Alessandro Valignano

Alessandro Valignano (Chinese name Fan Li'an 范礼安; 15 February 1539 – 20 January 1606) was an Italian Jesuit missionary. His original name, transliterated directly into Chinese, is Yalishandeluo Fanlinanuo (亚历山德罗·范礼纳诺); Fan Li'an was his Chinese name. After Francis Xavier, he was another figure of major influence on the spread of Catholicism in China.

Life

He was born on 15 February 1539 in Chieti in the Kingdom of Naples (now in Italy).

In his youth he studied at the University of Padua, where he took a doctorate in law; in 1566 he joined the Society of Jesus in Rome. In 1573 he was appointed Visitor of the Jesuit missions in the East Indies (overseeing the work in India, Macau, Japan and elsewhere). In September 1578 (the 6th year of Wanli, 8th month) he arrived in Macau from Goa in India. At that time some Jesuit missionaries in Macau required their Chinese converts all to learn Portuguese, take Portuguese names and adopt a Portuguese way of life.

Valignano held that this approach was contrary to the principles of spreading the faith. In his view it was the missionaries who should become Chinese, not the Chinese who should become Portuguese, if Catholicism was to grow. He therefore required the missionaries to learn the Chinese language and adopt Chinese customs. In July 1579 (the 7th year of Wanli, 6th month) Michele Ruggieri, a missionary he had called from India, arrived in Macau; by then Valignano had already left Macau for Japan, leaving instructions that Ruggieri was to learn Chinese. In March 1582 (the 10th year of Wanli, 2nd month) Father Valignano returned to Macau from Japan and founded the Confraternity of the Holy Name of Jesus there. In August 1582 (the 10th year of Wanli, 7th month) Father Valignano called another group of missionaries from India, among them Francesco Pasio and Matteo Ricci; in the same month he left Macau for Goa in India. In July 1588 (the 16th year of Wanli, 6th month) he returned from Goa to Macau, bringing with him a European metal movable-type printing press; books were printed with it in Macau that same year, generally regarded as the first use of Western movable-type printing on Chinese soil. In 1594 he founded in Macau St. Paul's College, the first Western-style university on Chinese soil. He died in Macau on 20 January 1606 (the 33rd year of Wanli, 12th month, 12th day).