In 1684, King Louis XIV of France dispatched the most renowned sinologist in the country, Joachim Bouvet, to China. Before his departure, Bouvet was awarded the title of “Royal Mathematician” and became a member of the French Academy of Sciences. Joachim Bouvet also had a Chinese name, widely known throughout the Qing Dynasty, which was Bai Jin.
During his time in China, Bai and the Jesuits who accompanied him would enter the palace every day to teach the emperor mathematics, geometry, astronomy, and physics. The Kangxi Emperor’s open-minded attitude and enthusiasm for foreign cultures made Bai increasingly aware of the need to establish a bridge of communication between France and the Great Qing.
A bridge across civilizations
In July 1693, Emperor Kangxi sent Bai back to France to recruit more knowledgeable Jesuits to come to China. During this time, the man suggested to King Louis XIV the establishment of a delegation that would combine trade and missionary work to travel to China.
In March 1698, the ship Amphitrite, belonging to the East India Company, set sail from the port of La Rochelle to China. This was the first transoceanic sailing ship with a direct route between China and France. The boat not only brought back the imperial envoy Bai but also nine Jesuits.
Among them, Father Adam Schall, knowledgeable and talented, who was cultivating his diplomatic skills for the Qing court and studying Chinese medicine; Father Matteo Ricci, an expert in geographical surveying, who participated in investigating and mapping the Complete Map of the Empire, (which took ten years to finalise), and Father Nan Guangguo, an accomplished violinist and instrument maker, who had crafted wind instruments and tuned drums for the Kangxi Emperor.
They also introduced Chinese culture to the Western world. Father Ricci translated the Tao Te Ching into Latin; Father Joseph studied Chinese literature and translated the highly influential work The Orphan of Zhao. The missionaries, traveling back and forth between East and West, made Europeans aware of a legendary Eastern civilization that extended far beyond silk and porcelain.
At that time, France was regarded as the center of civilization in Europe, and Chinese culture spread from it to the rest of the country and the West, reaching a broader audience.
Seeking Chinese culture
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a renowned mathematician and philosopher of the 17th and 18th centuries in Germany, and he was also credited with inventing calculus. Leibniz was also extremely fascinated by Chinese culture and was one of the earliest European thinkers to engage with it. His interest in this ancient and glorious civilization started when he was twenty. He continued to diligently write On Natural Theology in China every day until he died in 1716.
During the reign of Louis XIV, Leibniz served as a diplomat in Paris. In his most famous work, Leibniz included reports from various missionaries about their work in that nation, as well as Bai’s close portrait of Emperor Kangxi, titled The Biography of the Current Emperor of China.
Leibniz explicitly stated that Europe excelled in logic, mathematics, astronomy, and military technology, and the reasons for China’s shortcomings in these areas were not simply due to ignorance, as people commonly thought. He understood that Chinese culture despised all forms of aggression and had a deep aversion to war itself.
In the preface to Recent Events in China, Leibniz wrote: “Who would have believed that there exists a nation on Earth that lives a more moral civic life than our self-proclaimed civilized nation? We claim that we are equal to them in craftsmanship and superior to them in theoretical science; however, in practical philosophy, ethics, and political theories of human life and daily customs, I must shamefully admit that they far exceed us. It is difficult, indeed, to describe how perfectly the Chinese are dedicated to seeking social peace and establishing order among people so that they can minimize discomfort to others as much as possible.”
Leibniz believed that the Chinese were the most outstanding people in the world, whether in interactions between parents and children or among individuals. Leibniz made detailed analyses and comparisons between China and Europe, even suggesting: “Regardless, I think that given the unprecedented moral decay we currently face, it seems necessary to invite Chinese missionaries to our country to teach us how to apply and practice natural theology, just as our missionaries teach them revealed theology.”
The Father of French Thought
Voltaire, known as the “Father of French Thought,” compared China with the West. He believed that the historical records of China’s thousands of years were accurate and rational, governing the country with the most perfect systems, and that it was the only great nation in the world that perfectly combined politics and ethics.
Voltaire wrote: “In Europe, no nation has ancient history as eloquently evidenced as the Central Empire. Some among us, in anger, call them an atheistic empire. Little do they know that all their laws are based on a thorough understanding of God, benefactors, and avengers. The Chinese possess the most perfect moral science, which is the most important of sciences.”
Inspired by Chinese culture, Voltaire proposed natural theology, believing that reason and innate morality were natural laws that must be followed in governing oneself and the country. He thought that the ancient Chinese strategy of governing the country through virtue, which had been passed down for millennia, was precisely the model that European governments needed to emulate.
To help more people understand the wisdom of Chinese culture, Voltaire even created a script to illustrate the inspiration he gained from it: righteousness will triumph over tyranny, and reason and intelligence will overcome ignorance and barbarism.
Loyal to Chinese literature
In the 18th Century, Chinese literature began to gain attention in Europe. In 1732, Father Joseph translated the Yuan Dynasty play The Orphan of Zhao, marking a significant milestone. The great German literary figure Johann Wolfgang von Goethe read the German translation of The Orphan of Zhao by Du He De. Additionally, he also read four chapters from the Ming Dynasty short story collection Strange Wonders of Past and Present and selections from the Book of Songs.
In 1719, James Wilkinson, an employee of the British East India Company, brought back the translated short story The Tale of the Good Match. Interestingly, at that time, Chinese literature had not yet received a large number of translations in Europe. Still, Goethe, based on the few works he had read, already had unique insights and considerable appreciation for Chinese literature. When someone asked him if The Tale of the Good Match was the best Chinese novel, he decisively replied: “Certainly not. The Chinese have countless such novels, and when they began to write, our ancestors were still living in the woods!”
Comparing English and German literature, Goethe wrote his reflections on Chinese literature: “Characters, thoughts, actions, and feelings are very similar to ours; it does not take long before we feel as if we are the same as them, only that everything there is more reasonable, pure, and moral than ours. Everything is sensible, without intense emotions, and poetic enthusiasm; the external nature and the characters always coexist.”
Time has passed too quickly; the prosperous era of Kangxi and the age of the Sun King now illuminate the history of East and West in the past. Today, in the residence of a British noble family, a treasured piece of late 18th-century Chinese-style wallpaper remains adorned with lively flowers and birds, as well as vibrant climbing plants and animals. This mural was auctioned for a total amount of US$17,606; this is not just a valuable antique; its worth lies in its mission to spread Chinese culture far and wide in Europe. This is a beautiful imprint of history, worthy of our prolonged gaze and careful reflection.
Translated by Joseph Wu and edited by Laura Cozzolino
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