Shi Jingqian, a famous sinologist who was born in England, studied in the United States and studied Chinese history all his life, finally came to China again in the spring of the Year of the Horse after many years of retirement. This old man who admired Sima Qian obviously has more fans in China than he imagined. Many readers are familiar with his many works and are amazed by his ability to explore the social structure from the minutiae of history and the twists and turns of the fate of underlying individuals. However, his lecture on "Shen Fuzong and His Cross-Cultural Dream in the 17th Century" still made people feel refreshed.
How far did cross-cultural exchanges between China and the West go in the 17th century? This proposition seems to be something we rarely study, and we have few optimistic expectations about it. As for Shen Fuzong, we know nothing about it. However, with Shi Jingqian's analysis, Shen Fuzong's European travels are as clear as yesterday.
In 1687, a British aristocrat and Shen Fuzong met at a dinner party in London. After returning home, they kept a diary. One sentence read, "We met a person from China." During this Chinese trip to Europe, he met two kings, one was James II of England. They met in Oxford. Godfrey Naylor, the court portraitist at the time, also painted a portrait of Shen Fuzong. like. The other was Louis XIV, the "Sun King". Shen Fuzong met Louis XIV at the Palace of Versailles. Louis XIV wanted to know how Chinese people wrote calligraphy and whether foreigners could learn calligraphy. He also asked Shen Fuzong to write some calligraphy and read the Lord's Prayer in Chinese. . Louis XIV also wanted Shen Fuzong to perform eating with chopsticks. The interest of the most powerful people in Europe in China is straightforward and simple.
This Chinese, who was born in a Catholic family in Nanjing, knew Latin, so he could communicate effectively with British scholars. He went to the library in Oxford. At that time, the Jesuits were working on the translation of The Analects of Confucius, and about 20 Jesuit priests who knew Chinese were jointly working on it. Shen Fuzong was not a core staff member, but as a proofreader, he proofread "The Analects of Confucius". At that time, "The Great Learning", "The Analects of Confucius" and "The Doctrine of the Mean" had all been translated and published by the French. Shen Fuzong may have been the first person to bring these translations to England. At that time, Oxford was building the world-famous Bodleian Library. Shen Fuzong donated books to the Bodleian Library and met the library's director, Thomas Hyde, Britain's first famous Orientalist. At that time, the British collectively referred to the compilation and publication of the Four Books as "Confucius's Books". It is said that when James II visited Oxford, he asked the librarian, "Does your library have any books by Confucius?" Mr. Hyde replied, We do. James II asked again if it was the Chinese who brought it? Hyde replied: Yes, Your Majesty.
It is said that Chinese people are not interested in science, but this is obviously a prejudice. When Hyde asked Shen Fuzong if there was anyone in particular he wanted to meet, Shen said I wanted to meet Robert Boyle. Robert Boyle, the most important scientist of his time, discovered Boyle's Law. Shi Jingqian said that Shen Fuzong's wish was just like when he went to the United States and said at the university decades ago that he wanted to talk to Einstein. Shi Jingqian saw a letter sent by Hyde to Shen Fuzong, about arranging a meeting with Boyle. Boyle and Shen Fuzong met in London, and this record is preserved in the vast Boyle archives. They talked about the complexity of Chinese writing, which at the time was very difficult for Westerners to master. They also discussed weights and measures, discussing comparative methods of measuring temperature. They were also interested in herbal medicine. According to other information, it is proved that Shen Fuzong also met with some members of the Royal Academy of Sciences. Around 1687, it happened to be the time when Newton was writing "Philosophical Principles of Natural Science".
We have to lament the good habit of Westerners in retaining archives, which allowed Shi Jingqian to collect the fragments of information left by Shen Fuzong in history. For history, it is these fragments that are very crucial. Based on these fragments, we can reconstruct a person's life profile - Shen Fuzong was born in Nanjing and grew up in a Catholic family. He was called a "curious Chinese" by some missionaries at the time. Shen Fuzong knew Latin. He traveled to Europe just to understand "what the West was like at that time."
However, personal experiences under the country actually reflect the climate of the great era. If we interpret the story of Shen Fuzong globally, the conclusion drawn is extraordinary. How far did science spread in the 17th century? How interested were Westerners in learning Chinese at that time? Where do the publication of Confucian classics in France and the discussion of Confucius in the West focus? What issues in China were they more concerned about when discussing with Shen Fuzong?
Considering that the memories of most of us are fixed on stories such as Zhang Qian’s mission to the Western Regions, Xuanzang’s Buddhist scriptures, and Zheng He’s voyages to the West, it is not difficult to understand why the story of Shen Fuzong is so fascinating. This may not be just a difference in research methods. I don’t know how many sleeping personal histories have been submerged in the tradition of grand narratives.
In fact, Shi Jingqian was not the only one who felt that the 17th century was an era when we could begin to talk about the "cross-cultural dream." Another heavyweight sinologist, the Frenchman Chateau Henay, also believes that the exchanges between Western civilization and Eastern civilization were very active in the 17th century. This sinologist has written very influential monographs such as "China's Temple Economy from the 5th to 10th Centuries" and "Daily Life in the Central Plains of China on the Eve of Mongolian Conquest". In 1990, he launched a research project - " The mutual influence of Eastern and Western science, religion, and culture from the 17th to the 18th centuries" later became known as the "European Project." He has always maintained that if one cannot clearly recognize the influence of Chinese culture on Western culture, then one cannot clearly recognize Western culture itself. At the same time, Chinese culture has never been isolated or closed.