Jean de Fontaney (1643–1710) was a French
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
who led a mission to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in 1687.
[Mungello, p. 329]
Jean de Fontaney had been a teacher of
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and
astronomy at the
College Louis le Grand. He was asked by king
Louis XIV to set up a mission to China, following a request by
Ferdinand Verbiest
Father Ferdinand Verbiest (9 October 1623 – 28 January 1688) was a Flemish Jesuit missionary in China during the Qing dynasty. He was born in Pittem near Tielt in the County of Flanders (now part of Belgium). He is known as Nan Huairen () in Chi ...
, in order to spread French and Catholic influence at the Chinese court with the pretext of transmitting scientific knowledge.
[Mungello, p. 329] Jean de Fontaney assembled a group of five other Jesuits to accompany him, all highly skilled in sciences, namely
Joachim Bouvet,
Jean-François Gerbillon,
Louis-Daniel Lecomte,
Guy Tachard, and
Claude de Visdelou
Claude de Visdelou (12 August 1656 – 11 November 1737) was a French Jesuit missionary.
Life
De Visdelou was born at the Château de Bienassis, Erquy, Brittany. He entered the Society of Jesus on 5 September 1673, and was one of the missionari ...
.
Guy Tachard remained in
Siam where he was to have a major role, while Jean de Fontaney led the four remaining Fathers to China, where they arrived in February 1688. Upon their arrival in
Beijing they were received by the
Kangxi Emperor who was favorably impressed by them and retained Jean-François Gerbillion and Joachim Bouvet at the court.
Jean de Fontaney returned to Europe in 1702, where he became Rector of the
Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
in
La Flèche until his death there in 1710.
See also
*
Jesuit China missions
The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China is part of the history of relations between China and the Western world. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, between the 16th and 17th century played a si ...
Notes
References
*David E. Mungello ''Curious land: Jesuit accommodation and the origins of Sinology'', University of Hawaii Press, 1989, ,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontaney, Jean De
17th-century French Jesuits
1643 births
1710 deaths
18th-century French Jesuits
French Roman Catholic missionaries
Jesuit missionaries in China
French expatriates in China