On the way to Macau, Xiao Ruxun had a strong interest in the world map presented by Ricci.
"This is the world you are talking about?"
Xiao Ruxun felt a little emotional as she held the world map that Matteo Ricci had drawn himself.
He had seen a lot of world maps, so he was not surprised at all. However, in this era of Daming, there were very few people who knew the concept of the world. Everyone was still stuck in the saying that China was the center of the world. The "China" in this period did not refer to China in the modern sense, but the empire in the center of the world. In ancient times, Chinese people thought that the land under their feet was the center of the world. They were the most powerful country, so there was such a name.
Until now, the people of Daming still thought that they were the center of the world. After Ricci understood this, he drew such a world map according to the thoughts of Chinese people. He placed China at the center of the entire map, meaning the Central Empire. It was very in line with the taste of the scholars of Daming. It was also the first time they knew that there were so many pieces of the world that were separated from each other and could only be reached by ship.
In fact, in the sense of East and West, anyone could be in the center. It was just that the position of the map was different. However, in the view of Daming, the Daming was the strongest in the world, so it must be in the center of the world. Otherwise, it would not work!
In order to let the Chinese people accept the geographical theory, Ricci also worked hard. It could be said that among the Western missionaries who came to China during this period, he was the one who understood the social rules of China the best.
"Yes, General, this is the Daming."
Ricci pointed to a large piece of land in the center of the map and said.
This world map only had the prototype of the modern world map. Many places looked strange. These Europeans did not know what the world was like, but with the prototype, they could generally understand some things. So, Xiao Ruxun asked, "Where is your country? By the way, are you a Franco? "
Ricci was stunned for a moment. He didn't know how to explain himself. He thought for a while and said, "No, General, I'm not from Franco. Franco is called Spain in our world. Daming, I don't think anyone here knows the difference. Franco is actually two countries that merged into one not long ago. It's more appropriate to call it Spain now. The first Franco has now been annexed by the Spanish."
"Annexed? The Francis used to be insufferably arrogant, but now they've been swallowed by this Si … Moran? "
Xiao Ruxun didn't know how to translate the pronunciation into Spanish, so he could only replace it with Siban. Anyway, it was almost the same.
Siban? The literal translation ability of Chinese was really amazing …
Ricci guessed.
"Yes, more than a decade ago, the Franco country was annexed by the Moran country, so now these two countries are one. The one in Luzon is the Moran, and the one in Macau is the Franco."
Xiao Ruxun pretended to be enlightened.
"So it's two countries. It seems that we were wrong before. Where are the Moran and the Franco?"
Ricci pointed to the peninsula in the lower left corner of Europe.
"This is the homeland of the Moran and the Franco. Now it belongs to the Moran."
Xiao Ruxun nodded, then asked, "It's far from Daming. How did your ship get here from here? What's the route? "
Ricci reached out and drew a line from Europe, crossing the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, and then reaching the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. That was his route.
"That's how I got here. It took me several months. I even encountered a storm on the way and almost lost my life."
"It's thousands of miles away, and there are many difficulties and obstacles along the way. Why did you come here? Isn't it better to stay in your hometown? Why did you have to come to Daming from such a far away place? What's your purpose? "
This was the most important question, wasn't it?
Ricci guessed.
This general was not easy to fool. It was not easy to explain to others. He estimated that he had to tell the truth. Otherwise, if the general heard the problem, he might not be able to get away with it.
Ricci very much wanted to meet the emperor of China to achieve his goal. This general came from the capital of China, which meant that he was qualified to meet the emperor. If he could establish a relationship with this general, he might be able to meet the emperor.
Therefore, Ricci told him honestly.
"We are actually the monks of our country. We are the same as the monks of your country. We are all devout believers of God. The monks believe in Buddha, and we believe in God. Our purpose of coming to Daming is to spread our faith in Daming, let more people believe in God, and bask in the glory of God."
He used simple words to link Catholicism and Buddhism together to help Xiao Ruxun understand, because the word "God" came from the Four Books.
Xiao Ruxun closed the world map, reached out to pick up the globe and began to fiddle with it.
"I think I understand what you mean. The monks and Taoists have also done what you have done. There is no lack of people who believe in Buddha and Three Pure Ones in Daming. Simply put, you came to Daming to spread the religion you believe in? Is your religion called God Religion? "
Ricci nodded. "Yes, it can be called God Religion."
"God? What kind of god is he?"
Ricci said, "God is called Jesus, the Son of God. He lived a long time ago. He spread the good doctrine and taught people to walk the good path so that they could escape from the abyss of suffering. But in a disaster, Jesus sacrificed himself. Although he sacrificed himself, his doctrine and spirit remained. His believers continued to spread his doctrine and continue to follow his footsteps. They have never forgotten his teachings."
Xiao Ruxun continued to fiddle with the globe and said, "In fact, I don't believe in any religion, and I don't believe that there is a god in this world. If there is a god in this world, why is it that there are so many disasters in the world and there are so many devout believers, but no god comes to rescue us?"
"That's because people are born with original sin, and the sufferings they suffer are original sin. They have to go through the torture of these sufferings to atone for their sins. All the sufferings they experience are not accidental, but inevitable, because we have to go through sufferings to be saved by God."
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