歷代文人既可「以詩會友」,又可「以詩載道」。詩在中國文化史和中國士大夫生活中佔據了極為重要的地位。明清之際來華的耶穌會士希望融入中國,適應中國文化,創作了大量的中文作品,其中亦有詩。首位正式獲准進入中國內地傳教的耶穌會士羅明堅用中文寫作五十餘首格律詩,這些飽含天主教因素的「天學詩」既記錄了傳教士和晚明文人交往,也展現了天主教本地化的特色。

Throughout history, poetry has held a profoundly important place in Chinese cultural history and in the lives of the Chinese literati. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Jesuit missionaries who came to China hoped to integrate into and adapt to Chinese culture. They created a large number of literary works in Chinese, including poems. Michele Ruggieri (A.D. 1543-1607), the first Jesuit missionary officially permitted to enter China, wrote over fifty regulated poems in Chinese. These poems, rich in Catholic elements and known as the Chinese Catholic poems, not only recorded the interactions between the missionaries and late Ming literati but also showcased the inculturated Catholicism.