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UID:351@harvard-yenching.org
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240223T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240223T130000
DTSTAMP:20240214T150553Z
URL:https://www.harvard-yenching.org/events/a-sage-embellished-with-elemen
 ts-of-chinoiserie-the-making-of-jesus-in-the-jesuit-figurist-translations-
 of-chinese-classics/
SUMMARY:A Sage Embellished with Elements of “Chinoiserie”: The Making o
 f Jesus in the Jesuit Figurist Translations of Chinese Classics
DESCRIPTION:Co-sponsored with the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies\n\nWh
 en Christianity was introduced to China in the Ming and Qing dynasties\, t
 ranslations of sacred texts and stories of biblical figures were employed 
 for the purpose of proselytization. The Jesuit Figurists’ translations t
 ook on lives of their own\, going on to create impact through new and inte
 resting parallels between Chinese mythological figures and the image of Je
 sus Christ. The making of Jesus in the hands of the Jesuit Figurists revea
 led their intention of establishing a communal space between Christianity 
 and Chinese history and culture.\n\nDiffering from the Jesuits before them
  in the late Ming dynasty\, the Jesuits Figurists in the early Qing dynast
 y\, including Bouvet\, Foucquet and Prémare\, followed the Hermetic tradi
 tion\, associating the numbers\, images\, and interpretations of the Yijin
 g 易經 (the Book of Changes) with stories in the Old Testament as a supp
 ort for proselytization in China. In the Figurists’ re-interpretation\, 
 the Yijing was Christianized and infused with different types of Jesus Chr
 ist\, in the sense that mythological and historical events in Chinese text
 s acted as symbols for later events—in other words\, scriptural types. H
 is emergence was also parallelled with Chinese mythological creatures\, an
 d a new Chinese image of Jesus emerged out of several branches—a represe
 ntation of the Dragon in the hexagrams\, a Confucian sage with ethical emo
 tions\, and a local deity depicted in a missionary vernacular novel.\n\nEa
 ch Figurist\, in investigating Figurism and interpreting the Yijing\, had 
 his own identity\, focus\, and trajectory. Thus\, this paper also showcase
 s each Figurist’s signature approach in making a “new Jesus.” The Fi
 gurists’ translations of the Yijing and the Dao made a lasting impact an
 d constitute a link in the genealogy of early Sinologists\, with a focus o
 n Dao re-interpretation. This led to a greater desire in the people of Eur
 ope in the 18th and 19th centuries for more in-depth understanding and dis
 cussion of the Yijing and the Dao.
CATEGORIES:Visiting Scholar Talks
LOCATION:Common Room (#136)\, 2 Divinity Avenue\, Cambridge\, MA\, United S
 tates
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