George Soulié de Morant, born 1878 in Paris, died 1955 in Paris, French scholar and diplomat. Soulié de Morant worked several years in the French

diplomatic corps The diplomatic corps () is the collective body of foreign diplomats accredited to a particular country or body. The diplomatic corps may, in certain contexts, refer to the collection of accredited heads of mission ( ambassadors, high commis ...

in China, where he served as French consul in several Chinese cities. He is mainly known for his role in introducing

acupuncture Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientif ...

in the West and for his translations of Chinese literature.

Education and career

Soulié de Morant had the opportunity to start learning Chinese at the age of eight, being taught the language by a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest. Although he had originally intended to become a physician, he had to give up his plans when his father died. At the age of twenty, Soulié de Morant was employed by a bank, which decided to send him to China in 1899. Given Soulié de Morant's command of the Chinese language, he soon joined the French diplomatic corps, for which he would work for most of the following two decades. He served as French

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

in Shanghai and

Kunming Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China. The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II, Kunming was a Ch ...

and French Mixed Court in Shanghai.

Scholarly contributions

Soulié de Morant became convinced of the importance of acupuncture when he witnessed the effects of acupuncture treatment during an epidemic of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

in Beijing. As he served as consul in several Chinese cities, he sought out teachers who could give him instruction in acupuncture. After Soulié de Morant returned to France after several years of consular service, he was persuaded by the prominent advocate of alternative medicine, Paul Ferreyrolles (1880–1955), to put all his efforts into translating Chinese works on acupuncture. Beginning in 1929, he authored a number of articles and works on acupuncture and he became an advocate of acupuncture treatment in the French medical corps. His work ''l'Acuponcture chinoise,'' which was based on Chinese texts from the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

such as ''Zhēnjiǔ Dàchéng'' (針灸大成), is still regarded as a classic work on acupuncture and has been published in several editions and translations. Soulié de Morant also published a number of works on

Chinese history The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

Chinese literature The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han dynasty, Han (202 ...

and

Chinese art Chinese art is visual art that originated in or is practiced in China, Greater China or by Chinese artists. Art created by Chinese residing outside of China can also be considered a part of Chinese art when it is based on or draws on Chine ...

, as well as a number of translations of Chinese literary works.

Works

*''Éléments de grammaire mongole''. E. Leroux 1903 *''Les Mongols, leur organisation administrative d'après des documents chinois'' (1905) *''Les Musulmans du Yun-nan'' (1909) *''La musique en Chine''. E. Leroux 1911 *''Lotus-d'or''. E. Fasquelle 1912 *''Essai sur la littérature chinoise''. Mercure de France 1912
online copy (pdf)
*''Les contes galants de la Chine''. Charpentier et Fasquelle 1921 *''Le Palais des cent fleurs''. E. Fasquelle 1922 *''La Passion de Yang Kwe-Fei''. L’Edition d’art, Paris, 1924
online copy (rtf)
*''La brise au clair de lune''. Grasset, Paris, 1925
online copy (word)
– Translation of '' Haoqiu zhuan'' *''Le Problème des bronzes antiques de la Chine'' (1925) *''Exterritorialité et intérêts étrangers en Chine.'' Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1925. *''Théâtre et musique modernes en Chine, avec une étude technique de la musique chinoise et transcriptions pour piano, par André Gaillard'' (1926) *''L'Amoureuse Oriole, jeune fille, roman d'amour chinois du XIIIe siècle. Avec dix illustrations chinoises''. E. Flammarion 1928 *''Histoire de l'art chinois''. Payot 1928 *''L'Épopée des jésuites français en Chine (1534-1928)''. Grasset 1928 *''Histoire de la Chine de l’antiquité jusqu’en 1929.'' Paris: Payot, 1929. *''Les Preceptes de Confucius'', 1929 *''Divorce anglais''. E. Flammarion 1930 *''Anthologie de l'amour chinois''. Mercure de France 1932 *''Sciences occultes en Chine: la main''. Nilson 1932 *''Précis de la vraie acuponcture chinoise''. Mercure de France 1934
online copy
*''L'acuponcture chinoise.'' 2 vols. Paris: Mercure de France, 1939–1941. Published in English as ''Chinese acupuncture,'' edited by Paul Zmiewski. Brookline, MA: Paradigm Publications, 1994. *''La Vie de Confucius''. H. Piazza 1939 *''Les 47 rônins: Le trésor des loyaux samouraïs'' *''Bijou de ceinture''.

External links

Biographical notes (in French)

Note on de Morant's role in introducing acupuncture to the West (in French)

Website of the Soulié de Morant family (in French)

Georges Soulié de Morant. Chinese Acupuncture (Google Books)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soulie De Morant, George 1878 births 1955 deaths Diplomats from Paris 20th-century French diplomats 20th-century French translators French sinologists Scholars of Chinese law Acupuncturists Chinese–French translators Members of the Société Asiatique French expatriates in China Writers from Paris

Education and career

Scholarly contributions

Works

See also

External links