Figurist

The Figurists were a group of Jesuit missionaries at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century. The Jesuits wanted to integrate the Confucian tradition instead of rejecting Chinese traditional elements such as the Rites, which can be seen as accommodation to the Chinese tradition. They hoped to convince the Chinese literati of their theories and consequently convert them to the Christian faith.

The origin of the Jesuit Figurists in China can be traced to the ideas of the Jesuit Matteo Ricci. He had seen in ancient Chinese religion evidence of God, which convinced him that there was a connection with the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Figurist tenets

The Figurists often disagreed with each other but there were three basic tenets on which they could agree:

1. The Issue of Chronology

The first aspect that all Figurists agreed upon was the belief that a certain period in the Chinese history does not belong to the Chinese only but to all of mankind. The Jesuits furthermore believed that Chinese history dated back before the Flood and was therefore as old as European history. This made the Figurists believe that the two histories were equal in religious importance.

2. The Theory of Common Origin with Noah

After the great Flood, Noah’s son Shem moved to the Far East and brought with him the secret knowledge of Adam in original purity. Thus the Figurists believed that you could find many hidden allusions to pre-Christian revelation in the Chinese classics. The Figurists also thought that Fu Xi, supposedly the author of the Yijing, was really Enoch, the biblical patriarch.

3. The Revelation of Messiah

The Figurists determined that the shengren (聖人), or sage, was in fact the Messiah. This proved in the minds of the Figurists that for example the birth of Jesus was foreshadowed in the Chinese classics as well.

Opposition to the Figurists

There was opposition to the Figurists both in China and in Europe. In China, there was an anti-Western group of Chinese literati and officials. Some Chinese scholars doubted the idea that God was already part of the Confucian tradition. When Foucquet rejected the official Chinese history, he was angrily rejected by the Chinese and consequently ordered back to Europe.

In Europe there was also an anti-Jesuit group in the Roman Catholic Church. The Figurist idea was seen as an especially dangerous innovation because it elevated the Chinese classics at the expense of Christian tenets. In other words, the Roman Catholic Church did not accept the idea that the Chinese classics could be of importance to the Christian faith. (see: Chinese Rites controversy)

Influence and failure of the Figurists

Because of the overwhelming opposition to the Figurists, they were unable to publish any of their works during their lifetimes, except for Foucquet who got his major work published in 1729. However other aspects hampered the Figurists. There was no generally accepted concept for their research. Translations of texts from Chinese to Latin or the other way around took a long time. Most importantly, the Figurists did not agree among themselves. When the Catholic Church forbade the Rites and the Chinese started to persecute Christians, the Figurist mission faded along with it to become a mere footnote in the history of the Christian mission in China.

Representatives

* Joachim Bouvet (1656-1732)cite book
last =Mungello
first =David E.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Curious Land: Jesuit Accommodation and the Origins of Sinology
publisher =University of Hawaii Press
date =1989
location =
pages =page 358
url =http://books.google.com/books?id=wb4yPw4ZgZQC&pg=PA356&dq=Figurist+Jesuit+missionaries&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&sig=YSG1CfXZ-PwgyI4Suiy9L0smMT8
doi =
id = ISBN:0824812190 ]
* Joseph-Henri-Marie de Prémare (1666-1735)
* Jean-François Foucquet (1665-1741)
* Jean-Alexis de Gollet (1664-1741)

References