Evaluating Existing Approaches to Text Reuse Through an Analysis of Matteo Ricci’s Reliance on Classical Chinese Texts

Abstract This article analyses the debt to classical Sinographic literature, history and philosophy in the works of the famous Jesuit missionary to the Wanli Emperor, Matteo Ricci (1552-1610). To do so, we trial three recently developed models for analyzing historical text reuse and choose the model best suited to our task. After identifying relevant examples of text reuse in Ricci’s eight surviving works (two of which show particularly high patterns of reuse), we then explore the possible historical factors behind these patterns and subject the citation frequencies of particular classical works, historical periods and genres to analysis using linear and nonlinear regression models. In the end, we conclude that Ricci’s oeuvre borrows heavily from works generally categorized as “Confucian” from the Warring States period, as well as poetic texts of various sorts. This reflects the existing consensus in the historiography, while adding important granular detail.