Chapter 21 Section 1 The opening of new sea routes and the arrival of a large number of European missionaries to the east

In 1498, when Da Gama made his maiden voyage to India and returned to Portugal, he brought back a large number of oriental silks, porcelain, spices, ivory, gems and other precious items, and dedicated a piece of exquisite Chinese porcelain to the Queen of Portugal .The huge profits gained from this voyage further stimulated the colonists' greed for the East. Group after group of Portuguese colonists followed in the footsteps of Da Gama and came eastward around the Cape of Good Hope. In 1511, the Portuguese occupied Malacca, the throat of the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.Since then, China's sea lanes leading directly to the Indian Ocean have gradually been blocked. In 1517, a Portuguese fleet broke into the Guangzhou area of ​​our country and demanded trade, but was rejected by the Ming government.As a result, these colonists began to plunder along the coast of Guangdong and forcibly occupied Tuen Mun Island in Dongguan County, Guangdong.The Ming Dynasty government escorted the envoy Perez back to Guangdong and expelled him from the country (Volume 13 of Hu Zongxian's "Chi Hai Tu Compilation"); he translated it as "Huo Zhe Asan" to be executed on the spot, and severely attacked the Portuguese invaders, regaining the to Tuen Mun Island.After that, the Portuguese were still not reconciled, and turned to the coastal areas of Fujian and Zhejiang to harass and smuggle them. In 1553, the Portuguese colonists mixed into Macau, using the excuse that the sea water wet the goods, and went ashore to dry them. By bribing the officials of the Ming Dynasty, they were able to gradually settle in and occupy Macau.Since then, Macao has not only become an important base for Portugal's colonial activities in China and the Far East, but also a major bridge for communication and cultural exchanges between China and the West during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Following the Portuguese, the Spaniards also colonized Asia. In 1565, they began to conquer the Philippine Islands. In 1571, they formally established their colonial rule in the Philippines, and built the city of Manila as the center of colonial rule.During the next two and a half centuries, the China-Manila-Latin America galleon trade took place. In 1601, the Dutch also "drive big ships and carry huge cannons" and broke into the Macao area, demanding "trade" with China.After the establishment of the Dutch East India Company, it stepped up to extend its tentacles to China. In 1624, the Dutch colonists invaded and occupied Taiwan. In 1626, the Spaniards also sent troops to land in Taiwan's chicken coop and occupied the northern part of Taiwan.After fierce competition between the two sides, the Dutch defeated the Spaniards and dominated Taiwan.It was not until 1662 that Zheng Chenggong drove away the Dutch colonists and recovered the treasure island.

With the opening of new sea routes and the arrival of colonialists from the east, the route of communication between China and the West was almost completely shifted to the sea route, from the ports on the Atlantic coast of Europe to China around the Cape of Good Hope; North African countries and regions are almost completely transferred to European countries.The connotation of cultural exchanges between China and the West has also changed from the exchanges between Islamic civilizations and Chinese civilizations in the previous period to the exchanges between European Christian civilizations and Chinese civilizations.

Missionaries from Christian countries in Europe played a particularly important role in the cultural exchanges between China and the West in the early modern period. The European Reformation in the 15th century split the unified Roman Church in the Middle Ages.Almost half of Europe broke free from the rule of the Holy See.At this time, the great geographical discovery created conditions for the spread of religion.The eyes of the Roman Catholic priests were immediately turned to the east.A large number of missionaries joined the ranks of the early colonists and went overseas to open up new worlds.Among them, the Jesuits organized by the Spaniard Loyola was the most active missionary group.

The first Jesuit missionary to come to China along the new sea route from the Cape of Good Hope was Francis Xavier.In 1541, as the envoy sent by the Holy See to the Far East, he set off from Lisbon and arrived in India by sea. In 1549, Xavier went to Japan to preach, and found that Japan was deeply influenced by China in culture, so he decided to come to China to preach, thinking that the Chinese believed in Christianity, and the Japanese would naturally believe in Christianity. In 1552, Xavier came to Shangchuan Island in Guangdong, my country.However, because of the strict sea ban in the Ming Dynasty at that time, he never found a chance to enter the inland, and soon died of illness on that small island.For nearly 30 years since then, European missionaries have been unable to enter the interior.Until 1578, Fan Li'an, an educational inspector sent by the Jesuits to the Far East, was still lamenting helplessly at mainland China in Macau: "Oh, rock, rock, when will you crack?"

Under Fan Li'an's suggestion, the Jesuits sent Italian Luo Mingjian to Macau.Luo Mingjian first studied Chinese in Macau, and then went to Guangzhou with Portuguese businessmen who went to trade in Guangzhou. In 1582, he was allowed to preach in Zhaoqing, Guangdong, becoming the first person to preach in mainland China. However, it was another Italian, Matteo Ricci (AD 1552-1610), who really laid the foundation for missionary work in China.Matteo Ricci was a native of Macerata in central Italy. In 1571, he joined the Jesuits in Rome and entered the Roman Academy founded by the Jesuits to study philosophy and theology. In 1578, he came to the East by boat from Lisbon, and first arrived at Goa, India, the base camp of the Portuguese's colonial expansion activities in the East.In Goa, Ricci entered the monastery founded by Xavier to study theology. In 1582, Matteo Ricci came to Macau and began to learn Chinese language and characters in preparation for missionary work in mainland China.