Foreign Missionaries

Julio Aleni (Ai Rulue)

Julio Aleni (1582-1649) was an Italian missionary who came to China during the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

He joined the Society of Jesus in 1600 and arrived in Macao for his missionary work in 1610. In 1613, he entered the Chinese mainland and missionized mainly in Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Zhejiang provinces.

In 1620, he cooperated with other missionaries and Chinese followers to translate a series of western academic works. Five years later, he was invited to Fujian Province and got to know a lot of intellectuals in the upper circles. During this period, he made the western thoughts better known to the local people, and gained the nickname of "Confucius from the West ".

Due to his efforts, the Catholicism spread to Fujian Province. In 1641, he began to act as the chief of the southern part of the China Parish of the Society of Jesus. In 1649, he died in Fujian Province.