Confucio in Europa e Gesù in Cina,

The publication of Confucius Sinarum Philosophus in 1687 started popularizing Confucius’s doctrine in Europe, and gave rise to multiple observations on the differences and similarities of Confucian teachings and Catholic doctrine. The comparison between Moderns and Ancients, of the New Testament and tradition, spread to the West and the East, stressing the cultural continuum of Christianism between the two continents. While Confucius was westernized in Europe, the figure of Christ in China underwent an inversion of the same process. The evangelical message had been brought to the Far East and had been forgotten, but its presence was revealed by applying the figurist method to ancient Chinese texts. The highly ethical and moral values that Chinese society had always been credited with, were justified by the presence of Christ and by its manifestation.