This article introduces the life and achievements of Italian Jesuit Delixian in Sinology in the 20th century, with a particular emphasis on his research on the world map of Matteo Ricci. Delixian has lived in China for over 16 years, working at Shanghai Zhendan University and Xujiahui Guangqi Society, and later teaching Sinology at two universities in Italy. His research representative works include "Matteo Ricci's Chinese World Map" in 1938 and his paper "New Discoveries and Studies on Matteo Ricci's World Map (1938-1960)" in 1961. The article aims to review the research achievements of De Lixian before and examine his contributions in the field of Matteo Ricci's world map research.

Research on the world map of Matteo Ricci before the reign of Emperor Yide Li Xian

Discussed the research on the world map of Matteo Ricci before De Lixian. Early scholars such as Henry Yuer speculated on the content of the map, but it was far from reality. At the beginning of the 20th century, Pablo Bastille discovered the "Map of Ancient and Modern Forms" and believed it may be a part of Matteo Ricci's work, but it was later confirmed to have been painted by the Ming dynasty's Gan Palace. Subsequently, Matteo Ricci world maps were discovered around the world, including Kyoto, Sanskrit, Milan, and London versions. Scholars have studied these maps, but due to language barriers, they have not been able to delve into the Chinese content in the maps. It was not until Zhai Linnaeus translated the Chinese content from the London edition into English that a more accurate conclusion was drawn on the dating and authorship of the map. Domestic scholars started their research relatively late. In 1936, Hong Ye and others published their research results on the map of Matteo Ricci in the magazine "Yugong", which promoted the development of Matteo Ricci map research.

Erde Lixian's "Matteo Ricci's Chinese World Map" (1938)

Introduced the background, content, and historical contribution of De Lixian's research achievement "Matteo Ricci's Chinese World Map". Deli Xian was invited by Professor Huajia of the University of Rome and Deputy Director of the Vatican Library, Di Serander, to conduct research on the "Kunyu Wanguo Quantu" stored in the Vatican Library, and published his research results in 1938. This work is divided into three parts: historical commentary, map replication, and annotations. It provides a detailed record of Matteo Ricci's life, missionary strategies, and map making process, and verifies the five surviving Tibetan manuscripts. De Lixian's research holds an important position in the history of Matteo Ricci's map studies. He accurately determined the time of map drawing, clarified some rumors, and for the first time translated the Chinese content on the map into Western languages, providing valuable research materials for future scholars. In addition, the works of De Lixian have established a paradigm for studying ancient maps from a historical perspective, and their research methods are worthy of reference for future scholars. However, due to the publication period and language limitations, the readership of this work is relatively limited.

San De Li Xian's "New Discoveries and Research on Matteo Ricci's World Map (1938-1960)" (1961)

In 1961, De Lixian published an article in the Journal of Chinese Studies, summarizing the new achievements in Matteo Ricci's world map research after 1938. The main progress of the article includes: correction of the previous viewpoint, such as the revision of map names; Introduce and organize the newly discovered Matteo Ricci world map collection; Commentary on Chen Guansheng's two articles; Translate the preface of Chinese literati on the map into English. The study of De Li Xian has made up for the shortcomings of the previous work and made its research more accurate and comprehensive. Afterwards, the Western academic community did not have any new achievements until 1986. The research of De Lixian provided important references for later scholars, and his publication of map collections, explanatory texts, and translation of place names were highly valued by the academic community. His discussions and judgments on the historical process of map drawing and comparative studies of different versions were widely cited. The study of De Li Xian is an important milestone in the history of Matteo Ricci's world map research.

Four concluding remarks

De Lixian's "Matteo Ricci's Chinese World Map" and "New Discoveries and Research on Matteo Ricci's World Map (1938-1960)" are important achievements in this field. In 1938, the work made progress in terms of historical process, map version time, and Tibetan edition verification. Five map Tibetan editions were published, and the Chinese content of the "Kunyu Wanguo Quantu" was translated into Western languages, setting a paradigm for historical research. In 1961, the article supplemented literature and corrected previous views, studied newly discovered map collections, and translated the preface into English, providing convenience for future scholars. The research achievements of De Lixian have promoted the study of Matteo Ricci's world map, published map collections, and fully translated text annotations on maps, providing valuable assistance for the research of other scholars, especially Western scholars, and making important contributions to the study of history.