The ''Mingxin baojian'' () is an ancient

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 ...

book containing "a collection of aphorisms and quotations form the Chinese classics and other works" Léonard Blussé, Harriet Thelma Zurndorfer, Erik Zürcher, ''Conflict and accommodation in early modern East Asia'' (1993), p. 174. The author and date of authorship are not reliably known, although later references suggest that it was compiled in 1393 by Fan Liben. The quotations and aphorisms in the book appear to be from scholarly writings of

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 a ...

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

, and

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...

, with "a great many of the quotations... taken from Taoist writings", suggesting that the author was a follower of Taoism. The ''Mingxin baojian'' was the first book translated from Chinese into a Western language. "The ''Ming-hsin pao-chien'' seems to have widely circulated among the people in Fukien in the late Ming period. It was brought by the Chinese to the Philippines".Albert Chan,
Chinese books and documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome
' (2002), p. 180-83. It was translated into Spanish by a Dominican friar named Juan Cobo who arrived in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in 1588. In 1595, the Dominicans presented this translation, along with a copy of the original, to

Philip III of Spain Philip III ( es, Felipe III; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain. As Philip II, he was also King of Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan from 1598 until his death in 1621. A member of the House of Habsburg, Phi ...

, then Crown Prince. Prior to its acquisition by westerners, the work had already been translated and circulated in other Asian countries. It is known as the ''Myeongsim Bogam'' in

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

, and the ''Minh tâm bửu giám''

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

. It was included in ''

The Chinese Repository ''The Chinese Repository'' was a periodical published in Canton between May 1832 and 1851 to inform Protestant missionaries working in Asia about the history and culture of China, of current events, and documents. The world's first major journal of ...

'', translated by William Milne.

References

14th-century books Chinese literary works Taoist texts Books of quotations Books of aphorisms {{lit-book-stub

See also

References