Ricci had wished to be buried in Beijing, as a rare honour for a non-Chinese foreigner and a recognition of the status of the Catholic Church in the Empire. Following his death on 11 May 1610, the
Wanli Emperor allowed
Diego de Pantoja to create a burial ground. The imperial decision was implemented on a lot that had been recently confiscated from a disgraced
eunuch, outside the
Fuchengmen gate of the
Beijing city fortifications. A funeral ceremony was held on 22 April 1611, with a procession starting from the Jesuit premises where the
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception now stands. Ricci's coffin stayed at the cemetery's chapel for several months until it was finally buried in November 1611. Other Jesuits were buried on the ground in the ensuing years. In 1654,
Johann Adam Schall von Bell obtained from the
Shunzhi Emperor the authorization to extend the cemetery. Schall von Bell was himself buried there in 1666. Following the
Suppression of the Society of Jesus by the
Holy See in 1773, the
Lazarists took care of the cemetery, then the
archimandrite of the
Chinese Orthodox Church, then again the Catholic Church. The cemetery was vandalized in 1900 during the
Boxer Rebellion, and the bones of the interred Jesuits were dispersed. Its restoration, stipulated by the
Boxer Protocol, included the brick framing of some of the delicately carved
tombstones. At the same time a church dedicated to Mary was erected nearby (
Maweigou Church). During the
Cultural Revolution, the site was again targeted as a symbol of foreign domination. The Red Guards intended to destroy the tombstones, but a staff member of the party school persuaded them to bury them instead, which ensured their preservation. The Maweigou Church was demolished in 1974. In the late 1970s,
Deng Xiaoping approved the restoration of Matteo Ricci's grave. The tombstones of Ricci, Schall von Bell and Verbiest were once again re-erected on what was believed to be their original locations. 60 additional original tombstones were re-erected in 1984 in a fenced section, of which 14 of were Chinese converts and 46 of European missionaries. ==Tombstones==