181:
20:
302:
172:, which Bouvet viewed as the oldest written work in the world, containing "precious vestiges from the remains of the most ancient and excellent philosophy taught by the first patriarchs of the world". The Figurists maintained the belief of the early Jesuit missionaries in China that China's ancient religion, now almost lost, was connected to the Judeo-Christian tradition.
96:. While viewing Buddhism and Taoism as pagan religions inimical to Christianity, Ricci's approach – predominant with the Jesuits in China throughout most of the 17th century – viewed Confucianism essentially as a moral teaching that was compatible with, rather than contradictory to, Christian beliefs. They viewed
138:, just as most of the Chinese literati eventually did. They soon found themselves working in a quite different intellectual and political environment than their predecessors during the Ming era. While in Ricci's days the Jesuits were not in a position to work directly with the emperor (the reclusive
352:
Because of the overwhelming opposition to the
Figurists, they were unable to publish any of their works during their lifetimes, except for Foucquet who got his major work published in 1729. However other aspects hampered the Figurists. There was no generally accepted concept for their research.
154:– were not above dealing directly with the Jesuits and using their services for the needs of the central government. On the other hand, Chinese Confucian thought had changed as well: the more open outlook of the late-Ming literati was replaced in the early Qing period by widespread clinging to
340:. The Figurist idea was seen as an especially dangerous innovation because it elevated the Chinese classics at the expense of Christian authorities. The Catholic Church did not accept the idea that the Chinese classics could be of importance to the Christian faith. (see
161:
Accordingly, by the late 17th century the way whereby the China-based
Jesuits strove to bridge the gap between China and Christian Europe had changed as well. Instead of praising Confucius and the ideology attributed to him, many Jesuits, led by
109:, trying to convince them of their theories and consequently convert them to the Christian faith. When addressing the European public, the China-based Jesuit missionaries strove to present Confucianism, as represented by its
227:
moved to the Far East and brought with him the secret knowledge of Adam in original purity. Thus the
Figurists believed that one could find many hidden allusions to pre-Christian revelation in the Chinese classics.
104:
as essentially civil functions meant to edify the people in virtuous morals, rather than as religious rites. On this basis the
Jesuits centered their work in China on the interaction with the Chinese Confucian
329:. In China, there was an anti-Western group of Chinese literati and officials. Some Chinese scholars doubted the idea that God was already part of the Confucian tradition. When
361:
and the
Chinese started to persecute Christians, the Figurist mission faded along with it to become a mere footnote in the history of the Christian mission in China.
600:
580:
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or the other way around took a long time. Most importantly, the
Figurists did not agree among themselves. When the Catholic Church forbade the
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orthodoxy, which was endorsed by the court as well, but had been traditionally disapproved by the
Jesuits as "atheistic" and "materialistic".
595:
134:
conquest of the entire country (by the early 1650s), the
Jesuits in China had to switch their allegiance from the Ming Dynasty to the Manchu
212:
and was therefore as old as
European history. This made the Figurists believe that the two histories were equal in religious importance.
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does not belong to the
Chinese only but to all of mankind. The Jesuits furthermore believed that Chinese history dated back before the
551:
382:
370:
590:
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570:
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worked on a program of integrating Christianity with Chinese traditions. Ricci and his followers identified three sects
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rejected the official Chinese history, he was angrily rejected by the Chinese and consequently ordered back to Europe.
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388:
358:
341:
330:
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250:
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142:(r. 1572–1620) largely removed himself from the public life, and rarely gave audiences to anyone, even his own
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missionaries at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century, whose participants viewed the
77:
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The Figurists often disagreed with each other but generally they could agree on three basic tenets:
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Bouvet's letter to Le Gobien and Leibniz, November 8, 1700; quoted in Mungello (1989), p. 314-315
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as a prophetic book containing the mysteries of Christianity, and prioritized working with the
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Emperor (rather than with the Chinese literati) as a way of promoting Christianity in China.
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China and Europe: Images and Influences [from the] Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries
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The first aspect that all Figurists agreed upon was the belief that a certain period in
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tradition in ancient times and that this truth could be found in the Chinese classics.
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39:) would have been to the Far East and would have brought with him the knowledge of
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166:(who first arrived to China in 1688), focused on China's earliest classic, the
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269:. This proved in the minds of the Figurists that, for example, the birth of
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285:, trying to find a connection between the Chinese classics and the
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Curious Land: Jesuit Accommodation and the Origins of Sinology
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There was opposition to the Figurists both in China and in
528:, No. 12, Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, pp.
249:, were really the same person: the biblical patriarch
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In Europe there was also an anti-Jesuit group in the
273:was foreshadowed in the Chinese classics as well.
76:'s pioneering work in China in 1583–1610, the
8:
546:, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press,
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261:The Figurists determined that the sage
16:Jesuit missionary intellectual movement
353:Translations of texts from Chinese to
348:Influence and failure of the Figurists
279:in particular focused his research on
601:Christianity and religious syncretism
7:
216:2. The Theory of Common Origin with
223:After the great Flood, Noah's son
130:(fall of Beijing in 1644) and the
14:
581:History of Christianity in China
50:was an intellectual movement of
305:Geographic identifications of
1:
383:Joseph-Henri-Marie de Prémare
235:, the supposed author of the
146:), the early Qing emperors –
116:Confucius Sinarum Philosophus
596:Religious syncretism in Asia
257:3. The Revelation of Messiah
78:Jesuit missionaries in China
23:According to the Figurists,
455:Mungello (1989), p. 305-307
297:Opposition to the Figurists
617:
200:1. The Issue of Chronology
514:Lackner, Michael (1991),
437:Mungello (1989), 300–305.
342:Chinese Rites controversy
231:Bouvet also thought that
192:, the biblical patriarch.
473:Mungello (1989), p. 321
446:Mungello (1989), p. 305
102:veneration of ancestors
389:Jean-François Foucquet
322:
313:'s sons shown in red,
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126:After the fall of the
44:
591:Confucianism in China
395:Jean-Alexis de Gollet
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265:(聖人) was in fact the
184:According to Bouvet,
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22:
586:18th-century Jesuits
576:Catholicism in China
571:17th-century Jesuits
538:Mungello, David Emil
150:, and in particular
247:Hermes Trismegistus
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194:
45:
516:"Jesuit Figurism"
321:'s sons in green.
317:'s sons in blue,
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526:Monograph Series
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307:Flavius Josephus
121:Philippe Couplet
82:present in China
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365:Representatives
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338:Catholic Church
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206:Chinese history
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176:Figurist tenets
144:Grand Secretary
123:(Paris, 1687).
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377:Joachim Bouvet
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359:Chinese Rites
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309:, c. 100 AD;
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140:Wanli Emperor
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128:Ming Dynasty
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100:such as the
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74:Matteo Ricci
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47:
46:
404:(1664–1741)
398: [
391:(1665–1741)
385:(1666–1735)
379:(1656–1732)
373:(1651–1729)
188:was really
31:(here with
565:Categories
485:, p.
409:References
111:Four Books
68:Background
414:Citations
291:Christian
243:Zoroaster
540:(1989),
331:Foucquet
263:shengren
107:literati
90:Buddhism
48:Figurism
530:129–150
311:Japheth
282:I Ching
267:Messiah
238:I Ching
169:I Ching
148:Shunzhi
72:Since
57:I Ching
37:Japheth
27:'s son
550:
327:Europe
152:Kangxi
132:Manchu
94:Taoism
92:, and
52:Jesuit
402:]
355:Latin
287:Bible
271:Jesus
251:Enoch
210:Flood
190:Enoch
548:ISBN
319:Shem
245:and
233:Fuxi
225:Shem
218:Noah
186:Fuxi
136:Qing
62:Qing
41:Adam
35:and
29:Shem
25:Noah
487:145
315:Ham
119:by
33:Ham
567::
524:,
518:,
400:no
344:)
253:.
88:,
84:–
557:.
533:.
489:.
43:.
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