Francesco Sambiasi (毕方济, 1582, Cosenza-1649, Guangzhou) arrived in Macau in 1610 and later journeyed to the main cities of the Middle Kingdom. He established a close connection with Xu Guangqi (徐光启, 1562-1633), who provided him refuge during the time of persecutions against Christians. During the 17th century, the generation of Jesuits who followed Matteo Ricci continued to work both among the elite and the lower classes trying to aid converts to build a truly Chinese Catholic church. To this aim, Sambiasi shared the political and existential drama of his friends on a stage of social chaos. Hence, he found himself at the intersection of relations with nonconformist men and women— such as the writer Fang Yizhi (方以智, 1611-1671) — who were affected by grief for an age of discouraging politics. In witnessing the collapse of the Ming, Sambiasi envisioned a potential future for local Catholics and for the Society of Jesus to serve the country during tumultuous times.