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[German Version] (in Chinese, Li Madou; Oct 6, 1552, Macerata, March of Ancona – May 11, 1610, Peking), SJ (from 1571), pioneer of the modern China mission (China: V, 3; Catholicism: IV, 4) and the method of accommodation (Colonialism and mission: I, 2.a) in China. After studying philosophy and mathematics at the Collegio Romano (under Christopher Clavius SJ) Ricci was sent to China in 1577. There he studied theology in Goa in 1578, and from 1582 in Macao. China was closed to all foreigners. On the orders of the Jesuit visitor A. Valignano…

[German Version] (1659; Instructio Vicariorum Apostolicorum ad Regna Sinarum, Tochini et Cocincinae proficiscentium), an important document of the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide (Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith) for mission methodology, and a milestone in the history of religious inculturation. The Sacra Congregatio was founded in 1622 in Rome, to create a central organization for Catholic mission, countering the Portuguese and Spanish patronage. One aim was the creation of a native cler…

[German Version] (Chinese Tāng Ruòwàng; May 1, 1592, Cologne – Aug 15, 1666, Beijing), Jesuit (since 1608), the most important German Catholic missionary to China (German missions: II, 2; China: V, 3; Catholicism: IV, 4), astronomer, first director of the imperial astronomical and mathematical tribunals in Beijing, made a Mandarin of the first class in 1658. After studying in Rome, Schall was sent to China as a missionary in 1618 on account of his enormous scientific knowledge, to promote the ¶ Christian mission with the help of modern European science (the method of accommo…

[German Version] I. History 1. The rites controversy is understood to refer to the controversy over whether Christians should be allowed to take part in particular state-ordered ceremonies in eastern Asia (China, India [see 2 below], and Japan; Asia : IV, 3) in the early modern period. This is linked to the question of theological terminology and church decrees. It was a question of how far the message of Christianity could be adapted to indigenous culture (Christianity, Expansion of : IV) and incult…