Yppong

Yppong was a Chinese merchant, presumably named Xing Pu in Mandarin Chinese. He is one of the first Chinese and Asians to have visited Europe in recorded history. On 31 May 1600, he boarded a vessel for Europe at Banten, Java, purely out of curiosity, and arrived in Middelburg later that year, and would remain there for several months. According to historians, his level of calligraphy shows that he did not belong to the uppermost classes of society. He is portrayed on Rubens ca. 1617 painting Miracles of St. Francis Xavier and on a chalk drawing of the same year. The hat worn by Yppong on the portrayals designates literacy. Rubens and Yppong never actually met, as Rubens was in Venice at the time of Yppong's visit. Up to 2016, the man pictured was thought to be Korean, possibly António Corea.