- Joachim Bouvet
Joachim Bouvet (
July 18 ,1656 -October 9 ,1730 ) (Chinese:白晋 or 白進, courtesy name:明远) was a FrenchJesuit andFigurist .Biography
Born at
Le Mans , he came toChina in 1687, as one of six Jesuits, the first group of Frenchmissionary to China, sent by the Sun King.He was one of the first Jesuits selected by
Louis XIV for the mission inChina . Before setting out for their destination, he and his associates were admitted to theAcademie des Sciences and were commissioned by that learned body to carry on astronomical observations, to determine the geographical positions of the various places they were to visit, and to collect various scientific data.The group, after being provided by order of the King with all necessary scientific instruments, sailed from Brest, 3 March 1685, with Father Fontaney as Superior. After spending some time in
Siam , they finally arrived in Peking, 7 February, 1688. The Jesuits were well received byEmperor Kangxi . Bouvet andJean-François Gerbillon stayed atPeking , teaching the emperor mathematics and astronomy.While engaged in this work, the two Fathers wrote several mathematical treatises in the
Manchu language which the emperor caused to be translated into Chinese, adding the prefaces himself. So far did they win his esteem and confidence that he gave a site within the palace enclosure for a church and residence which were finally completed in 1702.Bouvet later served as the Chinese emperor's ambassador, and returned to France in 1697 to obtain new missionaries and made him the bearer of a gift of forty-nine volumes in Chinese for the king. These were deposited in the Royal Library, and Louis XIV, in turn, commissioned Father Bouvet to present to the emperor a magnificently bound collection of engravings. In 1699 Father Bouvet arrived a second time in China, accompanied by ten missionaries, among them
Joseph Henri Marie de Prémare ,Jean-Baptiste Régis , andDominique Parrenin . Kangxi honored him further with the title of interpreter to his son, the heir-apparent.Bouvet went back to China two years later, bringing more Jesuits to the country. n 1700, with four of his fellow missionaries, he presented a memorial to the emperor, asking for a decision as to the meaning attached to the various ceremonies of the Chinese in honor of Confucius and their ancestors. The emperor, who had taken a keen interest in the controversy regarding the ceremonies, replied that they were simply civil usages, having no religious significance whatsoever. The memorial, together with the emperors reply, was published in the "Peking Gazette" but failed to allay the excitement then raging in Europe over the question.In 1706, Kangxi decided to send Bouvet to Vatican to settle the
Chinese Rites controversy , but took back his decision later. From 1708 to 1715, Bouvet andJean-Baptiste Régis were engaged in a survey of the country and the preparation of maps of its various provinces.As a sinologist, Bouvet focused his research on "
I Ching ". Trying to find a connection between the Chinese classics and theBible , Bouvet came to the conclusion that the Chinese had known the whole truth of theChristian tradition in ancient times and that this truth could be found in the Chinese classics. Even though he had some of his texts published, none of Bouvet's more extreme Figurist texts were published. He died in Peking on October 9th, 1730.Major works
* "Etat présent de la Chine, en figures gravées par P. Giffart sur les dessins apportés au roi par le P. J. Bouvet" (Paris, 1697)
* "Portrait histoique de l'empereur de la Chine" (Paris, 1697)ources
* Entry in the [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02723b.htm "Catholic Encyclopedia"]
* Short biography in the [http://archives.catholic.org.hk/books/author/bouvet.htm Hong Kong Catholic diocesan Archive]ee also
*
France-China relations
*Religion in China
*List of Roman Catholic missionaries in China
*Jesuit China missions
*Christianity in China
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.