Antoine Gaubil (b. at

Gaillac Gaillac (; ) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France. It had in 2013 a population of 14,334 inhabitants. Its inhabitants are called Gaillacois. Geography Gaillac is a town situated between Toulouse, Albi and Montauban. It has g ...

, Tarn, 14 July 1689; d. at

Beijing } 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 ...

, 24 July 1759) was French

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

missionary to China.

Life

He entered the Society of Jesus, 13 September 1704, was sent to China, where he arrived 26 June 1722. He then lived in Beijing for the rest of his life. His Chinese name was Sun Kiun-yung. （宋君榮） He had taken

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 ...

's place as head of the school in which

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 ...

s were taught Latin, to act as interpreters in Russian affairs. Gaubil, the best astronomer and historian among the French Jesuits in China during the eighteenth century, carried on an extensive correspondence with the savants of his day, among them Fréret and Delisle.

Works

His works are numerous. Among them is "Traité de l'Astronomie Chinoise" in the "Observations mathématiques", published by Étienne Souciet (Paris, 1729–1732). From Chinese sources Gaubil translated the history of Jenghis Khan (Histoire de Gentchiscan (Paris, 1739) and part of the annals of the

T'ang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingd ...

(in "Mémoires concernant les Chinois". vols. XV and XVI); he also wrote a treaty on Chinese chronology (''Traité de la Chronologie Chenoise'', Paris, 1814), and executed a good translation of the second of the Chinese classics, the "Book of History" ('' Shoo-king''), edited by De Guignes (Paris, 1770). Gaubil left a great number of manuscripts now kept in the Observatory and Naval Depot (Paris) and in the British Museum (London). From three manuscript volumes kept formerly at the Ecole Sainte-Geneviève (Paris) there were published "Situation de Holin en Tartarie" (T'oung Pao, March, 1893) and "Situation du Japon et de la Corée" (T'oung Pao, March, 1898). Abel Rémusat in "Nouveaux Mélanges Asiatiques" (II, p. 289), wrote of Gaubil: :"More productive than Parennin and Gerbillion, less systematical than Prémare and Foucquet, more conscientious than Amiot, less light-headed and enthusiastic than Cibot, he treated thoroughly, scientifically, and critically, every question he handled."

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaubil, Antoine People from Gaillac 1689 births 1759 deaths 18th-century French Jesuits French Roman Catholic missionaries French translators French male non-fiction writers French expatriates in China Roman Catholic missionaries in China Jesuit missionaries 18th-century French translators Missionary linguists