The First Encounter with the Music of the “Distant West”: Matteo Ricci and the Perception of the Other in Chinese Culture

The relevance of this study lies in the need for historical reflection on successful models of intercivilizational dialogue, particularly the accommodation strategy that demonstrates the efficacy of cultural interaction. The focus is on the musical component of Matteo Ricci's mission in China, which remains a peripheral topic in the study of the particular style of musical thinking within Chinese culture. The aim of this research is to identify the philosophical and cultural foundations of the musical dimension of Ricci's mission and to describe them within the context of the cultural accommodation techniques he employed. To achieve this, the following objectives were set: 1) to systematize available data on China's first “musical encounter” with Europe and refine approaches to understanding the initial appearance of European music in China; 2) to identify the prerequisites for Ricci's use of musical activity as a missionary tool; 3) to clarify factual information regarding dates, names of musical instruments, compositions, and other aspects of Ricci's mission relevant to the topic; 4) to describe the communicatively significant outcomes of the musical “interaction” between Ricci and the Wanli Emperor, Chinese scholars, and officials; 5) to establish how the Jesuits utilized elements of European music theory in teaching the Chinese language. The research materials included primary sources, commentaries, and scholarly literature in Chinese and European languages pertaining to the theme of the “first encounter” between European music and Chinese culture. The methodology is based on a synthesis of hermeneutic analysis of compared texts (Ricci's works, letters, Latin and Chinese sources) and the principles of historical-cultural anthropology, enabling the reconstruction of symbolic meanings and communicative intentions embedded in musical practices. A comprehensive interdisciplinary approach was applied, combining perspectives from the philosophy of culture, history, musicology, semiotics, and linguistics. Hermeneutic analysis of the texts employed biographical and historical-genetic methods, as well as techniques for comparing corresponding European and Chinese names for instruments. The results demonstrate that music served as a key component of Ricci's missionary strategy due to its worldview significance in Chinese culture, its relative accessibility, the permissibility of using a “musical” form of preaching among the Chinese elite, and the rich potential for accommodating musical material to their worldview and ethical frameworks. These findings can be summarized as follows:1. Ricci's mission successfully overcame initial misunderstanding and rejection through a well-chosen initial accommodation strategy, in which music played a significant role. 2. The use of music as a specific “code” for evangelization was determined by Ricci's affiliation with the Jesuit Order and his education, which included music as a significant component. 3. Comparing a wide range of available data suggests with a high degree of probability that the first Western instrument brought to China by Matteo Ricci was a harpsichord, not a clavichord. Furthermore, discrepancies in existing data regarding the appearance of the first European instrument in China can be resolved by comparing key sources with known biographical facts: based on this, the construction year of the first Catholic church in mainland China was 1585, not 1583. 4. The gradual development of a “musical” dialogue with the Chinese elite led Ricci to closer interaction with its representatives based on technical interest in musical instruments, as well as the development of mutual respect due to a convergence of moral ideas embedded in the texts of Ricci's “Songs”. It is evident that the musical solutions in these works did not contradict the norms of Chinese scholarship, and that musical practices (performance, gifting of instruments, creation of song texts) were not merely a form of symbolic exchange but also a diplomatic gesture aimed at demonstrating intellectual and aesthetic equality between cultures. 5. Thanks to the “musical component” of Ricci's mission, the Jesuits created and expanded a strategy of using elements of European music theory in the process of teaching Chinese as a tonal language, which requires sound production and recognition techniques uncommon in European languages. Further study of the functional role of Western European music as an instrument of cultural accommodation, and subsequently adaptation, in the context of Chinese culture's interaction with foreign cultural environments can contribute to developing a more complete picture of the historical and contemporary pathways for interaction between representatives of Chinese culture and non-Chinese partners.