Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism

The Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism (聖教三柱石, literally the "Holy Religion's Three Pillar-Stones") refer to three Chinese converts to Christianity, during the 16th and 17th century Jesuit China missions: Xú Guāngqǐ (Wade–Giles: Hsü Kuang-ch'i; 徐光啟, 1562–1633) of Shanghai Lǐ Zhīzǎo (Wade–Giles: Li Chih-tsao; 李之藻, 1565–November 1, 1630) of Hangzhou Yáng Tíngyún (Wade–Giles: Yang T'ing-yün; 楊廷筠, 1557–1627) of Hangzhou Their combined efforts helped lead Hangzhou and Shanghai to become centres of missionary activity in late Ming China. These men shared an interest in Western science and mathematics, and it is probable that this was what first attracted them to the Jesuits responsible for their conversion.

Source: Wikipedia — Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism (CC BY-SA 4.0)