Claude de Visdelou
Encyclopedia
Claude de Visdelou was a French Jesuit missionary.
, Brittany
. He entered the Society of Jesus
on 5 September 1673, and was one of the missionaries sent to China by Louis XIVin 1687. He acquired a wide knowledge of the Chinese language and literature. Other learned Jesuits considered that he gave too much credit to modern Chinese commentators, who being atheists and materialists read their own ideas into the ancient Chinese sages.
When the papal legate
Mgr. de Tournon
came to China in 1705, chiefly to regulate the question of the Chinese Rites
, Visdelou was the only Jesuit favourable to their prohibition. Tournon appointed him Vicar Apostolic of Kwei-chou with the title of Bishop of Claudiopolis, but his superiors opposed the nomination, since Visdelou had not received papal dispensation from his vow not to accept ecclesiastical dignity.
With the missionaries who had submitted to the decree against the rites, Visdelou followed the legate to Macau
, where he was secretly consecrated bishop, 2 February 1709. He then set out for Pondicherry where he arrived, 25 June 1709; he remained there in great retirement in the house of the French Capuchins
until his death at Pondicherry.
, says he "was in the habit of writing extravagantly about the Chinese and caricaturing their sentiments" ("Notions of the Chinese concerning God and the spirit", Hong Kong, 1852, 10). His most trustworthy works deal with the history of the Tartars. He collected from Chinese historians unique documents on the peoples of Central Asia
and Eastern Asia: Huns
, Tatars
, Mongols
, and Turks
.
His researches on this subject were first published as supplement to Herbelot's Bibliothèque orientale (1779). However, they must have assisted Joseph Deguignes in his history of the Huns, for the geographer Anville
who had handled all Visdelou's valuable manuscript on the Tatars tells us that the author had sent them to the Academician Jean-Roland Malet
, who died in 1736 (Memoire de M. d'Anville sur la Chine, 1776, 33).
Life
De Visdelou was born at the Château de Bienassis, ErquyErquy
Erquy is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Bretagne in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Erquy are called réginéens or erquiais.-External links:* *...
, Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
. He entered the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
on 5 September 1673, and was one of the missionaries sent to China by Louis XIVin 1687. He acquired a wide knowledge of the Chinese language and literature. Other learned Jesuits considered that he gave too much credit to modern Chinese commentators, who being atheists and materialists read their own ideas into the ancient Chinese sages.
When the papal legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
Mgr. de Tournon
Charles-Thomas Maillard De Tournon
Charles-Thomas Maillard De Tournon was a papal legate and cardinal to the East Indies and China.-Biography:...
came to China in 1705, chiefly to regulate the question of the Chinese Rites
Chinese Rites controversy
The Chinese Rites controversy was a dispute within the Catholic Church from the 1630s to the early 18th century about whether Chinese folk religion rites and offerings to the emperor constituted idolatry...
, Visdelou was the only Jesuit favourable to their prohibition. Tournon appointed him Vicar Apostolic of Kwei-chou with the title of Bishop of Claudiopolis, but his superiors opposed the nomination, since Visdelou had not received papal dispensation from his vow not to accept ecclesiastical dignity.
With the missionaries who had submitted to the decree against the rites, Visdelou followed the legate to Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
, where he was secretly consecrated bishop, 2 February 1709. He then set out for Pondicherry where he arrived, 25 June 1709; he remained there in great retirement in the house of the French Capuchins
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
until his death at Pondicherry.
Works
Visdelou took with him over 500 volumes in Chinese and almost his sole occupation consisted in working on these. He sent to Rome several writings on the questions of the rites. The Sinologist, James LeggeJames Legge
James Legge was a noted Scottish sinologist, a Scottish Congregationalist, representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong , and first professor of Chinese at Oxford University...
, says he "was in the habit of writing extravagantly about the Chinese and caricaturing their sentiments" ("Notions of the Chinese concerning God and the spirit", Hong Kong, 1852, 10). His most trustworthy works deal with the history of the Tartars. He collected from Chinese historians unique documents on the peoples of Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and Eastern Asia: Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
, Tatars
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
, Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
, and Turks
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
.
His researches on this subject were first published as supplement to Herbelot's Bibliothèque orientale (1779). However, they must have assisted Joseph Deguignes in his history of the Huns, for the geographer Anville
Anville
Anville may refer to:* Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville, an 18th century geographical author* Anville , a crater on the Moon* Anville, Charente, a commune in France...
who had handled all Visdelou's valuable manuscript on the Tatars tells us that the author had sent them to the Academician Jean-Roland Malet
Jean-Roland Malet
Jean-Roland Malet or Mallet was a French economic historian, author of the Comptes rendus de l'administration des finances du royaume , which constitute the most important source of economic and financial data for Ancien Régime France.-Life:Son of a master carpenter, he was...
, who died in 1736 (Memoire de M. d'Anville sur la Chine, 1776, 33).