Il problema del calendario cinese nel Rapporto di Sabatino de Ursis

This paper analyses the Rapporto, an essay on the Chinese calendar, composed by Sabatino de Ursis S.J., priest and missionary in China, in 1612. In the Rapporto, the first of its kind to be written in a European language, de Ursis accurately reported on the features of the Chinese calendar, in the perspective of reforming it. On the basis of the western developments in the science, he gave a critical account of the notable lacks present in Chinese astronomy and other scientific disciplines. Sabatino de Ursis's scientific contribution is to be considered in the wider context of Matteo Ricci's strategy aimed at promoting the evangelization of the populations of the Far East.