The Dominican Vittorio Ricci (1625~1685): Diplomacy and War

The long and complex Ming-Qing transition lasted for several decades, from 1644 to 1683, if we take into consideration the so called “Rebellion of the Three Feudatories”, and the consequent annexation of Taiwan to the Chinese Empire, under the Kangxi Emperor’s sovereignty. The region of Fujian was directly involved in the Ming-Qing conflict, and shaken by continuous wars. There, in fact, the indomitable Zhengs had their stronghold. The Dominican Fr. Vittorio Ricci spent there many years working as missionary under郑成功 Zheng Chenggong’s favour and protection, both in Fujian and in Taiwan: A very important and trustful eyewitness of the crucial historical events that took place during his lifetime in East Asia and that can be considered extremely interesting and intriguing.
Ricci’s manuscript work “(Hecos de) La Orden de Predicadores en el Imperio de China” reveals itself as a primary source of undoubted importance, rich of significant information and colourful details about not only the courageous resistance conducted by the Zhengs against the conquering Manchu troops, but also regarding the settlement of the Zheng Regime in Taiwan. At the same time, the text, while dealing with Ricci’s religious mission and work among the Chinese population, throws a new light on the actual circumstances and concrete context of those years of war.