What are the motifs in The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci by Jonathan D. Spence?

Chinese culture is certainly a recurring idea in the book. Matteo Ricci's goal of converting the Chinese was not implemented in the fashion one would typically expect from a zealous missionary. The popular stereotype of the Christianity missionary is of a person who forces his or her beliefs on others without being open and respectful of the beliefs of those he or she is trying to convert. Not so with Matteo Ricci. Ricci believed that God had already been working in Chinese culture and that the Chinese already possessed within their own culture the idea of God as "The Lord of Heaven."