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 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, as one of six Jesuits, the first group of French

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

to China, sent by

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

, under Superior

Jean de Fontaney Jean de Fontaney (1643–1710) was a French Jesuit who led a mission to China in 1687.Mungello, p. 329 Jean de Fontaney had been a teacher of mathematics and astronomy at the College Louis le Grand. He was asked by king Louis XIV to set up a m ...

. Before setting out for their destination, he and his associates were admitted to the French

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at th ...

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 with all necessary scientific instruments, by order of the king, sailed from

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, 3 March 1685, with Father Fontaney as Superior. After spending some time in

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

, they finally arrived in Peking, 7 February 1688. The Jesuits were well received by the

Kangxi Emperor 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 ...

. Bouvet and

Jean-François Gerbillon Jean-François Gerbillon (4 June 1654, Verdun, France – 27 March 1707, Peking, China) was a French missionary who worked in China. He entered the Society of Jesus, 5 Oct, 1670, and after completing the usual course of study taught grammar and ...

stayed at

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, teaching the emperor mathematics and astronomy. While engaged in this work, the two Jesuits wrote several mathematical treatises in the

Manchu language Manchu (Manchu:, ) is a critically endangered East Asian Tungusic language native to the historical region of Manchuria in Northeast China. As the traditional native language of the Manchus, it was one of the official languages of the Qing dyn ...

which the emperor caused to be translated into

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

, adding the prefaces himself. So far did they win his esteem and confidence that he gave a site within the Imperial City enclosure for a church and residence which were finally completed in 1702. Bouvet later served as the Chinese emperor's envoy to France, and returned to his home country in 1697 with instructions from the emperor to obtain new missionaries. Kangxi made him the bearer of a gift of forty-nine volumes in Chinese for the French 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 1698, Bouvet chartered the ship ''

Amphitrite In ancient Greek mythology, Amphitrite (; grc-gre, Ἀμφιτρίτη, Amphitrítē) was the goddess of the sea, the queen of the sea, and the wife of Poseidon. She was a daughter of Nereus and Doris (or Oceanus and Tethys).Roman, L., & Ro ...

'', registering it as a warship to avoid customs duties. In 1699 Bouvet arrived in China for the second time, accompanied by ten missionaries, among them Joseph Henri Marie de Prémare,

Jean-Baptiste Régis Jean-Baptiste Régis (11 June 1663 or 29 January 1664 – 24 November 1738) was a French Jesuit missionary in imperial China. Biography and works He was born at Istres, in Provence, on 11 June 1663, or 29 January 1664; died in Beijing on 24 Novem ...

, and

Dominique Parrenin Dominique Parrenin or Parennin () (1 September 1665, at le Russey, near Besançon – 29 September 1741, at Beijing) was a French Jesuit missionary to China. Life Parrenin entered the Jesuit order on 1 September 1685. In 1697, he was sent ...

. Kangxi honored Bouvet further with the title of interpreter to his son, the heir-apparent. In 1700, with four of his fellow missionaries, Bouvet 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 the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

to settle the

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 fa ...

but later changed his mind. From 1708 to 1715, Bouvet and

were engaged in a survey of the country and the preparation of

map A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...

s of its various provinces. As a sinologist, Bouvet 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 ...

, Bouvet 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. Even though he had some of his texts published, none of Bouvet's more extreme Figurist texts was published until the mid-19th century. Bouvet died in Peking on June 28, 1730. His gravestone stele is on display at the Stone Carving Museum of Beijing (at the Five Pagoda Temple) together with the gravestone steles of Father Gerbillon, and Father Regis.

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 historique de l'empereur de la Chine'' (Paris, 1697)

Notes

References

* Li, Shenwen, 2001, ''Stratégies missionnaires des Jésuites Français en Nouvelle-France et en Chine au XVIIieme siècle'', Les Presses de l'Université Laval, L'Harmattan, * Entry in th
''Catholic Encyclopedia''
* Short biography in th

China

Major works

Notes

References

See also