Matteo Ricci
![1610 Chinese portrait of Ricci](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Ricciportrait.jpg)
Ricci arrived at the Portuguese settlement of Macau in 1582 where he began his missionary work in China. He mastered the Chinese language and writing system. He became the first European to enter the Forbidden City of Beijing in 1601 when invited by the Wanli Emperor, who sought his services in matters such as court astronomy and calendrical science. He emphasized parallels between Catholicism and Confucianism but opposed Buddhism. He converted several prominent Chinese officials to Catholicism. He also worked with several Chinese elites, such as Xu Guangqi, in translating Euclid's ''Elements'' into Chinese as well as the Confucian classics into Latin for the first time in history. Provided by Wikipedia
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