Prospero Intorcetta (1626–1696), known to the Chinese as Yin Duoze, was an Italian Jesuit

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

to the

Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. The first to translate the works of Confucius in Europe.

Life

Prospero Intorcetta was born in

Piazza Armerina Piazza Armerina ( Gallo-Italic of Sicily: ''Ciazza''; Sicilian: ''Chiazza'') is a ''comune'' in the province of Enna of the autonomous island region of Sicily, southern Italy. History The city of Piazza (as it was called before 1862) developed ...

in 1626. Traveling with the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium ...

Jesuit

Philippe Couplet Philippe or Philip Couplet (1623–1693), known in China as Bai Yingli, was a Flemish Jesuit missionary to the Qing Empire. He worked with his fellow missionaries to compile the influential ''Confucius, Philosopher of the Chinese'', published in ...

, he reached China in 1659. There, he mostly worked in the

Jiangnan Jiangnan or Jiang Nan (; formerly romanized Kiang-nan, literally "South of the River" meaning "South of the Yangtze") is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, incl ...

region around the lower

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flow ...

. He died in 1696.

Works

Paradigma XV Provinciarum et CLV Urbium Capitalium Sinensis Imperij

Intorcetta studied

Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Warring States period (), during a period known as the " Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural developm ...

. In 1662, he published the study of the

Four Books The Four Books and Five Classics () are the authoritative books of Confucianism, written in China before 300 BCE. The Four Books and the Five Classics are the most important classics of Chinese Confucianism. Four Books The Four Books () are ...

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

in a Latin work entitled ''The Meaning of Chinese Wisdom''.Brockey, p.279 In 1667, he published the ''Politico-Moral Knowledge of the Chinese'' ('). In 1687, under

's guidance, he worked with

Christian Wolfgang Herdtrich Christian Wolfgang Herdtrich (25 June 1625– 18 July 1684) was an Austrian Jesuit missionary to the Qing Empire. As he wrote his works in Latin, he is also known as Life Christian Wolfgang Herdtrich was born at Graz, Styria, in the Austrian ...

and

François de Rougemont François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King ...

to compile an influential Latin overview of Chinese history and translation of some of the Confucian classics under the title ''Confucius, Philosopher of the Chinese'' (').

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * . * .

External links