![Shem, Ham and Japheth](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Shem%2C_Ham_and_Japheth.jpg)
Figurism was an intellectual movement of
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
missionaries at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century, whose participants viewed the ''
I Ching
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...
'' as a prophetic book containing the mysteries of Christianity,
[.] and prioritized working with the
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
Emperor (rather than with the Chinese literati) as a way of promoting Christianity in China.
Background
Since
Matteo Ricci
Matteo Ricci, SJ (; la, Mattheus Riccius; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610), was an Italians, Italian Society of Jesus, Jesuit Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He create ...
's pioneering work in China in 1583–1610, the
Jesuit missionaries in China
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders = ...
worked on a program of integrating Christianity with Chinese traditions. Ricci and his followers identified three sects
present in China –
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
,
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
, and
Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...
. While viewing Buddhism and Taoism as pagan religions inimical to Christianity, Ricci's approach – predominant with the Jesuits in China throughout most of the 17th century – viewed Confucianism essentially as a moral teaching that was compatible with, rather than contradictory to, Christian beliefs. They viewed
Chinese rites
The Chinese Rites controversy () was a dispute among Roman Catholic missionaries over the religiosity of Confucianism and Chinese rituals during the 17th and 18th centuries. The debate discussed whether Chinese ritual practices of honoring fami ...
such as the
veneration of ancestors
The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of ...
as essentially civil functions meant to edify the people in virtuous morals, rather than as religious rites. On this basis the Jesuits centered their work in China on the interaction with the Chinese Confucian
literati
Literati may refer to:
*Intellectuals or those who love, read, and comment on literature
*The scholar-official or ''literati'' of imperial/medieval China
**Literati painting, also known as the southern school of painting, developed by Chinese liter ...
, trying to convince them of their theories and consequently convert them to the Christian faith. When addressing the European public, the China-based Jesuit missionaries strove to present Confucianism, as represented by its
Four Books
The Four Books and Five Classics () are the authoritative books of Confucianism, written in China before 300 BCE. The Four Books and the Five Classics are the most important classics of Chinese Confucianism.
Four Books
The Four Books () are C ...
, in a favorable light. The effort culminated with the publications of ''
Confucius Sinarum Philosophus'' by
Philippe Couplet
Philippe or Philip Couplet (1623–1693), known in China as Bai Yingli, was a Flemish Jesuit missionary to the Qing Empire. He worked with his fellow missionaries to compile the influential ''Confucius, Philosopher of the Chinese'', published in ...
(Paris, 1687).
After the fall of the
Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
(fall of Beijing in 1644) and the
Manchu
The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...
conquest of the entire country (by the early 1650s), the Jesuits in China had to switch their allegiance from the Ming Dynasty to the Manchu
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
, just as most of the Chinese literati eventually did. They soon found themselves working in a quite different intellectual and political environment than their predecessors during the Ming era. While in Ricci's days the Jesuits were not in a position to work directly with the emperor (the reclusive
Wanli Emperor
The Wanli Emperor (; 4 September 1563 – 18 August 1620), personal name Zhu Yijun (), was the 14th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1572 to 1620. "Wanli", the era name of his reign, literally means "ten thousand calendars". He was the ...
(r. 1572–1620) largely removed himself from the public life, and rarely gave audiences to anyone, even his own
Grand Secretary
The Grand Secretariat (; Manchu: ''dorgi yamun'') was nominally a coordinating agency but ''de facto'' the highest institution in the imperial government of the Chinese Ming dynasty. It first took shape after the Hongwu Emperor abolished the off ...
), the early Qing emperors –
Shunzhi
The Shunzhi Emperor (15 March 1638 – 5 February 1661) was the second emperor of the Qing dynasty of China, and the first Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1644 to 1661. A committee of Manchu princes chose him to succee ...
, and in particular
Kangxi
The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...
– were not above dealing directly with the Jesuits and using their services for the needs of the central government. On the other hand, Chinese Confucian thought had changed as well: the more open outlook of the late-Ming literati was replaced in the early Qing period by widespread clinging to
Neo-Confucian
Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, and originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) in th ...
orthodoxy, which was endorsed by the court as well, but had been traditionally disapproved by the Jesuits as "atheistic" and "materialistic".
Accordingly, by the late 17th century the way whereby the China-based Jesuits strove to bridge the gap between China and Christian Europe had changed as well. Instead of praising Confucius and the ideology attributed to him, many Jesuits, led by
Joachim Bouvet
Joachim Bouvet (, courtesy name: 明远) (July 18, 1656, in Le Mans – June 28, 1730, in Peking) was a French Jesuit who worked in China, and the leading member of the Figurist movement.
China
Bouvet came to China in 1687, as one of six Jesuit ...
(who first arrived to China in 1688), focused on China's earliest classic, the ''
I Ching
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...
'', which Bouvet viewed as the oldest written work in the world, containing "precious vestiges from the remains of the most ancient and excellent philosophy taught by the first patriarchs of the world". The Figurists maintained the belief of the early Jesuit missionaries in China that China's ancient religion, now almost lost, was connected to the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Figurist tenets
![Anonymous-Fuxi and Nüwa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Anonymous-Fuxi_and_N%C3%BCwa.jpg)
The Figurists often disagreed with each other but generally they could agree on three basic tenets:
1. The Issue of Chronology
The first aspect that all Figurists agreed upon was the belief that a certain period in
Chinese history
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...
does not belong to the Chinese only but to all of mankind. The Jesuits furthermore believed that Chinese history dated back before the
Flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
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
Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...
After the great Flood, Noah's son
Shem
Shem (; he, שֵׁם ''Šēm''; ar, سَام, Sām) ''Sḗm''; Ge'ez: ሴም, ''Sēm'' was one of the sons of Noah in the book of Genesis and in the book of Chronicles, and the Quran.
The children of Shem were Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, L ...
moved to the Far East and brought with him the secret knowledge of Adam in original purity. Thus the Figurists believed that one could find many hidden allusions to pre-Christian revelation in the Chinese classics.
Bouvet also thought that
Fuxi
Fuxi or Fu Hsi (伏羲 ~ 伏犧 ~ 伏戲) is a culture hero in Chinese legend and mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking as well ...
, the supposed author of the ''
I Ching
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...
'', as well as
Zoroaster
Zoroaster,; fa, زرتشت, Zartosht, label=New Persian, Modern Persian; ku, زەردەشت, Zerdeşt also known as Zarathustra,, . Also known as Zarathushtra Spitama, or Ashu Zarathushtra is regarded as the spiritual founder of Zoroastria ...
and
Hermes Trismegistus
Hermes Trismegistus (from grc, Wiktionary:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς ὁ Τρισμέγιστος, "Hermes the Thrice-Greatest"; Classical Latin: la, label=none, Mercurius ter Maximus) is a legendary Hellenistic figure that originated as a Syn ...
, were really the same person: the biblical patriarch
Enoch
Enoch () ''Henṓkh''; ar, أَخْنُوخ ', Qur'ān.html"_;"title="ommonly_in_Qur'ān">ommonly_in_Qur'ānic_literature__'_is_a_biblical_figure_and_Patriarchs_(Bible).html" "title="Qur'ānic_literature.html" ;"title="Qur'ān.html" ;"title="o ...
.
[Mungello (1989), p. 321]
3. The Revelation of Messiah
The Figurists determined that the sage
shengren
Zhenren () is a Chinese term that first appeared in the ''Zhuangzi'' meaning "Taoist spiritual master", roughly translatable as "Perfected Person". Religious Taoism mythologized ''zhenren'' to rank above ''xian'' "transcendent; immortal" in the ce ...
(聖人) was in fact the
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
. This proved in the minds of the Figurists that, for example, the birth of
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
was foreshadowed in the Chinese classics as well.
Joachim Bouvet
Joachim Bouvet (, courtesy name: 明远) (July 18, 1656, in Le Mans – June 28, 1730, in Peking) was a French Jesuit who worked in China, and the leading member of the Figurist movement.
China
Bouvet came to China in 1687, as one of six Jesuit ...
in particular focused his research on ''
I Ching
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...
'', trying to find a connection between the Chinese classics and the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
. He came to the conclusion that the Chinese had known the whole truth of the
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
tradition in ancient times and that this truth could be found in the Chinese classics.
Opposition to the Figurists
There was opposition to the Figurists both in China and in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. 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
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. The Figurist idea was seen as an especially dangerous innovation because it elevated the Chinese classics at the expense of Christian authorities. The Catholic Church did not accept the idea that the Chinese classics could be of importance to the Christian faith. (see
Chinese Rites controversy
The Chinese Rites controversy () was a dispute among Roman Catholic missionaries over the religiosity of Confucianism and Chinese rituals during the 17th and 18th centuries. The debate discussed whether Chinese ritual practices of honoring fam ...
)
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
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
or the other way around took a long time. Most importantly, the Figurists did not agree among themselves. When the Catholic Church forbade the
Chinese Rites
The Chinese Rites controversy () was a dispute among Roman Catholic missionaries over the religiosity of Confucianism and Chinese rituals during the 17th and 18th centuries. The debate discussed whether Chinese ritual practices of honoring fami ...
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
*
François Noël (1651–1729)
*
Joachim Bouvet
Joachim Bouvet (, courtesy name: 明远) (July 18, 1656, in Le Mans – June 28, 1730, in Peking) was a French Jesuit who worked in China, and the leading member of the Figurist movement.
China
Bouvet came to China in 1687, as one of six Jesuit ...
(1656–1732)
*
Joseph-Henri-Marie de Prémare (1666–1735)
*
Jean-François Foucquet
Jean-François Foucquet S.J., also Jean-François Fouquet (12 March 1665 – 14 March 1741), was a Burgundy French Jesuit, bishop and scientist who was active in the Jesuit China missions for 22 years. He also was Titular Bishop of ''Eleutherop ...
(1665–1741)
* (1664–1741)
References
Citations
Bibliography
* .
* {{citation , last=Mungello , first=David Emil , authorlink=David Emil Mungello , title =Curious Land: Jesuit Accommodation and the Origins of Sinology , publisher =University of Hawaii Press , date=1989 , location=Honolulu , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wb4yPw4ZgZQC , isbn=0-8248-1219-0 .
Figurism
Figurism was an intellectual movement of Jesuit missionaries at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century, whose participants viewed the ''I Ching'' as a prophetic book containing the mysteries of Christianity,. and prioritized wo ...
Catholicism in China
History of Christianity in China
18th-century Jesuits