Martino Martini, an Italian Jesuit missionary, reached Hangzhou in 1643. He was 29. Hangzhou, then the biggest and most prosperous city in this part of the country, became his base for his missionary work in Jiangnan, the south of the Yangtze River Delta. He called himself 卫匡国, Wei Kuangguo in pinyin, a name that suggests an ambition of supporting and protecting the whole nation.

Martini was born in Trento, in the Bishopric of Trent. After finishing high school studies in Trent in 1631, he entered the Society of Jesus, from where he was sent to study classical letters and philosophy at the Roman College, Rome (1634–37). However his interest was more in astronomy and mathematics which he studied under Athanasius Kircher. In December 1638, he left Genoa, Italy and reached Portugal. The journey wasn’t smooth. He had to return to Lisbon several times before winds were friendly enough for the ship to go east. In 1640 he reached Goa, India. He waited there for about a year before there was a ship going out to China. After changing ships three times, he reached Macao in 1642. He was 28. It took him four years to reach Macao.

His missionary work in China largely concentrated in Zhejiang. Based in Hangzhou, he visited Lanxi, Fenshui, Shaoxing, Jinhua, and Ningbo in the province. Beyond the province, he visited Nanjing, Beijing, Shanxi, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Guangdong.

Martino Martini spoke and wrote Chinese fluently. He was the first westerner who could write books in Chinese. He was cordial and amicable enough to make friends with people. He was a great speaker.

After six years in Hangzhou, Martino Martini set out on a journey back to Europe. It was an epic journey. It took him another four years. This time, however, he took a different route. Scholars of today say that he took the Silk Road on the Sea back to Europe.

In the second half of 1650, Martino Martini traveled to Fujian, a province south to Zhejiang. His southward journey covered Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, and Xiamen respectively. On March 5, 1651, he set out from Jinmen Island, which is not far from Xiamen, for Manila. He waited for a year in Manila for a ship for the next leg of his long journey back to Europe. In May 1652, he boarded a vessel in Jakarta. In the middle of August 1653, he reached Bergen in Norway. Later he spent time in Amsterdam, Holland, and Antwerp, Belgium in 1654 before reaching Rome at the end of the following year. His travels across Europe allowed him to meet those scholars specialized in the studies of China and attempt to publish his works on China and raise funds.

Altogether, Martini published four books on China in Europe. The first book is the first grammar of the Chinese language ever printed and published in the west. The second book is published in Antwerp in 1654. The book describes events including the overthrow of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). He wrote the book in Europe and he had lived through the frightful occurrences portrayed in the book. It was translated in many languages and reprinted more than 20 times. It was considered the first history of China’s contemporary politics in the history of sinology in Europe. His third book published in Europe was Since Histories Decas Prima. The chronological work covered the earliest age of China. Martini had planned to write the whole Chinese history from the earliest age of China up to his time, but only the first part appeared, which covered the earliest times to the Han Dynasty. It was published in Munich in 1658. Whether he had written the whole book is unknown. The fourth book, also his most important work, is Novus Atlas Sinensis, which appeared as part of volume 10 of Joan Blaeu’s, which was published in 1655 in Amsterdam. Martini’s book includes 17 maps and 171 pages of text. It was considered the most complete geographical description of China at that time. He was considered by western scholars as to the father of Chinese geology.

In December 1655, Martini left Rome for Genoa. He was going back to China. In January 1656, he and some missionaries set out for Portuguese. The vessel was attacked by pirates and they were imprisoned. After they were released, they set out for Goa, India. Six months later, they reached Goa and then reached Indonesia. In June 1658, they set out for Macao. The journey from Rome to Hangzhou was difficult. It was not until June 11, 1659, that he came back to Hangzhou. With the support of Zhejiang Governor Tong Guoqi, Martini had a three-nave Catholic church built in Hangzhou, located at present-day Zhongshan Road North. The construction was completed in 1660. That year, 207 Chinese disciples were baptized there. The water used in the ceremony was known to local people as “Heavenly Water” or 天水 (Tianshui in pinyin) in Chinese. Tianshui Bridge and Tianshui Lane near the church, the names of two places still in use today, may have come from the church ceremony.

On June 6, 1661, Martini passed away in Hangzhou at the age of 47. It is said that he died of cholera which he had caught on his journey back to Hangzhou and that rhubarb overdosing might have been instrumental in his death. He was buried at a catholic cemetery to the west of the city proper. The plot was donated to the church by the son of Yang Tianyun (1557-1627), a celebrated scholar who converted to Catholicism. The cemetery has been refurbished in the 1980s and designated as a cultural relic under the protection of the provincial government. Though some other important missionaries such as Nicolas Trigault, Lfizaro Catfino, Emmanuel Diaz, and Thomas Pereira lie buried there, the cemetery is known as Missionary Wei Kuangguo Memorial Cemetery.