From the journal
Matteo Ricci arrived in Macao in 1582 to study Chinese; St. Paul’s College was elevated into a university college in 1594, later than his arrival.
Matteo Ricci arrived in Macao on 7 August 1582 and stayed at a catechumen house while studying Chinese. St. Paul’s College became a university college in 1594, twelve years later. Ricci’s language study in Macao therefore began before the college’s university phase.
While Ricci studied Chinese, Michele Ruggieri and Francesco Pasio traveled to Zhaoqing. The missionaries prepared for work inland through language study and contact with Chinese communities.
Chinese language and ritual were central to Jesuit preparation in Macao. St. Paul’s College formalized this training in its curriculum, where Chinese was a compulsory subject with the most teaching hours. The school also taught Latin, philosophy, theology, mathematics, astronomy, physics, medicine, music and rhetoric.
Ricci’s early path overlapped with that institutional world but did not begin at the university college. In 1582 he studied Chinese in Macao while Ruggieri and Francesco Pasio traveled to Zhaoqing. The sequence shows how a port settlement could serve as a language classroom and a launch point even before a university-scale institution took shape.
In 1597, Valignano appointed Ricci the first superior of the China mission. By this time Ricci had left Macao and was working within a mission network that extended into China.
Ricci’s Macao years began with his arrival in 1582, residence at a catechumen house and study of Chinese. St. Paul’s College entered its university phase in 1594 and trained missionaries in a broad curriculum. The two histories intersect in Macao’s role as a place of preparation, with distinct dates and institutions.
