Paul-Louis-Félix Philastre (born 7 February 1837 in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, died 11 September 1902, Buyat-Beayeau,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) was a French colonial administrator, diplomat and scholar. In Vietnamese royal records, he was referred as ''Hoắc Đạo Sinh'' (霍道生). Philastre graduated from the French

naval academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. List of naval academies See also

* Military academy {{Authority control Naval academies, Naval lists ...

in 1857 and took service on the ''Avalanche'', arriving in

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical exonym and endonym, exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, usually for Southern Vietnam. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer t ...

in 1861. In 1863, Philastre was appointed inspector of native affairs in a village in the

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of wat ...

river delta and two years later he obtained the position of director of native legal affairs. In 1868, he became ill and was forced to return to France. During the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

and the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

, Philastre defended

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in his capacity as commander of an artillery regiment. In 1873, Philastre returned to the French colonial service in

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

. Philastre played in important role in mediating between the French colonial authorities in Annam and the royal court in

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

. In 1874, Philastre negotiated the

Second Treaty of Saigon The Treaty of Saigon was signed on 15 March 1874 by the Third French Republic and the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam. Vietnam made economic and territorial concessions to France, while France waived a previous war indemnity and promised military pr ...

with the Annamese court. He also served in

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

. He left Indochina in 1889. Philastre authored a number of works on Chinese and Vietnamese studies, most important of which are the first French translation of the

Yijing The ''I Ching'' or ''Yijing'' ( ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. The ''I Ching'' was originally a divination manual in ...

and a complete translation of the Emperor

Gia Long Gia Long (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...

's Code, which was based on the Qing Code.

Works

*''Le Yi king, ou, Livre des changements de la dynastie des Tsheou,'' traduit pour la première fois du chinois en français par P.-L.-F. Philastre. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1885-1893. *''Le code annamite: nouvelle traduction complète.'' 2 vols, Études sur le droit annamite et chinois. Paris: E. Leroux, 1909.

References

*"Philastre, Paul-Louis-Félix." (2007). In ''Encyclopædia Britannica.'' Retrieved July 6, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article-9001128 *Dupuis, Jean. ''Le Tong-kïn et l’intervention française''. Paris, A. Challamel, 1898. * McAleavy, Henry. "Dien in China and Vietnam." ''The Journal of Asian Studies,'' Vol. 17, No. 3. (May, 1958), pp. 403-415. *Osborne, Milton E. ''The French Presence in Cochinchina and Cambodia: Rule and Response (1859-1905).'' Bangkok: White Lotus Press, c1997. *Ta van Tai. "Vietnam's Code of the Lê Dynasty (1428-1788)." ''The American Journal of Comparative Law,'' Vol. 30, No. 3. (Summer, 1982), pp. 523-554.

External links

Le Code Annamite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philastre 1837 births 1902 deaths People of French Indochina 19th-century French diplomats French orientalists École Navale alumni