I suoni viaggiano lontano. Musica e strategie missionarie nella Cina di Padre Sabatino de Ursis

The Ignatian paradigm proclaims that there is no possibility of accomodation without first observing the cultural habits of men. Therefore, the Jesuits made the considerable commitment to observe how deeply music had permeated social, political and religious life in China at the end of the Ming dynasty. They were expecting to find a "doorway" that would allow them to better access and accomodate culturale diversities but instead, they found themselves facing a rigid ritual code decidedly against any form of Christian accomodation. A code which, par excellence, placed everything in the world in an ironbound relationship, effectively halting any possibility of transcendence. As a consequence, the musicological observation of PP. Ricci, Trigault, Semedo and Bartoli provides us with a fascinating hermeneutic game, in which the Jesuit videre becomes an oppotunity to see the method and complexity of the Jesuit musical investigation, as well as an opportunity to understand how 17th century China saw Europeans.