Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life of Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit priest who in the 16th century led a Christian mission to China. An accomplished scholar, Ricci travelled extensively and came into contact with senior officials of the Ming Dynasty administration. His story is one of the most important encounters between Renaissance Europe and a China which was still virtually closed to outsiders.

With

Mary Laven

Reader in Early Modern History at the University of Cambridge

Craig Clunas

Professor of the History of Art at the University of Oxford

and

Anne Gerritsen

Reader in History at the University of Warwick

Producer: Simon Tillotson.