European Image of China in the Seventeenth Century – Fascinating Cultures Stained with Repulsive Misbelief
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26481/marble.2014.v6.225Abstract
What did seventeenth century Europeans know and think about China? How were the Chinese depicted in books? Looking at a travel report by two Jesuits and the illustrations of Chinese, Nepalese and Tibetans this article examines how the foreigners have been shown in one of the bestselling and most widespread books on China at the time. China monumentis, qua sacris qua profanis, nec non variis naturae & artis spectaculis, aliarumque rerum memorabilium argumentis illustrata (1667) by Athanasius Kircher is one of the first scientific European books on China and can be regarded as the “foundation of oriental studies” (Godwin, 2009, p.20). It describes and analyzes amongst other Chinese writing, geography, culture and religion and is based on travel reports (orally, manuscripts, writings, drawings) from European Jesuit missionaries to China during the early years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Although written and edited by Kircher who himself had never been to China, China illustrata and its translations coined the image of China in the West in early modern times. Maastricht University Jesuit Library also contains a copy of the Dutch version of China illustrata, titled Toonneel van China, Door veel, zo Geestelijke als Werreltlijke Geheugteekenen, Verscheide Vertoningen van de Natuur en Kunst, en Blijken van veel andere Gedenkwaerdige dingen, Geopent en Verheerlijkt (1668). Regarding the text this version is not significantly different from the Latin one (Szczesniak, 1952, p.389) and will be used for analysis in this article.
References
Agence CB Voyages (2013). Carte Générale de Chine. Retrieved 27 May, 2013 from http:// www.agence-cb-voyages.com/index.php?type=p&p=chine-1
Brockey, L.M. (2007). Journey to the East. The Jesuit Mission to China, 1579-1724. Cambridge, Mass. and London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Deutsche Biographie (2013). Retrieved 25 April, 2013, from http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz41067.html Encyclopedia
Britannica 1 (2013). Thirty Years’ War. Retrieved 23 May, 2013, from http:// www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/592619/Thirty-Years-War Encyclopedia
Britannica 2 (2013). Christian of Brunswick. Retrieved 23 May, 2013, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/114986/Christian-of-Brunswick
Findlen, P. (2004). The Last Man who Knew Everything…or Did He? Athanasius Kircher, S.J. (1602-80) and His World. In P. Findlen (Ed.). Athanasius Kircher.The Last Man Who Knew Everything (pp. 1-46). New York and London: Routledge.
Godwin, J. (2009). Athanasius Kircher’s Theatre of the World. London: Thames and Hudson.
Hsia, F. (2004). Athanasius Kircher’s China Illustrata (1667). An Apologia pro Vita Sua. In P.
Findlen (Ed.). Athanasius Kircher. The Last Man Who Knew Everything (pp. 367-387). New York and London: Routledge.
Kircher, A. (1667). China monumentis, qua sacris qua profanis, nec non variis naturae & artis spectaculis, aliarumque rerum memorabilium argumentis illustrata. Amsterdam: Jacobus à Meurs.
Kircher, A. (1668). Toonneel van China. Door veel, zo Geestelijke als Werreltlijke Geheugteekenen, Verscheide Vertoningen van de Natuur en Kunst, en Blijken van veel andere Gedenkwaerdige dingen, Geopent en Verheerlijkt (J. Glazemaker, Trans.). Amsterdam: van Waesberge and Weyerstraet. (Original work published 1667).
Kircher, A. (1670). La Chine d’Athanase Kirchere de la Compagnie de Jesus, illustrée de plusieurs Monuments tant Sacrés que Profanes, et de Quantité de Recherchés de la Nature & de l’Art. A quoy on à adjusté de nouveau les questions courieuses que le Serenissime Grand Duc de Toscane a fait dépuis peu au P. Jean Grubere touchant ce Grand Empire. Avec un Dictionaire Chinois & François, lequel est tres-rare, & qui n’a pas encores paru au Jour. (F.S. Dalquie Trans.). Amsterdam: van Waesberge and Weyerstraet. (Original work published 1667).
Kircher, A. (1987). China Illustrata (C. van Tuyl Trans.). Muscogee: Indian University Press. (Original work published 1667).
Mungello, D. (1989). Curious Land: Jesuit Accommodation and the Origins of Sinology. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Mungello, D. (2009). The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500 – 1800 (3rd. ed.). Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.
Reed, M. & Demattè, P. (Eds.) (2007). China on Paper: European and Chinese Works from the Late Sixteenth to the Early Nineteenth Century. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute.
Rowland, I. (2000). The Ecstatic Journey. Athanasius Kircher in Baroque Rome. Exhibition Catalogue. University of Chicago Library. 1 February -7 April 2000. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Standaert, N. (2008). The Interweaving of Rituals. Funerals in the Cultural Exchange Between China and Europe. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Szczesniak, B. (1952). Athanasius Kircher’s China Illustrata. Osiris 10, 385-411.
Thompson, C. (2011). Travel Writing. London - New York: Routledge.
Waddell, M. (2006). The World, As It Might Be: Iconography and Probabilism in ‘The Mundus Subterraneus’ of Athanasius Kircher. Baltimore: Blackwell Munksgaard.
