Nicholas Trigault (Jin Nige)

Nicholas Trigault (1577-1628), a French missionary, came to China during the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

He joined the Society of Jesus in 1594 and went to India to missionize in 1607. In 1610, he arrived in Macao and went to Nanjing to learn the Chinese language. Afterwards, he visited many societies of Jesus across the country to get a better idea of the development of Roman Catholicism in China.

From 1615 to1617, he paid visits to France, Germany and Spain and asked the kings to support the missionary work in China. In 1619, he led 16 missionaries to China to continue with the missionary work. During his stay in China, he associated with many intellectuals in the upper circles, set up several missionary bases in Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces and published several religious books. In addition, he made some contributions to the research of Chinese characters.