ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to evaluate whether some roots of modern ‘European Studies in Asia’ can conceivably be found in the experiences of the Jesuit Order in the East from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, and through the impact of Jesuit missionary leaders, and their disciples. The main focus here is on China, India and Japan, and there is a deliberate emphasis on the activities of Portuguese Jesuits during the first European Empire in Asia. I am highlighting the Lusitanian mission since the Portuguese represented the largest contingent of Jesuits in Asia. Owing to the padroão system (see below), Portuguese Jesuits were sent to Asia more swiftly than those of other nationalities. Notwithstanding this, it should be borne in mind that many prominent Jesuits were not Portuguese.
