On Friendship

In this book, West and East truly meet, making something unique for both Western and Chinese readers alike. -- Thierry Meynard, Sun Yat-sen University Matteo Ricci's On Friendship is one of the most remarkable works in Sino-Western history. Timothy Billings's translation brings to life this sixteenth-century fraternal love song to the Chinese literati with erudition and grace. -- D. E. Mungello, Baylor University On Friendship is the perfect concatenation of supernal genius and brilliant scholarship. Matteo Ricci was Christianity's foundational and most effective voice in the late Ming dynasty, created the first scheme for the romanization of Chinese, introduced Western knowledge about science and government to the Middle Kingdom, and has a seemingly endless stream of other mind-boggling accomplishments to his credit. Timothy Billings possesses that rare blend of sinological expertise and Renaissance learning, enabling him to render Ricci's evocative classical Chinese maxims into elegant English and annotate them with extraordinary precision and clarity. The result is a beautiful book for the ages. -- Victor Mair, University of Pennsylvania

"On Friendship, with its total of one hundred sayings, is the perfect gift for friends."--Feng Yingjing, renowned scholar and civic official, 1601 Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) is best known as the Italian Jesuit missionary who brought Christianity to China. He also published a landmark text on friendship--the first book to be written in Chinese by a European--that instantly became a late Ming best seller. On Friendship distilled the best ideas on friendship from Renaissance Latin texts into one hundred pure and provocative Chinese maxims. Written in a masterful classical style, Ricci's sayings established his reputation as a great sage and the sentiments still ring true. Available for the first time in English, On Friendship matches a carefully edited Chinese text with a facing-page English translation and includes notes on sources and biographical, historical, and cultural information. Still admired in China for its sophistication and inspirational wisdom, On Friendship is a delightful cross-cultural work by a crucial and fascinating historical figure. It is also an excellent tool for learning Chinese, pairing a superb model of the classical language with an accessible and accurate translation.