Matteo Ricci's 'The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven' Retranslated

A new annotated translation of Matteo Ricci's 'The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven' by Thierry Meynard has been published by Les Belles Lettres. Ricci (1552–1610), an Italian Jesuit from Macerata, is depicted on the Millenium Monument in Beijing among Ming dynasty figures, holding a telescope with an astrolabe at his feet. His Chinese code name was Li Madou. He is buried in Beijing at the center of the garden of the Communist Party cadre school. The book is a dialogue between a Western scholar and a Chinese scholar, engaging with Confucianism rather than Buddhism. Ricci argued for the existence of heaven and hell, the immortality of the soul, and the primacy of reason, using Chinese classics like the Book of Odes and the Book of Documents. He believed ancient Chinese believed in supernatural spirits (guishen), which Neo-Confucianism dismissed as forces of yin and yang. Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI praised Ricci's inculturation strategy and scientific methodology. The previous translation dated from the 18th century.