Summary:
The interpretation of dreams has always been an important feature of Chinese culture, both learned and popular. This article aims to analyse how Jesuit missionaries in China approached this issue. In theory, missionaries from the Society of Jesus had their own oneirology, inherited from Aristotle, and some of them, such as Francesco Sambiasi and Giulio Aleni, wrote on the matter. However, Jesuit records show that this subject was far from unanimously treated within the Society. Jesuit archives in the Biblioteca da Ajuda (Lisbon) contain several accounts of dreams of Chinese converts, as well as some comments from missionaries on the subject.
This article also contains a case-study of dream accounts and visions of a Chinese convert whose biography was written by Jacques Motel SJ (1616–92).
Summary also in Portuguese.

Local access dig.pdf. [Ribeiro-Dreams.pdf]