Trona and other persecutors.

1564 7 March, sentence against Valignano.

1566 29 May, received into the Society by Francesco Borgia.

1567 18 May, first vows; sent to the Collegio Romano [Roman College] to study philosophy.

1570 While studying theology, served as minister of the novitiate of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, in Rome.

12 February, final profession of three vows.

1571 25 March, ordination to the priesthood in the Lateran; June to September, visited Teramo, Ascoli, Loreto and Chieti.

September, Master of Novices for a short time while de Fabio de Fabii was ill.

1572 Continues theological studies at the Collegio Romano and is a confessor in the community.

Sent to be Rector of the College of Macerata.

1573 August, named by Fr. General Mercurian to be Visitor of all the East Indies.

8 September, profession of the four vows before the Father General, in Sant'Andrea.

11 September, profession of five minor vows in the Church of the professed House.

20 September, leaves Rome.

26 September, sails from Genoa.

1574 21 March, sails from Lisbon with forty other Jesuits: seventeen priests, thirteen scholastics, ten Brothers.

9 August, departure from Mozambique after a one day stop.

1574 6 September, arrival in Goa.

1575 Visit to India.

1577 20 September, leaves Goa for Malacca.

19 October, arrival in Malacca; stays until late July or early August of the next year.

1578 6 September, arrival in Macao for his first visit.

1579 7 July, leaves Macao for Japan, but leaves instructions for those who will study Chinese.

25 July, arrives in Japan, which he visits and then creates a Vice Province.

1582 20 February, leaves for Macao with four Japanese Ambassadors.

9 March, arrival in Macao for his second visit.

15 April ca, Riccci is asked to come to Macao. 7 August, Ricci arrives in Macao.

31 December, leaves for India with the four Japanese Ambassadors who are on their way to Rome.

1583 7 April, in Cochin, receives word he is appointed Provincial of India.

10 November, takes up Residence in Goa.

1587 April, learns he is named Visitor of the Province of India a second time.

29 May, the Ambassadors reach Goa on their return from Europe.

1588 22 April ca, leaves Goa with sixteen missionaries and the Japanese Ambassadors.

28 July, reaches Macao; stays there on the third visit until the 29th of June 1590 learning Japanese

1589 10 October, asks Rome for permission to receive into the Order four Chinese from Macao.

10 November, writes to Rome again with the same request

1590 29 June, leaves Macao for Japan.

21 July, reaches Japan as Ambassador of the Viceroy of India.

1591 The first two Chinese from Macao enter the Society.

3 March, received by Hideyoshi.

1592 9 October, leaves Japan.

24 October, reaches Macao; during this fourth visit he approves of Ricci's manner of proceeding and advises him to go to Beijing.

1594 15/16 November, leaves for Goa.

1595 4 March, reaches Goa.

24 September, concludes his tenure as Visitor of India (succeeded by Nicolao Pimenta) but continues as Visitor of China and Japan according to the General' s order of the 17th of January 1595.

1597 23 April, leaves Goa for the last time.

27/28 April, reaches Cochin.

16 June, arrives in Malacca.

20 July, reaches Macao for the fifth time; unites the College and residence of Macao under one Rector; names Ricci Superior of the China mission; warmly recommends him to go to Beijing; approves the Latin translation of Ricci's Chinese catechism.

20 December, Acquaviva thinks no more thought should be given to a Papal Embassy to Beijing.

1598 14 July, leaves for Japan.

5 August, arrives in Japan for his third and final visit.

1598 1-15 December, the Second Congregation of the Vice-Province of China and Japan decides to insist that there be a Papal Embassy.

1600 21 October, renounces the project of a Papal Embassy.

1603 15 January, leaves Japan.

10 February, reaches Macao for the sixth and final time; makes the China Mission independent of Macao.

10 October, and his consultors decide to create the Vice Province of China and Japan.

12 November, thinks that Ricci's success has exceeded all hopes.

1605 15 August, three Chinese from Macao begin their novitiate in Beijing.

1606 20 January, death from uremia, in Macao.

CHINESE GLOSSARY

Alessandro Valignano-See: Fan Li-an 範禮安

Alvaro Cattaneo 郭居靜

Antonio d'Almeida 麥安東

Dominic Qiu Liangbing 丘良稟

Emmanuel You Wenhui 游文輝

Fan Li-an 範禮安

Francesco Pasio 巴范濟

Francesco de Petris 石方西

Huang Ming Sha 黃明沙

Manuel Diaz 李瑪諾

Shaozhou 韶州

Zhaoqing 肇慶

Zhong Ming Ren 鐘鳴仁

NOTES

1 The most extensive research on Valignano to date has been done by Josef Franz Schuette, S. J. [ Giuseppe Francesco Schütte] and Josef Wicki, S. J., when they were at the Jesuit Historical Institute (Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu), in Rome.

Schuette has concentrated on Valignano's experience in Japan. His first contribution was Alessandro Valignanos Rigen um die Missionsmethode in Japan, Juli-Dezember 1579, edited in Rome, in 1944. In 1946 he published in Italian, under the title II Cerimoniale per i Missionari del Giappone a critical edition with introduction and notes of Valignano's Advertimentos e Avisos acerca dos Costumes e Catanques de Jappao. He then published in 1951 and 1958 a two volume work entitled Valignanos Missionsgrundsätze für Japan. These two volumes have been translated into English by John J. Coyne, S. J., as Valignano's Mission Principles for Japan. This translation does not have neither the Japanese characters in the text nor the seventeen illustrations. But its valuable bibliography of printed works, archival sources and Valignano's writings are reproduced photographically from the German original. The list of Valignano's writings include nine documents composed before his appointment as Visitor and four-hundred-and-twenty-eight subsequent texts. The compiler says this list represents "only a fraction of the massive output which flowed from the visitor's tireless pen." (Ibidem., vol.1, p.402).

In a letter to the General from Macao, dated the 1 st of January 1593, Valignano himself says that, at the time, he had about one-thousand letters to answer. Many of these would have accumulated, in Macao, during his two year absence to visit Japan, from the 29th of June 1590 to the 24th of October 1592 (Ibidem., vol. 1, p.6, n.4). Sometimes the day before the ships were to sail for Europe he would dictate letters from early morning until midnight. Once he wrote from Goa, "I confess I usually get to bed around midnight and rise at three o'clock in the morning." (Ibidem., vol.1, p.40).

In 1968, Schutte published Introductio ad Historiam Societatis Jesu in Japonia 1549-1560 [...]. The references to Valignano in the Index fill ten-and-a-half columns.

In 1944, Wicki edited with extensive introduction and notes Valignano's Historia del Principio y Progresso de la Compañia de Jesús en las Indias Orientales (1542-64). Works from sixteenth to the twentieth century which treat of Valignano are listed on pp. 43-45.

In addition, the eighteen volumes of the Documenta Indica edited by Wicki, contain many of Valignano's letters.

2SCHUETTE, Josef Franz, S. J. [SCHÜTTE, Giuseppe Francesco], Trans. COYNE, John, S. J., Valignano's Mission Principles for Japan, 2 vols., St. Louis, The Institute for Jesuit Sources, 1980-1985, vol.1, p.177-Technically, his responsibilities also included the mission to Ethiopia. He would have liked to remove the men from there, but was unable to do so.

3Ed. D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., Fonti Ricciane, Roma, La Libreria dello Stato, 3 vols., 1942-1949, vol.1, p.140.

4Valignano's first activity as Visitor was to inspect the Jesuit Missions in India. He traveled extensively, observed carefully and did not delay in issuing directives. Between the 22nd of November and the 8th of December 1577 he composed, during his first sojourn in Malacca, from the 19th of October 1577 to late July or early August 1578, the Indian Summary"an invaluable document of over forty leaves."

See: SCHUETTE, Josef Franz, S. J., op. cit., vol.1, pp. 92-180; vol.2, pp. 346-347; SCHUETTE, Josef Franz, S. J., Introductio ad Historiam Societatis Jesu in Japonia 1549-1650 ac Proemium ad Catalogos Japoniae edendos ad edenda Societatis Jesu Monumenta Historica Japoniae Popylaeum. Roma, Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, 1968-For Valignano's initial impressions of India, his activities and decisions.

Also see: KLEISER, Alfons, S. J., P. Alexander Valignanis Gesandtschaftsreise nach Japan zum Quambacudono Toyomi Hideyoshi: 1588-1591, in: "Monumenta Nipponica", Tokyo, (1) 1938, p.71-At the end of his first visit, more than one-hundred-thousand Nestorian Christians, called "Christians of St. Thomas", were reunited to the Catholic Church.

5Ed., D´ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol.1, pp. 142-423 and n.1-For expressions of the common pessimism. Ibidem., vol. 1, p. 139ff. and n.5-For a summary of previous attemps to enter China.

6Ibidem., vol.1, pp. 140-147.

VALIGNANO, Alessandro, S. J., Ed. WICKI, Josef, S. J., Historia del Principio y Progresso de la Compañia de Jesús en las Indias Orientales (1542-64), 1944-In this work the author dedicates three chapters to China: part I, chap. 26, pp. 224-228 (The Great Kingdom of China and its Qualities); chap. 27, pp. 229-244 (The Position of the Emperor of China; of his Family Members and Mandarins, and on his Way of Governing); chap. 28, pp. 245-256 (Some Other Customs, Disorders and Religion in China). SCHUETTE, (1980-1985), op. cit., vol.1, pp. 286-287-In the first redaction of his Japanese Summary, Valignano contrasts the Chinese and Japanese; although in the second redaction, he replaces this with a comparison between the Europeans and the Japanese.

D'ELIA, Pasquale M., op. cit., vol.1, pp. 7-132; TRIGAULT, Nicolas, S. J., Della Entrata nella Cina de'Padri della Compagnia del Giesù e Christianità nella Cina. Tolta dai Commentari del P. Matteo Ricci di detta Compagnia, Roma, Ed. Paoline, 1983 [reprint], bk. I, chaps. 2-4-Where Valignano' s treatment of China may be compared with Ricci's more extensive observations.

7Ed., D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol.1, p.147, n. l.

8Ibidem., vol.1, pp. 147-148.

9Ibidem., vol.1, pp. 157-158; vol.2, p.562, n.1.

10Valignano visited Japan three times: from the 25th of July 1579 to the 20th of February 1582; from the 21st of July 1590 to the 9th of October 1592; and from the 5th of August 1598 to the 15th of January 1603. Valignano, who had a great esteem and affection for the Japanese, was devastated by the Jesuit missionaries' lack of adaptation to the Japanese language, culture and customs. He was even more disturbed by the insensitive and sometimes even cruel way some of his European brethren treated the Japanese, including members of the Order. He admitted being quite perplexed initially as to how best to solve these problems. He himself tells us that during the consultation held in the region of Bungo, in October 1580, light came.

He looked upon this as a special blessing from God. The basic solution was for the Europeans seriously to devote themselves to adaptation and to prepare Japanese collaborators. A key question during the Bungo consultation which was followed by similar meetings in the regions of Miyako and Shimo, was the eighteenth: "Is it appropriate to observe all the practices and ceremonies of the bonzes?" At all three meetings there was an affirmative reply. As a result, before leaving Japan at the end of his first visit, Valignano drew up resolutions dated the 6th of January 1582. He continued his reflections on Japan while in India.

On the 20th of October 1583, he completed and signed his Sumario de las cosas que pertenecen a la Provincia de Jappón y al govierno della. In October 1581, in the space of one day and one night, Valignano composed a most valuable work of some sixty manuscript pages Advertimentos e Avisos acerca dos Costumes e Catangues de Jappao. Native Japanese themselves encouraged Valignano to produce this guide to Japanese Cultural practices and assisted him in the composition.

11Ed., D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol.1, pp. 157- 158, n.7.

12Ibidem., vol.1, p.159.

13Ibidem., vol.1, p.160

14Ibidem., vol.1, pp. 161-163.

15Ibidem., vol.1, pp. 164-168.

16Ibidem., vol. 1, pp. 222-227.

17Ibidem., vol. 1, p. 224.

18Ibidem., vol. 1, pp. 248-252.

19Ibidem., vol. 1, pp. 252-256.

20Ibidem., vol. 1, pp. 256-257.

21Ibidem., vol. 1, p. 331.

22Ibidem., vol. 1, pp. 263-267.

23Ibidem., vol. 1, pp. 267-272.

24Ibidem., vol. 1, p. 289.

25Ibidem., vol. 1, p. 323.

26Ibidem., vol. 1, p. 323, n. 7.

27Ibidem., vol. 1, pp. 145; 336, n. 1.

28Ibidem., vol. 1, pp. 335-338.

29Ibidem., vol. 2, p. 7, n. 3.

30Ibidem., vol. 2, pp. 3-6.

31Ibidem., vol. 2, pp. 256-257, 276.

32Ibidem., vol. 2, p. 351.

33Ibidem., vol. 2, pp. 352-353.

34Ibidem., vol. 2, p. 269.

35Ibidem., vol. 2, pp. 267-270.

36Ibidem., vol. 2, pp. 270-271.

37Idem.

38Idem. -Anthony Lietam or Leitão (for whose name we do not have the Chinese characters) and Dominic Qiu Liangbing, were received by Ricci, in Beijing. Emmanuel You Wenhui, was received by Diaz, in Nanjing.

Ibidem., vol. 1, p. 290, n. 1- The above mentioned priests joined two others who had entered in 1591: Zhong Ming Ren and Huang Ming Sha.

39Ibidem., vol. 2, p. 273, n.1.

40Ibidem., vol. 2, pp. 273-274.

41Ibidem., vol. 2, p. 274.

42Ibidem., vol. 2, pp. 259-280, 362, 389.

43Ibidem., vol. 2, p. 364, n. 4.

44Ibidem., vol. 2, p. 167

45Ibidem., vol. 2, pp. 469, n. 4; 483, n. 2.

46Ibidem., vol. 2, pp. 362-367; TRIGAULT, Nicolas, S. J., op. cit., bk. 5, chap. 9.

See: Note 6 supra.

47Ed., D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol.2, p.365, n.4.

48Idem.

49Ibidem., vol. 2, pp. 366, n. 3.

50Ibidem., vol. 1, p. 221.

51Ibidem., vol. 2, pp. 365-366.

52Ibidem., vol. 2, p. 367.

53Ibidem., vol. 2, p. 364, n. 3.

54Ibidem., vol. 1, p. 90.

55Ed. WICKI, Josef, S. J., Documenta Indica, bk. 13, pp. 696- 701.

56LOYOLA, Ignatius of, S. J. [LOYOLA, Ignatius of], Autobiography, no 50.

57Ibidem., nos 56-57.

58Ibidem., no 71.

59GRANERO, Jesús Marìa, S. J. La acción misionera y los métodos missionales de San Ignacio de Loyola, in: "Biblioteca Hispana Missionum" ("El Siglo de las Missiones"), Burgos, 1931, pp. 21-23.

60LOYOLA, Ignatius of, S. J., Trans. GANSS, George E., S. J., The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, Saint Louis, The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1970, p. 68- Formula. 4.

61GRANERO, Jesús Marìa, S. J., op. cit., p. 143.

62Ibidem., p. 106-Mention of such obedience to the Pope occurs in the General Examen, chap. l, no 5 and chap. 4, no 35.

Also see: LOYOLA, (1970), part. 5, chap. 3, no 3; part. 6, chap. 2, no 3; part. 7, chap. 1.

63Ibidem., pp. 10, 22.

64XAVIER, Franciscus, Monumenta Xaveriana, 2 vols., Madrid, Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu, 1899-1912, vol.2, pp. 119-120.

65LOYOLA, Ignatius of, S. J., Epistolœ et Instructiones, 9 vols, Madrid, Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu, 1903-1910, vol. 1, pp. 187-188.

66Ibidem, vol. 1, p. 558.

67GRANERO, Jesús Marìa, op. cit., pp. 50-51.

68LOYOLA, Ignatius of, S. J., Selected and Trans. YOUNG, William, S. J., Letters of St. Ignatius of Loyola., Chicago, Loyola University Press, 1959, pp. 381-390, "Ignatius of Loyola to Belchior Nuñez Barreto, 20 February 1555?"-"Some suggestions which may help to bring the kingdoms of Prester John into union with the Catholic faith and Church."

See: LOYOLA, (1903-1910), vol. 8, pp. 680-690-for the original Spanish quotation.

69GRANERO, Jesús Marìa, S. J., op. cit., pp. 96-207.

70For example, Ignatius encouraged the study of Arabic, Turkish and Slavic by those who were to be sent to regions where these were spoken.

See: Ibidem., pp. 145,147-150.

71LOYOLA, (1970), op. cit., part 8, chap. 1, no 9 and part. 9, chap. 6; LOYOLA, (1970), op. cit., pp. 292-293,324-325.

72GRANERO, Jesús Marìa, S. J., op. cit., pp. 200-207.

73Ibidem., pp. 182-183, 206.

74Ibidem., pp. 188-193, "A letter from Ignatius, 21st November 1555"; LOYOLA, (1903-1907), op. cit., bk. 10, p.176; POLANCUS, Johannes, S. J., [POLANCO, Johannes Alphonsus von,], Chronicon Societatis Jesu, in: "Vita Ignatii Loiolæ et Rerum Societatis Jesu Historia [...] (1491-[...]1556",6 vols., Roma-Madrid, Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu: Matritis Excudebat Typographorum Societatas - Matritis Excudebat Augustinus Avrial [respectivelly], 1894-1898, vol. 6 (Madrid, 1898), p. 832.

75GRANERO, Jesús Marìa, S. J., op. cit., pp. 82, 221-225.

76Ibidem., pp. 83-84.

77NADAL, Hieronymus, Epistolœ, 4 vols., Madrid, a Augustini Avrial, 1898-1905, vol. 1, p.344-2nd of July 1556.

78GRANERO, Jesús Marìa, S. J., op. cit., pp. 92-93.

79LOYOLA, (1903-1910), op. cit., vol. 5, p.133.

80Ibidem., vol.2, p.822.

81GRANERO, Jesús Marìa, S. J., op. cit., pp. 171-172.

82LOYOLA, (1903-1910), op. cit., vol. 5, p.150 - "A letter from Ignatius, 28 June 1553".

83POLANCUS, Johannes, S. J., op. cit., vol. 5, pp. 715-721; ORLANDINI, Nicolò, Historia Societatis Iesu [...], Coloniæ Agrippinæ, 1615, bk. 15, no 134, p.535-In 1555, a year before the death of Ignatius, Melchior Nuñez was able to spend some time in Guangzhou, stopped at Shanchoan and offered Mass there at Xavier's original burial place.

See: XAVIER, Franciscus, op. cit., bk. 1, p. 667-"Francis Xavier (from Cochin) to Ignatius of Loyola, 29 January 1552"; bk. 1, p.736 and bk. II, p.981, "Francis Xavier (from Goa) to Ignatius of Loyola, 9 April 1552"; LOYOLA, (1903-1910), op. cit., vol. 5, p.149; vol.4, p. 128, "Ignatius of Loyola (from Goa) to Francis Xavier, 28 June 1553"-Regarding other references to China during the lifetime of Ignatius.

Also see: MALATESTA, Edward, S. J., China Restores St. Francis Xavier's Original Burial Place, in: "America", Dec. 3 1988, pp. 460-461.

84SPENCE, Jonathan, Eds. RONAN, Charles, S. J. -OH, Bonnie, Matteo Ricci and the Ascent to Peking, in "East Meets West. The Jesuits in China, 1582-1773", Chicago, Loyola University Press, 1988, pp. 3-18.

85OSUNA, Javier, S. J., Trans. KING, Nicholas, S. J., Friends in the Lord, in: "the Way Series", London, (3) 1974.

86LOYOLA, (1970), op. cit., p.66- Formula. 3.

87PLATO, Theaetetus, 160d.

88TERENCE, Heauton Timoroumenos, bk. 1, sc. I, p.25.

89GANSS, George, S. J., Saint Ignatius' Idea of a Jesuit University, Milwaukee, The Marquette University Press, 1956.

90LOYOLA, (1970), op. cit., p.332- Constitutions, no 813.

91LOYOLA, Ignatius of, S. J., Ejercicios espirituales (Spiritual Exercices), no 1.

92This last period of formation is a time of further spiritual training which consists in spiritual exercices, instructions and reflections on the Jesuit way of life, and various ministries often of a humble kind to test the Jesuit's readiness and ability to engage in what is ordinary and trying. It is called 'third probation' because before one was formally received into the novitiate, there was a 'first probation' of twelve to fifteen days during which the candidate was the guest of a Jesuit community. In our day, the purpose of this custom is achieved by less structured forms of acquaintance with individual members and communities of the Order. The 'second probation' is the two years of spiritual training that are novitiate.

93LOYOLA, Ignatius of, S. J., (Ejercicios espirituales) Spiritual Exercises, op. cit., no 91.

94Ibidem., nos 97-98, 136-148, 156, 165-168.

95PELIKAN, Jaroslav, Jesus through the Centuries. His Place in the History of Culture. New York, Harper & Row, 1985.

96Eg: The Church Today (Gaudium et Spes), chap. 2, "The Proper Development of Culture".

97Ed. GREMILLION, Joseph, The Church and Culture since Vatican II. The Experience of North and Latin America, Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame Press, 1985; LUZBETAK, Louis J., S. V. D., The Church and Cultures. New Perspectives in Missiological Anthropology, Maryknoll, Orbis Books, 1989; SANNEH, Lamin, Translating the Message. The Missionary Impact on Culture, Maryknoll, Orbis Books, 1989.

98The Thirty-Second General Congregation of the Order, held from the 2nd of December 1974 to the 7th of March 1975, promulgated two Decrees which have been most influential in determining the choice and style of Jesuit ministries during the last fifteen years; Decree 4: Our Mission Today: the Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice, and Decree 5: The Work of Inculturation and Promotion of Christian Life.

99Eg: MELLO, Anthony De, S. J., Sadhana: A Way to God, Anand, Gujarat Sahitya Prakash Anad Press, 1978-(Translated into thirty-three languages; MELLO, Anthony De, S. J., Wellsprings, Anand, Gujarat Sahitya Prakash Anand Press, [n. d.]-(Translated into fifteen languages); MELLO, Anthony De, S. J., The Song of the Bird, Garden City/New York, Image Books, 1982 -(Translated into twenty-five languages).

100Eg: SOBRINO, Jon, et al (i suoi compagni dell'uca), Il Martirio dei Gesuiti Salvadoregni. Roma, La Piccola editrice, 1990.

101STAUDENMAIER, D., S. J., United States Technology and Adult Commitment, "Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits", 19(1) Jan. 1987.

102TETLOW, Joseph, S. J., The Transformation of Jesuit Poverty, in: "Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits", St. Louis, 18 (5) Nov. 1986.

103BRACKEN, Joseph A., S. J., Jesuits Spirituality form a Process Prospective, in: "Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits", St. Louis, 22(2) March 1990.

**Revised Version of a Paper orginally delivered at the FOURTH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM OF MING DINASTY HISTORY, Fudan University, Shanghai, 17-22 August 1991.

*Researcher on the scholarship and dialogue between Chinese Culture and Christian Faith. Director of the Ricci Institute, University of San Francisco. Author of many articles and editor of the first Chinese-English edition of Matteo Ricci's Tianzhu Shiyi (The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven).