The Reformation · written to 1610; published 1615
On the Christian Expedition to China
Matteo Ricci · 1552–1610
What it is
An account of thirty years in China — learning the language, becoming a scholar in Chinese terms, the mathematics that opened doors, and the slow gathering of converts.
Why it lasted
The book that gave Europe its first detailed and largely admiring picture of Chinese civilisation.
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below. The Library catalogues it; it does not host the text.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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