Editing Inculturation (section)

===China===
[[File:Ricci_Guangqi_2.jpg|thumb|Matteo Ricci (left) and [[Xu Guangqi]] (right) in the Chinese edition of ''[[Euclid's Elements]]'', published in 1607]]
{{main|Chinese Rites controversy}}
The [[Jesuit]]s [[Matteo Ricci]] (from Portugal), [[Adam Schall von Bell]] and others were missionaries appointed to introduce Christianity to China. They learned Chinese and more about the culture, seeking to find ways to help the people understand elements of the Gospel. Ricci and Schall were appointed by the [[Chinese Emperor]] in [[Peking]] to be court [[mathematician]]s, court [[astronomer]]s and [[Mandarin (bureaucrat)|Mandarin]]s. The first Catholic Church was built in Peking in 1650.<ref>Franzen 323</ref> The emperor granted freedom of religion to Catholics.

Ricci had adapted the Catholic faith to Chinese thinking, permitting, among other things, the cultic veneration of ancestors, which he described as cultural practice. The Holy See disagreed, deeming the veneration an act of worship and hence [[idolatry]]. It forbade any adaptation of Christianity in the so-called [[Chinese Rites controversy]] in 1692 and 1742. The Chinese emperor felt duped and refused to permit any alteration of existing Christian practices. The Church suffered setbacks in 1721 when the [[Kangxi Emperor]] outlawed Christian missions.<ref name="McManners328">McManners, ''Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity'' (1990), p. 328, Chapter 9 "The Expansion of Christianity", by [[John McManners]]</ref> According to Franzen, "The Vatican policy was the death of the missions in China."<ref name="Franzen 324">Franzen 324</ref>