Illustrate the role of Macao in the early cultural exchanges between China and the West.

Although Macao's area and population are not too large, due to its special geographical location and historical reasons, it has become a window for mutual understanding and communication between Chinese and Western cultures, and a bridge for mutual exchange and integration between Chinese and Western cultures, mainly in the following three aspects.

1. Macau is the frontier stronghold for the introduction of western Christianity and cultural technology into China.

Catholic missionaries followed after the Portuguese occupied Macao in 1557. On 1576, Pope Gregory XIII ordered the establishment of the first parish of East Asia in Macau to take charge of missionary affairs in China and Japan. 1579 and 1582, Italian Jesuit missionaries Luo Mingjian and Matteo Ricci successively went to Macau, and from Macau to Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, they built churches to preach, and started the Catholic missionary work in the mainland of China. According to the statistics of the diocese of Macao, from 1557- 1644, the number of Catholics in Macao increased from 400 to 40,000. 1594, the Jesuits opened St. Paul's Monastery in Macau as the headquarters of Catholic missionary work and training in East Asia. According to the statistics of western scholars, during the period of 158 1- 1740, 483 Jesuits entered the mainland of China from Macau. Some people, such as Matteo Ricci and Tang Ruowang, also entered the Beijing court and made important contributions to the cultural exchanges between China and the West in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. /kloc-At the beginning of the 9th century, Protestant missionaries also went to China to preach in Macau.

Western missionaries were also pioneers in spreading western culture to China. Many of their activities are based in Macao, spreading western culture and scientific and technological knowledge through writing, translation, running schools, practicing medicine, running newspapers and preaching in the mainland. Matteo Ricci, for example, entered the mainland from Macau in 1582 and drew a map of the world, which was the first map of the world introduced to China. Giulio aleni arrived in Macau in 16 10 and entered the mainland three years later, and compiled "Officials' Foreign Discipline" and "Illustration of Kunyu" to further introduce the knowledge of world geography to Chinese people. From 65438 to 0569, missionaries set up hospitals in Macau to treat diseases with western medicine, which was the beginning of the introduction of western medicine into China. Xiong Sanba, who died in Macao, wrote "The Theory of Medicine Dew" to spread western medicine. Western guns, western church buildings, church murals, organ and other western art music known as "magic spears" were also introduced from Macao to the mainland. 16 14 The missionary Genig got 7000 books in western languages from the Pope. 1620, he and 22 missionaries sent these books to Macau, and later sent some of them to Beijing for the government of China.

/kloc-At the beginning of the 9th century, Protestant missionaries also came to China to preach in Macau and spread western culture. For example, Ma Lixun went to Macau on 1808 to conduct missionary and cultural education publishing activities. He translated the Bible into Chinese and wrote a missionary pamphlet. His Chinese books, such as essays, prayers and poems praising God, are also published in Macao. His son Ma Ruhan was born in Macau in 18 14. His father instructed him to revise the Chinese version of the Bible. 1939, Macau opened the Ma Lixun School to commemorate Ma Lixun (1842). After that, British missionary milian, American missionaries Lin, Ya and Luo Xiaoquan also came to Macau and China. Luo Xiaoquan's Right to Truth and Questions and Answers were also published in Macau. After the Opium War, the center of cultural exchange between China and the West moved to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai and other cities.

Second, Macao was a bridge to introduce China to the west and spread China culture in the early days.

/kloc-Before the 6th century, westerners knew little about China, and the main information came from the mythical Travels of Marco Polo and some rumors of merchant sailors. 1535 after the opening of Macao, western missionaries came to Macao one after another and entered the mainland of China from Macao. On the one hand, they spread western culture to the people of China; on the other hand, they introduced China and China culture to westerners. After the missionaries arrived in Macau and China, they sent back letters about China to churches and relatives in Europe. In addition to reporting their missionary achievements, they also described the social culture and customs of China. For example, Matteo Ricci wrote many notes about China. 16 13, the Belgian missionary Genig returned to Europe by boat from Macau. During the long journey, he translated China Notes written by Matteo Ricci from Italian into Latin and edited it. 16 15, he published Matteo Ricci's Notes on China, renamed it "History of Christian Expedition to China", and he also traveled all over Europe. Zeng Dezhao, a Portuguese missionary who served as the president of the Jesuit order in Macau from 65438 to 0645, published A General History of China, introducing the history and culture of China to Europeans. /kloc-a collection of Jesuit letters published in the 0/8th century, in which the volume 16-26 collected many letters from western missionaries in Macau from China or from Macau to Chinese mainland.

In the 9th century, Protestant missionaries came to Macau and published newspapers and books to introduce China culture to the west. For example, in 18 12, Ma Lixun translated and published China's Three Amethysts and The University, and compiled A Glance at China (18 17) and Father-son Dialogue: History and Present Situation of China (17). In order to help westerners read Chinese, Ma Lixun also compiled Chinese Grammar (18 15) and Chinese-English Dictionary (1823). Elijah Coleman Bridgman, an American missionary, also translated the China literature such as Saint Amethyst, Qian Wen Zi and Xiao Jing in English in the China Series published in Guangzhou and Macau (the old version of Macau Monthly).

Macau is the window for China people to see the world and learn from the west.

After the Opium War, advanced China people began to open their eyes to see the world, learn from the West, and explore ideas and ways to save the country and the people. Macao became an important window for them.

Lin Zexu, the first person in China who opened his eyes to see the world in modern times, started his "foreign visit" in Macau. He believes that Macao's geographical position has a unique advantage in understanding western countries, and he also employs translators to translate Macao's foreign language newspapers and periodicals in order to obtain information about western countries. The Macao newspapers translated by Lin Zexu include the English versions of Guangzhou Weekly (also known as Macao News Record) and Guangzhou Chronicle (also known as Macao Chronicle), as well as newspapers in Singapore, India, Australia and Britain. Lin also compiled these materials into Macau Monthly, which is divided into five series: On China, On Tea, On Banning Smoking, On Fighting Soldiers and On Foreign Feelings. And distributed it to the emperor and related ministers for reference. Later, Wei Yuan compiled Atlas of the Sea, and the part of "Preparing for Foreign Feelings" was also based on the materials selected and translated by Macao newspapers.

Hong Xiuquan first came into contact with Western Christianity when reading the works of Liang Fa, the first China missionary trained by Ma Lixun to preach in Macau. He also studied Christianity from American missionary Luo Xiaoquan. Hong Rong, known as "the father of overseas students in China", entered Karl Juzlaf Christian Primary School in Macau at the age of 7 in 1835 and Ma Lixun School in Macau at the age of 184 1. 1847 went to the United States with president American missionary Brown, 1850 entered Yale University, 1854 graduated, 1876 received his doctorate, becoming the first China person to study in the United States and get his doctorate. Later, he suggested to the Qing government to send young children to study in the United States, and served as a supervisor of international students studying in the United States, making outstanding contributions to cultural and educational exchanges between China and the West. Zheng, a famous reform thinker, was born in Xiangshan, Guangdong. From 65438 to 2009, he lived in Zhengjiadawu, Macao from the mid-1980s, and wrote the famous "The Warning of the Prosperous Age", which advocated learning from the West and advocating reform.

Cuiheng Village, the hometown of the great revolutionary Dr. Sun Yat-sen, is only 37 kilometers away from Macao, and has been to Macao many times since he was a teenager. /kloc-when he was 0/2 years old, he sailed to Honolulu via Macao and began to get in touch with western culture. During 1883, Sun Yat-sen returned to China to study in Hong Kong. Macao has become the only place for him to travel to and from various provinces and ports, and it is also the place where he meets with friends to discuss the revolution. 1892 Sun Yat-sen graduated from Hong Kong College of Western Medicine, went to Macau to practice medicine for about one year, worked as a doctor in Jinghu Hospital, and set up a bureau of Chinese and Western medicine to advocate western medicine. His "Letter to Zheng Zao Ruxin" was published in Macau's "Haotou Monthly". 1895 Sun Yat-sen was also exiled to Macau after the failure of the Guangzhou Uprising.