Mr. Liu Mingqiang, the thirteenth-generation descendant of Liu Chengfan, who was a good friend of Matteo Ricci\u2019s, will give a lecture at the University of Macau (UM) on 11 September, as part of the forum series on Macaology organized by UM\u2019s Department of History. <\/p>\n
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For a long time, Chinese scholars\u2019 studies of Matteo Ricci, one of the most important figures in the history of Christianity, have been largely based on historical records by western missionaries, due to a lack of detailed historical records in the Chinese language. This gap was filled by a discovery in 2010 of The Biography of Matteo Ricci<\/i>, or Li Ma Zhuan<\/i>, the hitherto first known Chinese historical literature related to western Christianity, written in the 1650s by Liu Chengfan, who was a friend of Matteo Ricci and worked in Tongzhi, Shaozhou, as a government official. <\/p>\n
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At the lecture, Mr. Liu will share, for the first time, the full text of Li Ma Zhuan. Mr. Liu will talk about how the book was discovered and why it is significant to the studies of the history of Christianity in China. He will also discuss how the discovery of this important historical document will add a new dimension to the studies of Matteo Ricci. <\/p>\n
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The lecture will take place on 11 September, Tuesday, in Auditorium II of the University Library, from 11:30 to 13:00. All are welcome. For more details, please call 83978081.<\/p>\n
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