Matteo Ricci and the Ming Dynasty

Published: April 16, 2015, 10:50 a.m.

b'

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life of Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit priest who in the 16th century led a Christian mission to China. An accomplished scholar, Ricci travelled extensively and came into contact with senior officials of the Ming Dynasty administration. His story is one of the most important encounters between Renaissance Europe and a China which was still virtually closed to outsiders.

With

Mary Laven\\nReader in Early Modern History at the University of Cambridge

Craig Clunas\\nProfessor of the History of Art at the University of Oxford

and

Anne Gerritsen\\nReader in History at the University of Warwick

Producer: Simon Tillotson.

'