VENI, VIDI, RICCI BY KELLY O’BRIEN
An Italian Jesuit’s Chinese map of the world has captured the imagination of scholars of Chinese culture and history.
“I just gasped!” That was the reaction of history professor Ann Waltner when
remain (see sidebar). Created by Ricci and then engraved on wood blocks by Chinese mathematician, astronomer, and geographer Li Zhizao, the map was printed on six paper
she first laid eyes on a Chinese map of the world, purchased
panels by Zhang Wentao of Hangzhou, believed to be an
by the James Ford Bell Trust for the benefit of the James
official printer of the Ming court. Each panel measures
Ford Bell Library. Viewing it at the Minneapolis Institute of
5.5 feet tall by 12.5 feet long and all were intended to
Arts, where it was on display before moving to the University
be displayed on screens. Paper is notoriously vulnerable
Libraries last fall, she was overwhelmed. “It was so big
to sunlight and environmental conditions, so the 2,000
and beautiful.”
or so maps were essentially designed to self-destruct.
Known as Kunyu wanguo quantu, or Map of the Ten
When the James Ford Bell Trust first unveiled the map
Thousand Countries of the Earth, this massive world map
at the Library of Congress a little over a year ago, University
was created in China in 1602 by Jesuit missionary Matteo
Librarian Wendy Pradt Lougee remarked that it would be
Ricci. It’s been called the Impossible Black Tulip thanks to
“a significant addition to the Bell Library collections,
its rarity; although about 1,000 official and 1,000 pirated
a rare resource with rich potential for scholarship.”
copies were created in the early 17th century, only six
Professor Waltner has already begun the research to create
photo: Ann Waltner (third from right) and the Chinese reading group use facsimiles of different versions of the Ricci map to investigate its intricacies.
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