{"product_id":"9780571225187","title":"Mission to China : Matteo Ricci and the Jesuit Encounter with the East by Mary Laven","description":"In the sixteenth century, the vast and sophisticated empire of China lay  almost entirely unknown to Western travellers. As global trade  expanded, this land of reputedly boundless wealth, pale-faced women, and  indecipherable tongues began to feed the fantasies of European  merchants and adventurers. The Catholic Church, meanwhile, saw in this  great people millions of souls who would be damned unless the Christian  message could be brought to them. In this book, Mary Laven tells the extraordinary story of the first Jesuit mission to China.  Confronting enormous challenges, the Italian priest Matteo Ricci and a  tiny handful of learned companions gained  permission from the notoriously xenophobic Wanli emperor to settle in  the fabled Forbidden City.   Living among eunuchs and mandarins,  wearing the clothes of Confucian scholars, Ricci  and his associates strove to master the language and culture of their  hosts. At the same time, they energetically preached the virtues of  Western art and science. In Mission to China Mary Laven brings this remote world vividly to life.\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56292530356597,"sku":"9780571225187","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780571225187.jpg?v=1762749079","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9780571225187","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}