The Views Of Matteo Ricci On Family Ethics And Its Artistic Technique In The True Meaning Of The Lord Of Heaven

At the end of the 16 th century,with the first group of Jesuit missionaries represented by Matteo Ricci stepping into China,the Catholicism opened the historical process of missionary in China.Through their study and life in China,they slowly explored the strategy of “book preaching” and wrote a large number of Chinese books to spread Catholicism.The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven is Ricci’s most famous Chinese didactical book,in which we can easily find that ricci reformed the Catholic family ethics in order to better preach.In The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven,Ricci’s opinions on family ethics is mainly reflected in three aspects.On the parent-child relationship,he believes that children should honor their parents,but unlike Confucian filial piety,the father-son relationship in Ricci’s parent-child relationship is an equal friendship.Secondly,on the issue of marriage,Matteo Ricci insisted on monogamy and believed that no marriage was better than married.While talking about the issue of sacrifice,he believes that the sacrificial activities of the Chinese prove the existence of the soul,and the sacrifice is a ritual rather than an idolatry.Ricci’s opinions are closely related to his theological background and the Jesuit’s marriage policy and his own flexible handling of Confucianism.The doctrine of contract and the doctrine of the supremacy of god are the main theological sources.And the policy of monogamy and celibacy derived from biblical revelation and ascetic tradition influenced his view of marriage.Besides,The Confucian treatment of Catholic doctrine is also an important factor in the formation of his opinions.Ricci’s opinions had objectively spread some of the advanced concepts of Catholicism,such as equality for all,but at the same time it has also led to fierce criticism from a large number of anti-Christians.His views on sacrifices created a platform for Catholic missions in China,but they also led to debates about the purity of religion within the Jesuits and even religious congregations.In terms of artistic techniques,in order to express his family ethics,Ricci adopted a dialogue style and a large number of argumentation methods.Besides,he also use story-telling and a lot of quotation reasoning.In the last part,we will discuss the inspirational significance of Ricci’s Confucian family ethics on today’s cultural exchanges from the perspectives of cultural consistency,cultural tolerance and cultural localization.