Matteo Ricci Reaches Beijing

1600

After nearly two decades of working his way north from Macau, the Jesuit polymath Matteo Ricci finally entered the Wanli Emperor's capital carrying clocks, prisms, and a map of the world. Dressed as a Confucian scholar, he would translate Euclid into Chinese and introduce the Ming to European astronomy, forging a cultural bridge that astonished both civilizations.