Adrien Greslon (1618 at

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; oc, Peireguers or ) is a communes of France, commune in the Dordogne departments of France, department, in the administrative regions of France, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux i ...

– 1697) was a French

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missionary to China.

Life

He entered the Society of Jesus at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, 5 November 1635. He then taught literature and theology in various houses of his order until 1655, when he was sent as a missionary to China. He arrived there in 1657, and after mastering the Chinese and Manchu languages went to the Province of

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

, which he described as a veritable Garden of Eden. Here he remained, engaged in his missionary labours, until 1670, when he returned to France.

Works

Greslon wrote two books: ''Les vies des saints patriarches de l'Ancien Testament'', with reflections in Chinese; and ''Histoire de la Chine sous la domination des Tartares ... depuis l'année 16 ... jusqu'en 1669'' (Paris, 1671).

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: ** Moreri, ''Grand Dictionaire historique'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Greslon, Adrien 1618 births 1697 deaths 17th-century French Jesuits French Roman Catholic missionaries History of Jiangxi French sinologists Jesuit missionaries in China French expatriates in China