The History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof, Volume 1 (of 2)

In Short

This work is a foundational piece of travel literature, collating reports from Spanish and Portuguese missionaries and officials who attempted to enter China during the late sixteenth century. It serves as a bridge between the isolated empires of the East and the inquisitive reach of the West. By cataloging everything from the sophisticated irrigation systems and massive stone bridges to the rigid imperial bureaucracy and judicial punishments, the volume offers an encyclopedic view of a nation that, in the eyes of its chroniclers, operated with a mechanical, awe-inspiring precision.

The Story

The narrative begins not as a singular journey, but as a compilation of intelligence gathered from the front lines of colonial expansion. The primary objective for these early European travelers was twofold: to establish trade and, more fervently, to introduce Christianity to the East. However, the story is defined by the recurring failure of these missions. Friars and explorers, often met with suspicion or bureaucratic indifference, find themselves repeatedly rebuffed or forced into retreat. Yet, this failure of diplomacy gives rise to the book’s greatest success: an exhaustive, observational study of a society that the writers view with a mixture of profound admiration and religious frustration.

The arc of the text moves from the geographic and climatic introduction of China toward a granular exploration of its internal machinery. We learn of a landscape that is geographically diverse, spanning from the temperate coastal regions to the mountainous frontiers near "Tartaria." The authors describe the country’s fertility with a sense of wonder, noting how the land yields harvests multiple times a year, feeding a population so dense it seems to "swarm" from every corner.

As the narrative progresses, the focus shifts to the infrastructure that binds this immense kingdom together. The reader is introduced to the "mighty" highways, paved with stone and brick, and the massive bridges that span rivers wide enough to accommodate sea traffic. There is a clear tension here: the authors are constantly impressed by the engineering prowess of the Chinese, yet they struggle to reconcile this advanced civilization with their own religious worldview. They describe the widespread use of idols and the rituals surrounding death—where the deceased are honored with elaborate banquets and ceremonies—as evidence of a profound spiritual error that they believe the arrival of the Gospel will eventually correct.

The middle and later portions of the book detail the administration of the realm. The emperor is presented as a distant, semi-divine figure, "Lord of the World" and "Sonne of Heaven," whose authority is so absolute that his subjects bow to his portrait in his absence. The bureaucratic structure is equally rigorous; there are specialized officers for everything from the regulation of markets to the punishment of vagrants. The text details a society where even the smallest details of life are managed by a hierarchy of "loytias," or officials, who maintain order through a system of strict legalism. The story concludes with the ongoing, often difficult efforts of the Spanish government to negotiate an official embassy, a process tangled in the complexities of colonial politics and the slow, deliberate pace of the Chinese imperial court.

How It Unfolds

The geographic introduction describes China as a vast, temperate kingdom, noting its varied climate and the diverse physical appearance of its people. The text emphasizes the extreme fertility of the land and the sheer abundance of its agricultural output.

The architectural survey highlights the remarkable stone construction of Chinese cities, focusing on the immense bridges and the massive columns supporting government palaces. The writers marvel at the size of these structures, noting that the inhabitants seem to be the finest builders in the world.

The defensive systems discuss the legendary "great wall" of five hundred leagues, explaining its construction as a barrier against the Tartars. The narrative notes the human cost of this project, emphasizing the immense labor force required to complete it.

The social and judicial analysis explores the rigid hierarchies and the severe punishments for crimes, including public floggings and capital executions. The authors observe the efficiency of these systems while expressing horror at their brutality.

The final political assessment outlines the persistent attempts by the Spanish and other Europeans to open formal diplomatic ties. It ends with the realization that such grand ambitions remain at the mercy of the emperor’s distant and cautious court.

The People

The central figure is The Emperor, a shadowy but pervasive presence who acts as the symbolic anchor of the realm. He is never met, yet his will is reflected in every law, bridge, and ritual described. Father Martin de Herrada and his fellow friars act as the primary witnesses, motivated by a desperate zeal to convert the population. They stand between their desire to save souls and their genuine, often reluctant respect for the "good understanding" and "reason" of the people they encounter. The Loytias represent the administrative face of the empire; they are the magistrates and officials whose primary function is the maintenance of order, a goal they pursue with a cold, disciplined efficiency that leaves the travelers both intimidated and impressed. Finally, The Chinese People themselves appear as a collective character—industrious, skilled, and deeply attached to their customs, serving as a foil to the European friars who believe that such a rational people will inevitably be "subiect unto reason" and accept the Christian faith.

In Its Own Voice

"The wayes echewhere are galantly paued with foure square stone, except it be where for want of stone they vse to laye bricke: in this voyage wee traueyled ouer certayne hilles, where the wayes were pitched, and in many places no worse paued than in the playne grounde."

(Describing the sophisticated state of infrastructure across the provinces.)

"These miserable idolaters doo so little esteeme their idols, that it is a great hope and confidence, that at what time soeuer the gospel shal haue any entry into that country, straightwayes they will leaue off all their superstitions."

(The author’s analysis of the potential for Christian conversion within the empire.)

What It's Really About

At its heart, this book is an early, sincere attempt to reconcile the concept of "civilization" with a culture that developed entirely outside the European sphere. The text grapples with the question of whether a society can be inherently "politic" and rational without the foundational influence of Christian doctrine. It acts as a bridge between the medieval fascination with the East—typified by the legacy of Marco Polo—and the dawn of the Age of Discovery. The underlying tension is between the author’s desire to claim China for his religion and his inability to deny the obvious success and complexity of the Chinese state, which he is forced to admit rivals, or even surpasses, the achievements of Rome.

Why Read It Today

Reading this work today feels like peering through a dusty, stained-glass window. You will encounter the beauty of the observations—the vivid descriptions of floating fish markets and elaborate burial rites—balanced against the period-specific attitudes of the sixteenth-century missionary. The prose is dense and archaic, requiring a patient reader who is willing to navigate the unique spelling and the sometimes-jarring colonial lens of the authors.

However, the experience is profoundly rewarding for those interested in the history of global interaction. It captures the exact moment when the Western world began to realize that the East was not a land of myth, but a sophisticated, well-governed, and ancient reality. The book’s greatest strength is its honesty; even while the friars pray for the downfall of the idols they observe, they cannot help but document the irrigation, the architecture, and the social order with the precision of a scholar. You will walk away with a sense of the immense scale of China as it appeared to the first outsiders who dared to document its secrets. It is a document of curiosity overcoming prejudice, making it an essential read for anyone who wants to understand how the world first began to stitch its disparate pieces together.