Michael Alphonsus Shen Fu-Tsung,
SJ, also known as Michel Sin, Michel Chin-fo-tsoung, Shen Fo-tsung, or Shen Fuzong
(, 1691),
[''Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome''](_blank)
By Albert Chan (2002) p.395 was a Chinese
mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
and
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
from
Nanking.
He was a convert to
Catholicism
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 ...
who was brought to
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 ...
by the
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
priest
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 ...
, Procurator of the China Jesuit Missions in Rome. They left
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
in 1681 and visited together Flanders, Italy, France, and England. He later became a Jesuit in Portugal and died near Mozambique while returning home.
Visit to Europe
Flanders and Rome
Michael Shen Fu-Tsung arrived with Philippe Couplet by boat from
Portuguese Macau
Portuguese Macau (officially the Province of Macau until 1976, and then the Autonomous Region of Macau from 1976 to 1999) was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colony that existed from the first official Portuguese settlement in 1557 to the ...
in October 1682. They visited the city where Couplet was born,
Mechelen
Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...
. They then left for
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, where Couplet tried to obtain a Papal authorization to celebrate
mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
in
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 va ...
.
France
![IdeogramsMichaelShenFuTsung](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/IdeogramsMichaelShenFuTsung.jpg)
Shen was presented to King
Louis XIV
, 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 Vers ...
on September 15, 1684, and he demonstrated how to use
chopsticks
Chopsticks ( or ; Pinyin: ''kuaizi'' or ''zhu'') are shaped pairs of equal-length sticks of China, Chinese origin that have been used as Kitchen utensil, kitchen and List of eating utensils, eating utensils in most of East Asia, East and Southe ...
and how to write
Chinese characters
Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...
. He is described as participating in a royal dinner with Couplet, wearing green silk with deep blue brocade, decorated with Chinese dragons.
[David E. Mungello ''Curious Land: Jesuit Accommodation and the Origins of Sinology''](_blank)
(1989) University of Hawaii Press p. 255 They also visited the
Maison royale de Saint-Louis
The Maison Royale de Saint-Louis was a boarding school for girls set up on 15 June 1686 at Saint-Cyr (what is now the commune of Saint-Cyr-l'École, Yvelines) in France by king Louis XIV at the request of his second wife, Françoise d'Aubigné, Mar ...
, where they set up a display of Chinese silk portraits.
England and later life
After his visit in France, Shen Fu-Tsung also went to
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
where he met with
Thomas Hyde in 1685, and he taught him some Chinese. Shen Fu-Tsung apparently communicated in
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 ...
.
Shen Fu-Tsung also met with King
James II James II may refer to:
* James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade
* James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier
* James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily
* James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...
.
Keevak, p.38
/ref> It is the first recorded instance of a Chinese man visiting Britain. The king was so delighted by this visit that he had his portrait made, and had it hung in his bedroom.
Shen Fu-Tsung was able to catalogue the Chinese books that were present in the Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...
, and to describe their content, something which nobody had been able to do until then.[BBC](_blank)
Quote: ''Dr David Helliwell of Oxford University describes how Shen was the first person to catalogue the Chinese collection in the Bodleian Library, showing the librarian which way up to hold Chinese books as well as what they contained.'' He also showed the librarian the correct way to hold a Chinese book, starting with which way was up.
Shen Fu-Tsung left England in 1688 and went to Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, where he entered the Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
. He died in September 1691 of a shipboard fever as he was returning to China, somewhere near Portuguese Mozambique.
See also
* Arcadio Huang
Arcadio Huang (, born in Xinghua, modern Putian, in Fujian, 15 November 1679, died on 1 October 1716 in Paris)Mungello, p.125 was a Chinese Christian convert, brought to Paris by the Missions étrangères. He took a pioneering role in the teach ...
, another Chinese man who was active in France a few years after Shen Fu-Tsung
* China–France relations
China–France relations, also known as Franco-Chinese relations or Sino-French relations, are the interstate relations between China and France (Kingdom or later).
Note that the meaning of both "China" and "France" as entities has changed thr ...
* Chinese diaspora in France
The Chinese diaspora in France consists of people of Chinese ancestry who were born in or immigrated to France. The ethnic Chinese population in France is estimated to be about 600,000-700,000, making it the largest overseas Chinese community in ...
* 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 ...
* Louis Fan (convert)
Louis Fan (13 June 1682. – 28 February 1753.), born Fan Shouyi and also known as Luigi Fan, was the first known Chinese person to travel to Europe, return, and write an account of his travels. However, he was preceded by Michael Shen Fu-Tsung, A ...
, another Chinese scholar (and later Catholic priest) who visited Europe in the early eighteenth century
Notes
References
* ''The Far Eastern Quarterly,'' Vol. 11, No. 2 (Feb., 1952)
* Keevak, Michael (2004) ''The Pretended Asian: George Psalmanazar
George Psalmanazar ( 1679 – 3 May 1763) was a Frenchman who claimed to be the first native of Formosa (today Taiwan) to visit Europe. For some years he convinced many in Britain, but he was eventually revealed to be of European origins. He sub ...
's Eighteenth-century Formosan Hoax'' Wayne State University Press
* Ballaster, Rosalind (2005) ''Fables of the East: Selected Tales 1662-1785'' Oxford University Press
* Mungello, David E. (1989) ''Curious Land: Jesuit Accommodation and the Origins of Sinology'', University of Hawaii Press,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shen, Michael, Fu-Tsung
1650s births
1691 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Converts to Roman Catholicism
Chinese Roman Catholics
Foreign relations of the Qing dynasty
Chinese Jesuits
Qing dynasty translators
Jesuit China missions
17th-century Chinese people
17th-century Jesuits