The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci [Paperback]

Jonathan D. Spence (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 3, 1985

In 1577, the Jesuit Priest Matteo Ricci set out from Italy to bring Christian faith and Western thought to Ming dynasty China. To capture the complex emotional and religious drama of Ricci's extraordinary life, Jonathan Spence relates his subject's experiences with several images that Ricci himself created--four images derived from the events in the bible and others from a book on the art of memory that Ricci wrote in Chinese and circulated among members of the Ming dynasty elite.

A rich and compelling narrative about a remarkable life, The Memory Palace Of Matteo Ricci is also a significant work of global history, juxtaposing the world of Counter-Reformation Europe with that of Ming China.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Matteo Ricci (1552-1616), an Italian Jesuit, entered China in 1583 to spread Catholicism in the largely Confucian country. In order to make a persuasive argument for the educated Chinese to abandon their traditional faith for the new one he was carrying, Ricci realized that he would have to prove the general superiority of Western culture. He did so by teaching young Confucian scholars tricks to increase their memory skills--an important advantage in a nation with countless laws and rituals that had to be learned by heart. Ricci attracted numerous students with this method; more important, Ricci came to have a sympathetic understanding for China that he communicated to Rome, and thence to the European nations at large. Spence's portrait of Ricci is a gem of historical writing. --Gregory MacNamee

Review

An extraordinarily delicate achievement - The New York Times Book Review --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books (September 3, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140080988
• ISBN-13: 978-0140080988
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #126,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > History > Ancient > China
  • #87 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Educators

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

94 of 100 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining biography, NOT a tutorial about mnemonics. February 1, 2002

By EnglishTeacher

Format:Paperback

This is an entertaining, well-researched BIOGRAPHY about a Jesuit missionary in China.

If, like me, you were expecting a book detailing Matteo Ricci's method of enhancing his memory, you will be only partially rewarded. That subject IS brought up, with intelligent commentary, but (to use a metaphor) Ricci's mnemonics are only the 'frame' around the main 'painting'.

The main painting is a thoroughly enjoyable, detailed picture of a Catholic missionary sent from Europe to China. Ricci's voyage of discovery as his ethnocentric training meets with China's equally ethnocentric culture makes for good reading.

Readers interested in mnemonics will be partially rewarded. Readers will be thoroughly rewarded, if they are seeking entertaining Middle-Ages history about Catholicism, missionary work, Europe, Rome, Asia, or China.

67 of 72 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Astonishingly graceful history November 22, 2000

By I. Westray

Format:Paperback

Jonathan Spence's approach here is so effortlessly engaging, so like a work of historically informed fiction, that you can easily lose sight of just how responsible and convincing it is at the same time. Framing the book with Ricci's own mnemonic imagery gives Spence a complex but perfectly coherent lens through which to write. Spence deftly allows Ricci's own images to define the scope of the narrative as well, so he isn't burdened with scholarly asides attempting to fill in the gaps with a general history.

This is a book of simple genius. I've reviewed several books on Amazon, and seldom given a five star rating. This wonderful book rates a five.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Graceful, dazzling multicultural history February 8, 1999

By Ian Westray ([e-mail]

Format:Paperback

Jonathan Spence's approach here is so effortlessly engaging, so like a work of historically informed fiction, that you can easily lose sight of just how responsible and convincing it is at the same time. Framing the book with Ricci's own mnemonic imagery gives Spence a complex but perfectly coherent lens through which to write. Spence deftly allows Ricci's own images to define the scope of the narrative as well, so he isn't burdened with scholarly asides attempting to fill in the gaps with a general history.

This is a book of simple genius. I've reviewed several books on Amazon, and never given a five star rating before. This wonderful book rates a five.