THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA (Taiwan), 1983, the 4th centenary of his arrival
and the reform of the calendar, Scott 2359-60
Ricci joined the Jesuits in Rome, where he studied under the famous Christopher Clavius. He set sail for Goa where he was ordained. He immediately made a reputation as a scientist of enormous versatility and a channel of western learning. He wished to become a channel of the Gospel as well. His vision was to win the intellectual masters of China using learning and its methods as a magnet, and to sow the seeds that would lead to the conversion of Chine en bloc. Dressing as a scholar, he lectured in the chief administrative and scholastic centers of China and finally in imperial Peking. There he died at the height of his career; his tomb a gift of the Emperor. He remains today the most respected foreigner in Chinese literature. More
ITALY, 2002, 450th Anniversary of Ricci's birth, Scott 2486
MACAO, 2006, the Society of Jesus issue, Scott 1205, 1209
With its "Society of Jesus" issue of 4 stamps and a souvenir sheet, Macao marked many anniversaries and commemorated Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) who became the first Superior of the independent Province of China established in 1604. Ricci's face and body (holding a fan) on the souvenir sheet are modeled on an illustration from Athanasius Kircher's China monumentis illustrata.