Edited and Printed by BAC
Recently, Beijing Administrative College (BAC) edited and printed the large paper edition of History Recorded by the Stones: the 400 Year Story of “The Cemetery of Matteo Ricci and Other Foreign Missionaries”.
Besides a preface, an appendix and a postscript, the book is composed of 9 chapters, introducing the life story of European missionaries buried in Zhalan Cemetery including Matteo Ricci, Johann Terrenz Schreck, Giacomo Rho, Nicolas Longobardi, Adam Schall von bell, Ferdinand Verbiest and Thomas Pereira, as well as the great contributions made by other missionaries in Calendar Bureau, Astronomy Bureau, map surveying and court services in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The book tells the 400-year’s vicissitudes of the graveyard, specially introducing the process of its restoration after 1978 and its importance.
This book is the combined wisdom and work of all college staff. We spent a year on preparation, idea creation, designing, and material collection to the writing, editing, translating and proofreading. Our executive vice-president Wang Jiangyu and other college leaders gave us strong support and guidance on this book. The Department of Scientific Research, Editorial Office and other related departments all offered many positive coordination in this regard. The book was finally finished under the joint efforts of BAC staff.
This book has abundant historical information with precise language and beautiful pictures, which is also a significant achievement for academic research, culture promotion and learning after the publications of Historical Trace: the Graveyard of Matteo Ricci and Foreign Missionaries during Ming & Qing Dynasties and the documentary of Matteo Ricci in China by BAC. And it is also a unique gift offered by us in our international exchange activities.
This book has gained very good evaluation from both home and abroad. For example, the English edition has received high appraisal from Italian Ambassador to China Riccardo Sessa and Chairman of Marche Gian Mario Spaca. As 2010 is the 400th Anniversary after Matteo Ricci’s death in China and the 40th Anniversary of the established of Sino-Italia diplomatic relations, President of Italy will pay an official state visit to China this autumn and may have planned to visit this graveyard. We are confident that this book will make this event and other international activities more colorful.
(Dept. of International Cooperation & Exchange, translated by Hu Yu)