Confucius Sinarum philosophus, sive, Scientia Sinensis Latine exposita de Confucius - 1687

First Publication of Confucius in Europe, 1687

Jesuit Translators Emphasize the Continuity between East and West, Rather Than the Clash

Folio, 22 x 36 cm; cxxiv, 108, 105-108, 21, 159, xx, 20, 8, [2], 23-106, [2] pages; recently rebound in full calf; very good condition. Full page portrait of Confucius, fold-out map of China.

This is the first substantial printing of Confucius in the West and the first translation of the Analects into any European language. It includes three of The Four Books (四書; Si Shu), The Great Learning (大學; Da Xue; here transliterated Ta Hio), The Doctrine of the Mean (中庸; Zhong Yong; here transliterated Chum Yum), and The Analects (論語; Lun Yu). These are preceded by a lengthy introduction (100+ pages) and followed by a tabular chronology of the Chinese emperors (again, 100+ pages).

The title page presents this as the work of four Jesuits who had each spent substantial time in China: Philippe Couplet (1623-1693; Belgian), Christian Herdtrich (1625-1684; Austrian), Prospero Intorcetta (1625-1696; Italian) and Francis Rougemont (1624-1676; Belgian). In reality it is the culmination of a century of Jesuit scholarship on Confucius that began with Matteo Ricci. The Jesuits saw Confucius as the key to converting Chinese intellectuals to Christianity. If the Jesuits were familiar with Confucian teachings. they could converse easily with their target audience. Even more important, they attempted to demonstrate to both China and the West that "Confucianism" is a social philosophy that is not tied to Buddhism or Taoism and that is compatible with Christianity. This perspective pervades the 100-page introduction, and the striking portrait of Confucius in a Western style library of Chinese books is clearly an attempt to place him in an intellectual pantheon that combines or transcends East and West. Even the map, which locates each of the many Catholic churches throughout the country and enumerates the missionaries in each region, seems calculated to downplay the otherness of China. The dedication to French king Louis XIV, so boldly proclaimed on the title page, indicates the importance of this work to Jesuit undertakings in Europe as well as Asia and can be interpreted as an invitation for France to work with the Jesuits in opening China for political and commercial as well as spiritual purposes.