Historical study on the Memoires concernant Chinois par les Missionnaires de Pekin (1776-1814)

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K13327
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Chinese philosophy/Indian philosophy/Buddhist studies
• Research Institution: Rikkyo University (2018-2020); The University of Tokyo (2017)
• Principal Investigator: NII Yoko 立教大学, 文学部, 特別研究員(日本学術振興会) (10757280)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 中国をめぐる知 / 知の伝播・翻訳・再発信 / カトリック圏内外 / シノロジーとその外

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Memoires concernant l' histoire, les sciences, les arts, les moeurs, les usages, &c. des Chinois (MCC), which consists of 17 volumes, was published in response to the growing interest in the origin of humanity and civilization during the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe. Some of the work was translated into Russian and German around the same time. MCC was used by Isaac Titsingh , who served as the head of the Dutch Factory in Japan, for Japan studies. It was also added to the South Manchuria Railway Library in Fengtian under the Japanese colonial rule in Manchuria as part of a long-awaited collection. This indicates that MCC became a major source of knowledge about China even outside the Roman Catholic world.
It was revealed that the knowledge transmitted by MCC, in addition to becoming the foundation of Sinology established in France in the 19th century, was also used outside of Sinology by being incorporated into, for example, moral education in France around the same time.

Free Research Field

人文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

『メモワール』の全体像および流通の研究を通して、そこに盛り込まれた中国をめぐる知が、ヨーロッパでの文明や社会をめぐる問題関心に深く関与しながら在華イエズス会士によって形成、発信されるだけでなく、空間的、言語的、時間的な枠組みを越えて広範に伝達され、また再翻訳、再発信されたことが分かった。この成果は、歴史や思想をめぐる従来の研究がおもに国や地域といった空間的単位、あるいは言語的単位、さらに近世や近代といった時間的単位によって縦割りされてきた、その有効性を否定するわけではないものの、知の形成や流通の実態がもつ、従来の分析単位で捉え尽くすことのできない側面を明らかにしたと考えている。