China, Japan and Christian Emissaries to Muslim Lands.

This article explores Christian-Muslim relations in East Asia during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries through a description of the lives and journeys of three Roman Catholics - Petro Kasui Kibe (Jesuit), Nicholas the Iruman (Augustinian), and Bento de Góis (Jesuit) - to predominantly Muslim lands. Their journeys display the different ways in which Christian-Muslim relations and communication were viewed at that time, and the varying levels of impact that inter-religious dialogue had. Kibe appears to have placed little importance on Christian-Muslim relations and his journey to Jerusalem remains little more than an interesting historical footnote. Nicholas played a background role in the tale of his superiors and travel partners who helped to establish European-Persian relations. And de Góis, through his journey and interactions with Muslims, was able to contribute to a paradigmal shift in European geographical knowledge that changed contemporary understandings of East Asia. The article illustrates that, although Christian-Muslim relations at that time took an array of forms and had a variety of results, episodes from the East Asian mission field that have often been overlooked were highly influential in shaping the early modern world on a regional and global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]