China. The first Jesuits arrive in China. They are joined a few years later by the Jesuit Matteo Ricci. In 1603, Xu Guangchi, vice-minister at the imperial court, will convert us to Christianity, taking the name Paul Xu. Metallurgy, ballistics, hydraulics, and geometry are the main aspects of Western culture that interest Paul Xu, who maintains close relations with the Jesuits. Paul Xu will save several Westerners from certain death. Matteo Ricci, on the other hand, will provide the Chinese with the science of maps. The Chinese already had their own maps, but they did not verify them with sailors, and therefore lacked the feedback mechanism that continually improves them until they become reliable. For the Chinese, the outside world was indeed something else, and it should remain there, with as little interaction with China as possible to avoid cultural contamination. Furthermore, they were unaware of the spherical nature of the planet (no Chinese navigator had ever sailed around the planet), something that Paul Xu was the first to be convinced of.
