‎Thierry Meynard, Daniel Canaris (eds)‎
‎From Confucius to Zhu Xi. The First Treatise on God in Fran ois No l?s Chinese Philosophy (1711)‎

‎, Brepols, 2023 Hardback, 432 pages, Size:156 x 234 mm, Illustrations:8 b/w, 8 tables b/w., Language: English. ISBN 9782503601793.‎

Reference : 64362

‎Summary On 25 September 1710, Pope Clement XI finally promulgated the 1704 decree Cum Deus optimus, which condemned the toleration of certain Confucian rituals among Chinese Catholic converts and the use of the Chinese terms tian and Shangdi to refer to the Christian God. This papal decision antagonised the Kangxi Emperor and devastated the Jesuit China mission. Although the Jesuits were prohibited from publicly refuting the decree, the Flemish Jesuit Fran ois No l sought to defend the Jesuit position by publishing his voluminous scholarship on the Chinese classics. Among other works, in 1711 No l published two seminal contributions to the history of Sinology: the Sinensis imperii libri classici sex or Libri sex, and the Philosophia Sinica, a sophisticated treatment of Chinese metaphysics, ritual, and ethics. While the Libri sex achieved some degree of influence in the Enlightenment through the French translation of the French Jesuit historian Du Halde and the writings of the philosopher Christian Wolff, the Philosophia Sinica was actively suppressed by the Superior-General of the Jesuit order. Yet it is in this latter work where the full breadth of No l's originality and intellectual contribution can be found. No l reinterprets the Jesuits' position through the lens of Neo-Confucianism, integrating concepts such as li, taiji, yin, and yang in his reading of Chinese philosophy. With contributions from Sinologists and intellectual historians, this book offers the first systematic study of this pioneering work. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations Preface Introduction Thierry Meynard and Daniel Canaris 1. Intellectual Biography of Fran ois No l Yves Vend 2. Composition and Sources of the First Treatise Thierry Meynard 3. No l's Interpretation of Neo-Confucianism Thierry Meynard 4. Evaluation from the Perspective of Chinese Philosophy Wang Ge 5. Theological Themes in the First Treatise Pierre Galassi Fran ois No l's Chinese Philosophy in Three Treatises Preface to the Reader First Treatise: On Chinese Knowledge of the First Being, or God Chapter 1: Did the Ancient Chinese have Knowledge of God, the First Being, or were they Atheists? Question 1: How many Meanings does Tian Have in the Ancient Books? Question 2: What Perfections do the Ancient Classics Attribute to Tian and Shangdi? Question 3: Whether the Ancient Books and Classics Give True Knowledge of the First Being, or God, and whether it is False that the Ancient Chinese were Atheists Chapter 2: Do Modern Chinese People Have Knowledge of the First Being or God, or Are they Atheists? Question 1: What Perfections do the Modern Commentators Attribute to Tian or Shangdi? Question 2: How Do Modern Authors Explain Tian, and Do they Distinguish Tian from Shangdi? Question 3: What Do Modern Commentators Recognize as First Origin of the World? Question 4: Definitions, Types, and Properties of the Spirits by Modern Authors Question 5: What does jiaoshe or the Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth Mean? Question 6: What does the Two-Character Word taiji or First Ultimate of Things Mean among the Chinese? Question 7: Do Modern Works Give True Knowledge of the First Being or God, and Are Modern Chinese Atheists? Chapter 3: True Name of God in China Question 1: Can God be called Shangdi, that is the Lord and Ruler of Heaven, or Supreme Lord? Question 2: Can God be Called Tian (Heaven)? About the Authors Bibliography Concordance List of Titles and Names Charts Index‎