The descendants of two Italian Jesuit missioners to China and a Chinese imperial official have jointly published a book about their ancestors and the friendship they enjoyed over 400 years ago. The book: The Stories of Our Ancestors, launched in Shanghai on June 19, is the Chinese edition of Un Libro a sei Mani (a book with six hands), originally written in Italian by Paolo Sabbatini, Luigi Ricci and Xu Chengxi. The ancestors of the three authors were close friends more than four centuries ago: Father Sabatino de Ursis (1575-1620), Father Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) and Paul Xu Guangqi (1562-1633).

1. New book tells of old friendship www.ucanews.com

2. History repeats itself as trio relate close Italian-Chinese ancestoral bonds from 400 years ago.

3. The descendants of two Italian Jesuit missioners to China and a Chinese imperial official have jointly published a book about their ancestors and the friendship they enjoyed over 400 years ago.

4. The book: The Stories of Our Ancestors, launched in Shanghai on June 19, is the Chinese edition of Un Libro a sei Mani (a book with six hands), originally written in Italian by Paolo Sabbatini, Luigi Ricci and XuChengxi.

5. The ancestors of the three authors were close friends more than four centuries ago: Father Sabatino de Ursis (1575-1620), Father Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) and Paul XuGuangqi (1562-1633).

6. The two missioners and Xu worked together conducting astronomical research at the imperial court during the Ming Dynasty. They also worked on the translation of Euclid’sElements into Chinese.

7. Xu was the first Catholic convert from Shanghai. The new book, published by Zhejiang University Press, tells the stories of the three men, highlights their friendship and reveals some of the history of the three families in later generations. The 163-page book also bears witness to long-standing cultural ties between China and Italy.

8. XuChengxi and Paolo Sabbatini, director of the cultural office of the Italian consulate general in Shanghai, were present at the book launch.

9. They and Luigi Ricci first met each other in China in 2007 and decided to revive the friendship of their ancestors. They wrote the book together to mark the 400th anniversary of Father Ricci’s death in Beijing in 2010. Shanghai-born artist Tang Muli also exhibited his new oil painting Matteo Ricci and XuGuangqi at the launch. The book comes a year after Shanghai diocese began pushing for the beatification of XuGuangqi and Father Ricci.

10. Shanghai-born artist Tang Muli also exhibited his new oil painting Matteo Ricci and XuGuangqi at the launch. The book comes a year after Shanghai diocese began pushing for the beatification of XuGuangqi and Father Ricci.

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