
Jean-Baptiste Du Halde (, Pinyin: ''Dù Hèdé''; 1 February 1674 – 18 August 1743) was a French Jesuit
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
specializing in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. He did not travel to China, but collected seventeen Jesuit missionaries' reports and provided an encyclopedic survey of the history, culture and society of China and "
Chinese Tartary
Chinese Tartary ( zh, t=中國韃靼利亞, p=Zhōngguó Dádálìyà or zh, t=中属鞑靼利亚, p=Zhōng shǔ Dádálìyà) is an archaic geographical term referring to the regions of Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang (also referred to as Chin ...
," that is, Manchuria.
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
said of Du Halde's work: "Although it is developed out of Paris, and he hath not known the Chinese,
egave on the basis of the memoirs of his colleagues, the widest and the best description the empire of China has had worldwide."
[''Le Siècle de Louis XIV, Catalogue de la plupart des écrivains français qui ont paru dans le Siècle de Louis XIV, pour servir à l’histoire littéraire de ce temps'', 1751.]
Career
Du Halde entered the
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...
in 1692 and became professor at the College of Paris succeeding
Charles Le Gobien. From 1711 to 1743 he oversaw the publication of , written from Foreign Missions, by
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 ...
missionaries in China, published in 34 volumes ranges between 1703 and 1776. He wrote prefaces for volumes IX to XXVI. He was also Secretary of
Michel Le Tellier and confessor to the
son of the regent in 1729.
Du Halde is also the author of writings in Latin as well as a treatise entitled ''Le Sage chrétien, ou les Principes de la vraie sagesse, pour se conduire chrétiennement dans le monde'' (The Christian Sage, or the principles of true wisdom, to lead a Christian in the world), published in 1724.
''Description of China''
Drawn from the Jesuit and unpublished reports containing translations of Chinese texts of various origins, Du Halde's ''Geographical, Historical, Chronological, Political, and Physical Description of the Empire of China and Chinese Tartary'' appeared in Paris in four volumes in 1735; it was reprinted in the Netherlands the next year and translated into English as ''The General History of China'' two years after that. Besides a very detailed geographical description based on work by the
Jesuits
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 ...
, the book gave encyclopedic coverage of all aspects of Chinese civilization: the emperors and the government; the military and police institutions; the nobility; agriculture and handicrafts; the "genius," "glory", and appearance of Chinese religion, ethics and ceremonies; science and medicine; money and commerce; the language and writing system; the production of porcelain and
silkworm breeding. Its understandings of Chinese religion and philosophy were informed by
the translations published in 1711 at Prague by the Jesuit
François Noël, whose lack of the earlier Christian interpolations in the Chinese text had caused them to be banned in the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
and the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
. There is also an abstract of the explorations of
Vitus Bering
Vitus Jonassen Bering ( , , ; baptised 5 August 1681 – 19 December 1741),All dates are here given in the Julian calendar, which was in use throughout Russia at the time. also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering (), was a Danish-born Russia ...
, which was the first European description of
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
. The book was very quickly added to all academic libraries and has translated into most European languages.
It had a significant impact on European society in the 18th century, including a decades-long English interest in China and Chinese thought. The philosophers of the
Enlightenment
Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to:
Age of Enlightenment
* Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...
drew on it for their thoughts and controversies about religions, cultures and customs, while European manufacturers discovered the secrets of Chinese geography and the first map of the
Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
by
Jean-Baptiste Régis and 42 maps of Chinese provinces by
Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville
Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville (; born in Paris 11 July 169728 January 1782) was a French geographer and cartographer who greatly improved the standards of map-making. D'Anville became cartographer to the king, who purchased his cartographic ...
.
See also
*
Jesuit China missions
The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China is part of the history of Foreign relations of China, relations between China and the Western world. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, between the 16th a ...
References
Citations
Sources
* . �
Vol. IIIIII IV* . �
Vols. IIIIII IV* �
Vols. IIIIII IV* Isabelle Landry-Deron, ''La Preuve par la Chine : la Description de J.-B. Du Halde, jésuite, 1735'', Éditions de l'École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris, 2002.
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Halde, Jean-Baptiste
Writers from Paris
1674 births
1743 deaths
18th-century French Jesuits
18th-century French historians
French sinologists
Lycée Louis-le-Grand teachers