He put the advance of Jesuits' influence above adherence to traditional Christian behavior. He attempted to avoid cultural frictions by making a compromise with local customs that other missionaries viewed as conflicting with Catholic values. His strategy was in contrast to those of mendicant orders including Franciscans and Dominicans, whom Valignano worked hard to block from entering Japan. This action eventually contributed to the Chinese Rites controversy. Soon after Valignano arrived in Portuguese Macau in September 1578, he realized that no missionary stationed in Macau had succeeded in establishing himself in mainland China. In his view, to improve the Jesuits' penetration rate into the country and their success at converting the locals, it was necessary first to learn to speak, read, and write the Chinese language. To this end, he wrote to the order's Superior in India, asking him to send to Macau a person who would be equal to the task, namely Bernardino de Ferraris (1537–1584). However, as de Ferraris was busy as the new rector of the Jesuits at Cochin, another Jesuit scholar, Michele Ruggieri, was sent to Macau. Valignano left Macau for Japan in July 1579, leaving behind instructions for Ruggieri, who was to arrive within days. Once Ruggieri started studying Chinese and realized the immensity of the task, he wrote to Valignano, asking him to send Matteo Ricci to Macau as well, to share the work. Forwarded by Valignano to the Order's Superior in India in 1580, Ruggieri's request was fulfilled, and Ricci joined him in Macau 7 August 1582. Together, the two were to become the first European scholars of China and the Chinese language. In 1594 Valignano founded St. Paul's college in Macau. Japan Valignano exercised his position as Visitor by overseeing all of the Jesuit missions in Asia from the major Portuguese port of Macau. He had a particular focus on Japan, however, and made three extended visits there in 1579–1583, 1590–1592 and 1598–1603. During his first visit in 1581, he wrote Il Cerimoniale per i Missionari del Giappone to set forth guidelines for Jesuits. In the writing, he mapped Jesuit hierarchy to that of Zen Buddhists even though he detested them. He claimed that, in order not to be despised by the Japanese, every Jesuit should behave according to the class to which he belonged. As a result, Jesuit fathers served daimyōs sumptuous dishes and walked around Nagasaki with armed Japanese servants.