Biography of Jean-François Foucquet SJ, China mis- sionary

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Biography of Jean-François Foucquet SJ, China missionary
Name and Name Modifications:
Chinese: Fu Shengze
Relevance for the China Mission:
Jean-François Foucquet was a prominent member of the Figurist school which
was important in China in the first decades of the 18th century. He is said
to have made one of the first translations of the Daodejing into a European
language, which seems, at least at the moment, to be lost.
Dates of Birth and Death:
(∗) 12 March 1665 in Vezelay, Burgundy, France
(†) 14 March 1741 in Rome, Curia, today Italy
Family Data:
Jean-François was born, like many other missionaries in China, into a family
of lower nobility. Nearly nothing is known about Foucquet’s parents, his
father died on 14th February 1694. Jean-François had an older and a younger
sister. His older sister married Antoine Guillaume d’Orbigny (1661-1730), a
lieutenant general from Avallon. The parents could afford that their son
studied at the Jesuits College in Paris.
Foucquet joined the Societas Jesu on 17 September 1681, province France.
Ordination to priesthood: 7 March 1693.
Foucquet made his four solemn vows on 8 September 1699 in Fuzhou, Fujian.
On March, 21st, 1725, Foucquet was made Bishop Titular of Eleutheropolis,
his consecration was on 25th of March 1725.
Education:
Jean-François studied at the Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris with the normal
education of the studies in logic, at the same time he taught mathematics at
the Jesuits’ College. After having finished his studies in philosophy, Foucquet
was regent at the College of Paris for four years (1686-1689). In 1690,

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Foucquet started his studies of theology of four years, his ordination was
after three years. In 1694, he went to Rouen for the Tertiar.
Mission:
Foucquet was recruited for the China mission by Joachim Bouvet (1656-
1730).
Departure: in the beginning of January 1698 from Brest, France, on the ship
“La Zelande”. In Port-Louis Foucquet changed to the ship “Le Bon”, which
started his voyage on February 21, 1698.
Arrival on 24th of July 1699 in Amoy, Fujian, China.
Piao: 28th of May 1707.
Professional Career:
After his arrival in Amoy, Foucquet worked as a missionary in the provinces
Jiangxi, Nanzhang and Fuzhou. Foucquet belonged since the early time of
his stay in China to the Figurist circle around Joachim Bouvet, they corresponded
with others in a kind of small scientific-missionary private academy
following the example of Chinese academies. In 1711, he was ordered to
Peking to help Bouvet to do research in the Chinese Canonical book Yijing;
he stayed till 1717.
But in Peking, Foucquet was ordered by his superiors to work on astronomy,
so that he hardly could help Bouvet and could not work on Figurism. Foucquet
wrote several astronomical and mathematical treatises for the emperor
Kangxi. The French superior in Peking, Pierre Vincent de Tartre (1669-1724)
and the Jesuits Visitor Kilian Stumpf (1655-1720) thought that the research
on the Yijing was a danger for the mission, because at that time the Chinese
Rites Controversy was still alive. The Figurists seemed to be dangerous, because
their interpretation of the Chinese books and the Chinese history gave
the impression that the Chinese already possessed the whole Christian revelation,
which only needed to be looked for in the right, namely the Figurist,
way. Foucquet’s specialty was Daoism and its Christian interpretation and
less the Yijing. His relations to his brethren became worse and worse, because
his research on Figurism was blocked. Finally he decided to return to
Europe. He was called back to Europe by his order on his own wish in 1720
and left China on January 9, 1722. He took with him his Chinese library
consisting of 4000 books, despite the fact that such books normally belonged
to the order.

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Foucquet reached Paris on June 8, 1723. The books he brought to Europe
are scattered now on different libraries in Europe. On April 8, 1723, he left
the Society of Jesus, on June 8, he went to Rome, where he lived in the house
of the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide. Two years later, on March 21,
1725, he was appointed Bishop Titular of Eleutheropolis and on 25 March
of the same year consecrated by pope Benedict XIII. In Europe, Foucquet
was in contact a.o. with Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon (1675-1755),
Montesquieu (1689-1755) and Voltaire (1694-1778).
It is said that Foucquet made a translation of the Daode jing, which seems
to be lost.
Publications Jean-François Foucquet:
• “Bian xi Ru li”, manuscript between 1710 and 1720, about the Rites
Controversy.
• “Ju gu jing zhuan ka tian xiang bu jun qi”, manuscript between 1710
and 1715.
• “Dui shu guang yun”, manuscript about trigonometry, between 1710
and 1720.
• “Li fa wen da”, 25 novembre 1715, manuscript presented to the Kangxi
emperor.
• “Tian yuan wen da”, 2 juan (origin and foundations of astronomy),
manuscript 1712.
• “Lettre, au Duc de La Force, 26 novembre 1702”, Lettres édifiantes
et curieuses, vol. V (Paris 1705) pp. 129-238; Lettres édifiantes et
curieuses, vol. V (Paris 1724) pp. 129-238; Lettres édifiantes et curieuses,
vol. XVII (Paris 1781) pp. 91-159; Lettres édifiantes et curieuses,
vol. XVII (Paris 1810) pp. 73-128; Lettres édifiantes et curieuses, vol.
XXVI (Paris 1829-32) pp. 222-285; Lettres édifiantes et curieuses, vol.
III (Paris 1843) pp. 53-70; Lettres édifiantes et curieuses, vol. III
(Paris 1877) pp. 53-70; Lettres édifiantes et curieuses, vol. (extract)
(Paris 1979) pp. 86-90; Lettres édifiantes et curieuses, vol. II (Paris
1838) pp. 239-247; Joseph Stöcklein (ed.), Der Neue Welt-Bott, vol.
I,3 (Augsburg 1726) # 69.

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• “L’Avis de Mgr Foucquet S.J., 20 juillet 1726”, in: François Bontinck,
La lutte autour de la liturgie chinoise aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (Louvain
1962) pp. 533-535.
• “Tabula chronologica Historiae Sinicae connexa cum cyclo qui vulgo
kia-tse dicitur, 1729”, English: “An Explanation of the New Chronological
Table of the Chinese History”, in: Philosophical Transactions
of the Royal Society of London XXXVI, no. 415 (1730) pp. 397-424.
• “Attestation de M. [François] Fouquet S.J., Évêque d’Eleutheropolis,
1720”, C.P. Platel (ed.), Mémoires historiques presentés en 1744 au
Souverain Pontif Benoit XIV sur les mission des Pères Jésuites aux
Indes orientales VII (Lisbonne 1766) pp. 124-128.
• “Lettre, à Carlo-Ambrogio Mezzabarba, 5. Décembre 1720”, in: Anecdotes
sur l’état de la Religion dans la Chine ou Relation de M. le Cardinal
de Tournon, Patriarche d’Antiochie, Visiteur Apostolique; avec
pouvoir de Legat a latere à la Chine, vol. IV (Paris 1734) pp. 55f.
• “Autre Lettre du même Pere Fouquet, Du 6. Décembre [1720, à Mezzabarba]”,
in: Anecdotes sur l’état de la Religion dans la Chine ou
Relation de M. le Cardinal de Tournon, Patriarche d’Antiochie, Visiteur
Apostolique; avec pouvoir de Legat a latere à la Chine, vol. IV
(Paris 1734) pp. 57f.
• “Lettre, 24. Décembre 1720 [à Mezzabarba]”, in: Anecdotes sur l’état
de la Religion dans la Chine ou Relation de M. le Cardinal de Tournon,
Patriarche d’Antiochie, Visiteur Apostolique; avec pouvoir de Legat a
latere à la Chine, vol. IV (Paris 1734) pp. 61-74.
• “Lettres au Cardinal Gualterio 1723-1728”, in: Henri Cordier, “Documents
inédits pour servir à l’histoire ecclésiastique de l’Extrême-Orient
I: Correspondance du Père Foucquet avec le cardinal Gualterio”, Revue
de l’Extrême-Orient I (1883) pp. 16-51, and more letters by Foucquet,
pp. 382-422; 523-573.
• “Lettre au P. de Goville, 30 mars 1736”, in: Memorie istoriche presentate
al sommo Pontifice Benedetto XIV intorno alle missioni dell’Indie
orientali, vol. II (Lucca 1744) pp. 214-236, repr. in: C.P. Platel (ed.),
Mémoires historiques presentés en 1744 au Souverain Pontif Benoit
XIV sur les mission des Pères Jésuites aux Indes orientales, vol. II
(Lisbonne 1766) pp. 77-106.

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• “Catalogus omnium missionariorum qui Sinarum Imperium ad hæc
usque tempora ad prædicandum Jesu Xti Evangelium ingressi sunt”,
Henri Cordier, “Documents inédits pour servir à l’histoire ecclésiastique
de l’Extrême-Orient. V.”, Revue de l’Extrême-Orient II (1883) pp. 58-
71.
• 14 Letters are in: Virgile Pinot, Documents inédits relatifs à la connaissance
de la Chine en France de 1685 à 1740 (Paris 1932), with the
following addressees:
– “Fourmont, 28 août 1722”, pp. 10-11;
– “Fourmont, 17 décembre 1722”, pp. 12-13;
– “Mr. X..., 31 août 1729”, pp. 14-16;
– “L’abbé de Rothelin, 15 novembre 1729”, 17-19;
– “L’abbé Bignon, 27 novembre 1729”, pp. 20-21;
– “L’abbé de Rothelin, 25 avril 1735”, pp. 22-23;
– “L’abbé de Rothelin, 25 mai 1735”, p. 24;
– “L’abbé de Rothelin, 22 février 1736”, p. 25;
– “L’abbé de Rothelin, 14 novembre 1736”, pp. 26-27;
– “L’abbé de Rothelin, 21 août 1737”, pp. 28-29;
– “L’abbé de Rothelin, 29 août 1737”, pp. 30-31;
– “L’abbé de Rothelin, 10 avril 1738”, p. 32;
– “L’abbé de Rothelin, 28 août 1738”, p. 33;
– “L’abbé de Rothelin, 3 novembre 1738”, p. 34.
• Quotations from letters of the years 1723-1724, in: Hélène Himelfarb /
Bruno Neveu, “Saint-Simon, les Jésuites et la Chine”, Cahiers Saint-
Simon V (1977) pp. 37-48; VI (1978) pp. 13-29; VII (1979) pp. 26-36;
VIII (1980) pp. 13-36; IX (1981) pp. 17-34.
• For the manuscript letters of Foucquet s. John W. Witek, Controversial
Ideas in Europe and China. A Biography of Jean-François Foucquet
S.J. (1665-1741) (Rome, Paris 1982) pp. 356-407.
The most important manuscripts on Daoism:
• “Préface sur le Tao et son école”, in: BAV, Borg. cin. 374, ff. 1-39, s.
Witek, Foucquet, p. 345.

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• “Problème théologique proposé aux sçavans zelés pour la gloire de Jésus
Christ, et aux ministres évangéliques qui travaillent à la conversion de
la Chine sçavoir si on peut dire et comment on peut dire que dans
l’unique vrai sens des anciens livres chinois le charactere tao signifie le
dieu qui adorent les chrétiens”, in: ARSJ, JS IV, 3, 1-321; BAV, Borg.
Cin. 371, (1), 1-158 sowie BAV, Borg. cin. 371, (2), 159-321; Borg.
lat. 565, ff. 523-544v; Borg. cin. 374 (1), ff. 5-228, Witek, p. 347.
• “Dissertatio de vera origine doctrinæ et monumentorum Sinensium
contenta quatuor propositionibus. Quartæ propositionis secunda pars,
nempe Cabalæ veteris reliquæ potissimum apud Sinas remanserunt nec
ab illis quæ summo in pretio, tota gens habet, vetustissimis monumentis
diversæ. Caput secundum. De arcana doctrina Confucii et monumentorum
Sinensium”, in: BAV, Borg. lat. 566, 359-602v; BAV, Borg.
cin. 358 (1), 1-56; BAV, Borg. cin. 358 (2), 1-184; BAV, Borg. cin.
437, 1-171, s. Witek, p. 347.
• “Propylæum templi veteris sapientiæ seu aditus ad antiqua monumenta
Sinensium ostenditur quænam origo sit illorum monumentorum. Tum
proponitur problema theologicum eruditis legis Evangelicæ præconibus
in vinea Sinica laborantibus propagatoribus Christi gloria studiosis, an
et qua ratione dici possit in unico vero et genuino veterum monumentorum
sensu per characterem Tao designari Deum Summum quem nos
Christiani colimus”, in: BAV, Borg. lat. 566, ff. 327-336v; 612-613v;
682-689v; ARSJ, Jap. Sin. IV, 4 (1), A, ff. 1-26; ARSJ, JS IV, (2), 5,
ff. 1-220, teilweise Kopien in: ARSJ, JS IV, 4, (1), A, pp. 1-26; (3),
A, pp. 1-20; (3), B, pp. 1-8; BAV, Borg. cin, 358, (3), pp. 17-158;
BAV, Borg. cin. 358, (4), pp. 159-272; BAV, Borg. lat. 566, 614-665v;
690-780; 785-906; BL, Add. Mss. 26818, 146-158; cf. Dehergne, “Les
historiens. . . ”, pp. 63f; Witek, pp. 347f.
Many of Foucquet’s manuscripts are in the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
in Rom. S. dazu: Takata Tokio (ed.): Paul Pelliot, Inventaire sommaire des
manuscrits et imprimé chinoise de la Bibliothèque Vaticane (Italian School
of East Asian Studies Reference Series 1) (Kyoto 1995).
Jean-François Foucquet Bibliography:
• Henri Bernard, “Les adaptations chinoises des ouvrages européens”, Monumenta
Serica X (1945) pp. 1-57; pp. 309-388; Monumenta Serica XIX (1960)
pp. 349-383.
• Maurice Courant, Catalogue des livres chinois, coréens, japonais etc., vols.
I-III (Paris 1910).

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• Joseph Dehergne, Répertoire des Jésuites de Chine de 1582 à 1800 (Rome,
Paris 1973) p. 21.
• Paul Pelliot, Inventaire sommaire des manuscrits et imprimé chinoise de
la Bibliothèque Vaticane, Takata Tokio (ed.) (Italian School of East Asian
Studies Reference Series 1) (Kyoto 1995).
• Louis Pfister, Notices biographiques et bibliographiques sur les Jésuites de
l’ancienne Mission de Chine 1552-1773 (Chang-hai 1932-34) pp. 549-554.
• Carlos Sommervogel, Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus III (Bruxelles
1892) pp. 903-905.
• Nicolas Standaert (ed.), Handbook of Christianity in China. Volume One:
635-1800 (Handbook of Oriental Studies, section 4: China 15/1. Handbuch
der Orientalistik, Abt. 4: China 15) (Leiden, Boston, Köln 2001).
• Robert Streit, Bibliotheca Missisionum, vol. VII (Freiburg 1932) pp. 68-
70.
• Yu Dong, Catalogo delle opere cinesi missionarie della Biblioteca Apoatolica
Vaticana (XVI-XVIII sec.) (Città del Vaticano 1996).
• Johannes Beckmann, “Ein Dokument zur Geschichte des chinesischen
Klerus im 18. Jahrhundert”, Neue Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft 1
(1945) pp. 184-193.
• Johannes Beckmann, “Die katholischen Missionare und der Taoismus”,
Neue Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft 26 (1970) pp. 1-17.
• Henri Bernard-Maître, “De la question des termes à la querelle des Rites
de Chine. Le dossier Foucquet de 1711”, Neue Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft
14 (1958) pp. 178-195; pp. 267-275.
• Henri Bernard-Maître, “Un ami du président de Brosses, Jean-Nicolas Foucquet,
ancien jésuite de Chine”, Mémoires de l’Académie des sciences, arts et
belles-lettres de Dijon (1947-1953) pp. 112-118.
• Henri Bernard-Maître, “Jean-François Foucquet”, DHGE XVII (1970) pp.
1258-59.
• François Bontinck, La lutte autour de la liturgie chinoise aux XVIIe et
XVIIIe siècles (Louvain 1962).
• Claudia von Collani, Die Figuristen in der Chinamission (Frankfurt, Bern,
Las Vegas 1981).
• Claudia von Collani, P. Joachim Bouvet S.J. Sein Leben und sein Werk
(Monumenta Serica Monograph Series 17) (Nettetal 1985).
• Claudia von Collani (ed.), Eine wissenschaftliche Akademie für China.
Briefe des Chinamissionars Joachim Bouvet S.J. an Gottfried Wilhelm von
Leibniz und Jean-Paul Bignon über die Erforschung der chinesischen Kultur,
Sprache und Geschichte (Studia Leibnitiana Sonderheft 18) (Stuttgart
1989).

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• Claudia von Collani, “Daoismus und Figurismus. Zur Inkulturation des
Christentums in China”, in: Adrian Hsia (ed.), Tao. Reception in East and
West (Frankfurt 1994) pp. 3-34.
• Claudia von Collani, “Kilian Stumpf SJ zur Lage der Chinamission im
Jahre 1708”, in: Neue Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft 51 (1995) pp.
117-144, 175-209.
• Claudia von Collani, “Figurismus - Anfang und Ende einer kontextuellen
Theologie in China”, in: R. Malek, (ed.), Fallbeispiel China. Ökumenische
Beiträge zu Religion, Theologie und Kirche im chinesischen Kontext (Nettetal
1996) pp. 89-127.
• Claudia von Collani, “The first Encounter of the West with the Yijing.
Introduction to and Edition of Letters and Latin Translations by French Jesuits
from the 18th Century”, Monumenta Serica LV (2007) pp. 227-387.
• Claudia von Collani, Harald Holz, Konrad Wegmann (eingeleitet, erstmalig
herausgegeben, übersetzt und erläutert), Uroffenbarung und Daoismus. Jesuitische
Missionshermeneutik des Daoismus (Reihe Daodejing-Forschungen
/ Series Daodejing Research vol. 1) (European University Press, Bochum
2008).
• Fernand Combaluzier, “Nouvelles de Chine (1729-1734). Fragments du
copie-lettres de Mgr Jean-François Foucquet”, Revue d’histoire des missions
XV (1938) pp. 130-134.
• Emily Byrne Curtis, “Foucquet’s list: Translation and comments on the
color ’Blue skye after rain”’, Journal of glass studies 41 (1991) pp. 147-152.
• Joseph Dehergne, “Les historiens Jésuites du Taoisme”, in: Actes du Colloque
international de Sinologie, Chantilly: La Mission Française de Pékin
aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (Paris 1976) pp. 59-67.
• Giacomo di Fiore, “Carita e reclusione nell’Europa di Settecento: Le disavventure
carcerarie di due cinesi al seguito di Jean-François Foucquet e di
Matteo Ripa”, in: Michele Fatica (ed.), Scritture di storia (Napoli 2005) pp.
49-89.
• Christine Maria Grafinger, “Die Handschriften des Chinamissionars Jean
François Foucquet S.J. an der Vatikanischen Bibliothek”, Archivum Historicum
Societatis Jesu 63 (1994) pp. 161-169.
• Hermann Harder, “La question du ’gouvernement’ de la Chine au XVIIIe
siècle. Montesquieu et de Brosses chez Mgr Foucquet à Rome”, Actes du
IIIe Colloque international de Sinologie, Chantilly 1980. Appréciation par
l’Europe de la tradition chinoise à partir du XVIIe siècle (Paris 1993) pp.
79-92.
• Hélène Himelfarb / Bruno Neveu, “Saint-Simon, les Jésuites et la Chine”,
Cahiers Saint-Simon V (1977) pp. 37-48; VI, 1978, 13-29; VII, 1979, 26-36;
VIII, 1980, 13-36; IX, 1981, 17-34.

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• Catherine Jami, Jean-François Foucquet et la modernisation de la science
en Chine. La “Nouvelle Méthode d’Algèbre” (Université de Paris VII 1986).
• Catherine Jami, Hashimoto Keizo, “Kepler’s laws in China: a missing link?
Jean-François Foucquet’s ’Li fa wen da”’, Historia scientiarum 6,3 (1997) pp.
171-185.
• Catherine Jami, Hashimoto Keizo, “New evidence of the transmission of
European astronomy to China: Jean-François Foucquet’s ’Li fa wen da”’, in:
Kim Yung Sik, Francesca Bray (eds.), Current perspectives in the history of
science in East Asia (Soul 1999) pp. 487-496.
• Fortunato Margiotti, “Materiale missionario nel Fondo Borgia Latino della
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana”, Euntes Docete XXI (1968) pp. 424-435.
• Jean-Claude Martzloff, “La science astronomique européenne au service
de la diffusion du Catholicisme en Chine. L’oeuvre astronomique de Jean-
François Foucquet (1665-1741)”, Mélanges de l’Ecole française de Rome CI
(1989) 2, pp. 973-989.
• Jean-Claude Martzloff, “Espace et temps dans les textes chinois d’astronomie
et de technique mathématiques aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles”, in: L’Europe
en Chine. Interactions scientifiques, religieuses et culturelles aux XVIIe et
XVIIIe siècles (Mémoires de l’Institut des Hautes Etudes chinoises XXXIV)
(Paris 1993) pp. 217-230.
• Jean-Claude Martzloff, “A Glimpse of Post-Verbiest Period: Jean-François
Foucquet’s Lifa Wenda (Dialogue on Calendrical Techniques) and the Modernization
of Chinese Astronomy or Urania’s Feet Unbound”, in: John W.
Witek (ed.), Ferdinand Verbiest (1623-1688). Jesuit Missionary, Scientist,
Engineer and Diplomat (Monumenta Serica Monograph Series XXX) (Nettetal
1994) pp. 519-529.
• K. W. Müller, “Jean-François Foucquet’s Reading of the Daode Jing and
Other Chinese Classics”, in: Dong Xi Jiao Liu Lun Tan, Di Er Ji, Huang Shi
Jian (Forum für Ost-West-Austausch Band 2) (Shanghai 2001) pp. 296-313.
• Arnold H. Rowbotham, “China in the “Esprit des lois”: Montesquieu and
Mgr Foucquet”, Comparative Literature II (1950) pp. 354-359.
• Arnold H. Rowbotham, “The Jesuit Figurists and Eighteenth-Century Religious
Thought”, Journal of the History of Ideas XVII (1956) pp. 471-485.
• Paul A. Rule, K’ung-tzu or Confucius? The Jesuit Interpretation of Confucianism
(Sydney 1986).
• Jonathan Spence, The Question of Hu (New York 1988), German: Der
kleine Herr Hu (München 1990).
• John W. Witek, “Jean-François Foucquet. Un controversiste jésuite en
Chine et en Europe”, in: Actes du Colloque international de Sinologie, 1974
(Paris 1976) pp. 115-135.
• John W. Witek, Controversial Ideas in Europe and China. A Biography of

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Jean-François Foucquet S.J. (1665-1741) (Rome, Paris 1982).
• John W. Witek, “Jean-François Foucquet et les livres chinois de la Bibliothèque
nationale”, in: Actes du IIe Colloque international de Sinologie,
Chantilly 1977 (Paris 1980) pp. 146-171.
• Ad Dudink, Nicolas Standaert, Chinese Christian Texts Database (CCT-
Database) http://www.arts.kuleuven.be/sinology/cct/cct (24.04.2009).
• http://www.bdcconline.net/en/stories/f/foucquet-jeanfrancois.php (25 April
2009).
Author(s) of this contribution:
Claudia von Collani
Version: 1.00