Arcadio Huang
Encyclopedia
Arcadio Huang, also Arcadius Huang or Arcade Huang ( 黄嘉略, hanyu pinyin: Huáng Jiālüè, born in Xinghua, modern Putian
, in Fujian
, November 15, 1679, died October 1, 1716 in Paris
), was a Chinese Christian convert, brought to Paris by the Missions étrangères. He took a pioneering role in the teaching of the Chinese language
in France around 1715. He was preceded in France by his compatriot Michael Shen Fu-Tsung
, who visited the country in 1684.
His main works, conducted with the assistance of young Nicolas Fréret
, are the first Chinese-French lexicon, the first Chinese grammar of the Chinese, and the diffusion in France of the Kangxi system with two hundred fourteen radicals, which was used in the preparation of his lexicon.
His early death in 1716 prevented him from finishing his work, however, and Étienne Fourmont
, who received the task of sorting his papers, assumed all the credit for their publication.
Only the insistence of Nicolas Fréret, as well as the rediscovery of the memories of Huang Arcadio have re-established the pioneering work of Huang, as the basis which enabled French linguists to address more seriously the Chinese language.
He received the education of a Chinese literatus under the protection of French missionaries. The French missionaries saw in Arcadio an opportunity to create a "literate Chinese Christian" in the service of the evangelization of China. In these pioneer years (1690–1700), it was urgent to present to Rome examples of perfectly Christianized Chinese, in order to reinforce the Jesuits' position in the Rites controversy.
On February 17, 1702, under the protection of Artus de Lionne, Bishop of Rosalie
, Arcadio embarked on a ship of the English East India Company in order to reach London
. By September or October 1702, Mr. de Rosalie and Arcadio left England for France
, in order to travel to Rome
.
On the verge of being ordained a priest in Rome and being presented to the pope to demonstrate the reality of Chinese Christianity, Arcadio Huang apparently renounced and declined ordination
. Rosalie preferred to return to Paris to further his education, and wait for a better answer.
. He is also said to have become the king's librarian in charge of cataloging Chinese books in the Royal library.
Huang encountered Montesquieu
, with whom he had many discussions about Chinese customs. Huang is said to have been Montesquieu's inspiration for the narrative device in his Persian Letters
, in which the narrative is made from the point of view of an Asian who discusses the customs of the West.
Huang became very famous in Parisian salons. In 1713, Huang married a Parisian woman named Marie-Claude Regnier. In 1715, she gave birth to a healthy daughter, also named Marie-Claude, but the mother died a few days later. Discouraged, Huang himself died a year and a half later, and their daughter a few months later.
(1688–1749), he began the hard work of pioneering a Chinese-French dictionary, a Chinese grammar, and a system of 214 character keys
.
In this work, they were joined by Nicolas Joseph Delisle (1683–1745), a friend of Fréret, who gave a more cultural and geographical tone to their work and discussions. Deslisle's brother, Guillaume Delisle
, was already a renowned geographer. Delisle encouraged Arcadio Huang to read Europe's best known and popular writings dealing with the Chinese Empire. Huang was surprised by the ethnocentric approach of these texts, reducing the merits of the Chinese people and stressing the civilizing role of the European peoples.
A third apprentice, by the name of Étienne Fourmont
(imposed by Abbé Bignon) arrived and profoundly disturbed the team. One day, Fourmont was surprised copying Huang's work.
After the death of Huang on October 1, 1716, Fourmont became officially responsible for classifying papers of the deceased. He made a very negative report on the contents of these documents and continued to criticize the work of Huang. Continuing his work on the languages of Europe and Asia (and therefore the Chinese), he took all the credit for the dissemination of the two hundred and fourteen key system in France, and finally published a French-Chinese lexicon and a Chinese grammar, without mentioning the work of Huang, whom he was continuing to denigrate publicly.
Meanwhile, Fréret, also an Academician, and above all friend and first student of Arcadio Huang, wrote a thesis on the work and role of Arcadio in the dissemination of knowledge about China in France. Documents saved by Nicolas-Joseph Delisle, Arcadio's second student, also helped to publicize the role of the Chinese subject of the king of France.
Since then, other researchers and historians investigated his role, including Danielle Elisseeff and her compilation of the Memories of Arcade Huang.
Putian
Putian is a prefecture-level city in eastern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders Fuzhou City to the north, Quanzhou City to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east.-Administration:...
, in Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
, November 15, 1679, died October 1, 1716 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
), was a Chinese Christian convert, brought to Paris by the Missions étrangères. He took a pioneering role in the teaching of the Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
in France around 1715. He was preceded in France by his compatriot Michael Shen Fu-Tsung
Michael Shen Fu-Tsung
Michael Alphonsius Shen Fu-Tsung, also Michel Sin, Michel Chin-fo-tsoung, Shen Fo-tsung, Shen Fuzong , was a Qing Chinese mandarin from Nanjing and a convert to Catholicism who was brought to Europe by the Flemish Jesuit priest Philippe Couplet, Procurator of the China Jesuit Missions in Rome...
, who visited the country in 1684.
His main works, conducted with the assistance of young Nicolas Fréret
Nicolas Fréret
Nicolas Fréret was a French scholar.-Life:He was born at Paris on 15 February 1688. His father was procureur to the parlement of Paris, and destined him to the profession of the law. His first tutors were the historian Charles Rollin and Father Desmolets...
, are the first Chinese-French lexicon, the first Chinese grammar of the Chinese, and the diffusion in France of the Kangxi system with two hundred fourteen radicals, which was used in the preparation of his lexicon.
His early death in 1716 prevented him from finishing his work, however, and Étienne Fourmont
Étienne Fourmont
Étienne Fourmont was a French orientalist.Born at Herblay near Argenteuil, he studied at the Collège Mazarin in Paris and afterwards in the Collège Montaigu where his attention was attracted to Oriental languages....
, who received the task of sorting his papers, assumed all the credit for their publication.
Only the insistence of Nicolas Fréret, as well as the rediscovery of the memories of Huang Arcadio have re-established the pioneering work of Huang, as the basis which enabled French linguists to address more seriously the Chinese language.
Origins
Here is the genealogy of Arcadio Huang (originally spelled Hoange) according to Stephen Fourmont:He received the education of a Chinese literatus under the protection of French missionaries. The French missionaries saw in Arcadio an opportunity to create a "literate Chinese Christian" in the service of the evangelization of China. In these pioneer years (1690–1700), it was urgent to present to Rome examples of perfectly Christianized Chinese, in order to reinforce the Jesuits' position in the Rites controversy.
Journey to the West
Artus de Lionne
Artus de Lionne , abbé and Bishop of Rosalie in partibus infidelium, in Turkey, was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He was a son of Louis XIV's Foreign Minister, Hugues de Lionne....
, Arcadio embarked on a ship of the English East India Company in order to reach London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. By September or October 1702, Mr. de Rosalie and Arcadio left England for France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, in order to travel to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
.
On the verge of being ordained a priest in Rome and being presented to the pope to demonstrate the reality of Chinese Christianity, Arcadio Huang apparently renounced and declined ordination
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
. Rosalie preferred to return to Paris to further his education, and wait for a better answer.
Installation in Paris
According to his memoirs, Arcadio moved to Paris in 1704 or 1705 at the home of the Foreign Missions. There, his protectors continued his religious and cultural training, with plans to ordain him for work in China. But Arcadio preferred to turn to civilian life. He settled permanently in Paris as a "Chinese interpreter to the Sun King" and began working under the guidance and protection of abbot Jean-Paul BignonJean-Paul Bignon
Jean-Paul Bignon was a French ecclesiastic, statesman, writer and preacher and librarian to Louis XIV of France...
. He is also said to have become the king's librarian in charge of cataloging Chinese books in the Royal library.
Huang encountered Montesquieu
Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu
Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu , generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Enlightenment...
, with whom he had many discussions about Chinese customs. Huang is said to have been Montesquieu's inspiration for the narrative device in his Persian Letters
Persian Letters
Persian Letters is a literary work by Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu, recounting the experiences of two Persian noblemen, Usbek and Rica, who are traveling through France.-Plot summary:...
, in which the narrative is made from the point of view of an Asian who discusses the customs of the West.
Huang became very famous in Parisian salons. In 1713, Huang married a Parisian woman named Marie-Claude Regnier. In 1715, she gave birth to a healthy daughter, also named Marie-Claude, but the mother died a few days later. Discouraged, Huang himself died a year and a half later, and their daughter a few months later.
Work on the Chinese language
Helped by the young Nicolas FréretNicolas Fréret
Nicolas Fréret was a French scholar.-Life:He was born at Paris on 15 February 1688. His father was procureur to the parlement of Paris, and destined him to the profession of the law. His first tutors were the historian Charles Rollin and Father Desmolets...
(1688–1749), he began the hard work of pioneering a Chinese-French dictionary, a Chinese grammar, and a system of 214 character keys
Section headers of a Chinese dictionary
Section headers , also known as index keys or classifiers, are graphic portions of Chinese characters which are used for organizing entries in Chinese dictionaries into sections which all share the same graphic part...
.
In this work, they were joined by Nicolas Joseph Delisle (1683–1745), a friend of Fréret, who gave a more cultural and geographical tone to their work and discussions. Deslisle's brother, Guillaume Delisle
Guillaume Delisle
Guillaume Delisle was a French cartographer who lived in Paris.His father, Claude Delisle studied law and then later settled in Paris as private teacher in geography and history, and afterwards filled the office of royal censor...
, was already a renowned geographer. Delisle encouraged Arcadio Huang to read Europe's best known and popular writings dealing with the Chinese Empire. Huang was surprised by the ethnocentric approach of these texts, reducing the merits of the Chinese people and stressing the civilizing role of the European peoples.
A third apprentice, by the name of Étienne Fourmont
Étienne Fourmont
Étienne Fourmont was a French orientalist.Born at Herblay near Argenteuil, he studied at the Collège Mazarin in Paris and afterwards in the Collège Montaigu where his attention was attracted to Oriental languages....
(imposed by Abbé Bignon) arrived and profoundly disturbed the team. One day, Fourmont was surprised copying Huang's work.
Debate after his death
Meanwhile, Fréret, also an Academician, and above all friend and first student of Arcadio Huang, wrote a thesis on the work and role of Arcadio in the dissemination of knowledge about China in France. Documents saved by Nicolas-Joseph Delisle, Arcadio's second student, also helped to publicize the role of the Chinese subject of the king of France.
Since then, other researchers and historians investigated his role, including Danielle Elisseeff and her compilation of the Memories of Arcade Huang.
See also
- Shen Fo-tsung, another Chinese person who visited France in 1684.
- Fan ShouyiFan ShouyiFan Shouyi or Luigi Fan was the first known Chinese person to travel to Europe, return, and write an account of his travels.- Life :Fan was born in Pingyang, Shanxi Province in 1682...
, yet another Chinese person who lived in Europe in the early eighteenth century. - Chinese diaspora in France
- France-China relationsFrance-China relationsChina-France relations, also known as Sino-French relations or Franco-Chinese relations, refers to the interstate relations between China and France ....
- Jesuit China missionsJesuit China missionsThe history of the missions of the Jesuits in China is part of the history of relations between China and the Western world. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, between the 16th and 17th century played a significant role in continuing the transmission of...