Its a history book
pekkris(Beijing)
But a pretty interesting one. It paints an intricate and well researched portrait of the time -- 1580-1610 in China.
Ricci was a Jesuit, and wanted to help mankind save itself. He also despised Buddhism and homosexuals. The Jesuits burned homosexuals alive at that time.
His dream of converting China to Christianity never came true. In some ways his life reminds me of George Orwell, another idealist who fought for a dream to better mankind.
In retrospect, Orwell, like Ricci, got it wrong, I think.
I wonder how many of us have it wrong too.
2007-12-16 09:22 | comment
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