Conflict and Integration: Cultural Exchange between Western Missionaries and China in the Late Ming Dynasty

Abstract

Since the late Ming Dynasty, Western missionaries have gradually set foot in China, among which Ba Fanji, Michele Ruggieri, Matteo Ricci and so on are representatives. In the cultural exchange and integration between China and the West, many advanced natural sciences were introduced to China by missionaries, such as astronomy, geography, mathematics, physics, etc.which promoted the development of science and technology in the late Ming Dynasty and set off a trend of Western learning in the Ming and Qing dynasties. However, there are also contradictions in the fusion of Catholic doctrine and Middle-earth traditions. In particular, Matteo Ricci's successors insisted on the so-called "purity" of doctrine, so that Catholic doctrine became progressively more difficult to reconcile with Chinese cultural traditions.