Matteo Ricci’s gravicembalo and manicordio : new discoveries and a reconsideration

This article re-examines the role of Matteo Ricci in introducing European keyboard instruments to Ming China, focusing on a longstanding scholarly debate over the identity and number of keyboard instruments he presented to the emperor. While Ricci’s writings and later accounts have led many to assume that a single harpsichord or clavichord was brought to the imperial court in 1601, newly available Chinese sources suggest the presence of a second instrument observed in Nanjing in 1599. Through a close reading of these sources and a critical analysis of different versions of Ricci’s ‘China Journal’, the study proposes a revised timeline and reinterpretation of the musical exchange. The findings offer new insight into the early reception of European instruments in China and the broader context of Sino-European cultural diplomacy.