Kowalewski Apropos the Chinese Book “Ming Xin Bao Jian”: Following up a Diary Entry

Abstract

This article examines the notes of the prominent Russian mongolist of Polish origin Józef Kowalewski (1801–1878) in his “Diary of studies for 1832”, the manuscript of which is kept in the Department of Manuscripts of the Vilnius University Library. This diary entry has been previously published several times in the form of a facsimile. It is an excerpt in English from the annotation on the Chinese book Ming xin bao jian (明心寶鑑, Precious Mirror for the Enlightenment of the Mind) from the Protestant missionary magazine published in Malacca. The article clarifies and significantly supplements the previously published commentary on this entry, defines The Indo-Chinese Gleaner magazine as the source of the English annotation and William Milne (1785–1822) as its author. It is assumed that J. Kowalewski’s acquaintance with W. Milne’s note had determined later choice of Ming xin bao jian as a Chinese language teaching material at The Imperial Kazan University. The very fact of choosing this book by a Protestant missionary to be presented as an important manual on the Chinese language and the traditional worldview of the Chinese is discussed. The conclusion is made that, formally remaining in opposition to the earlier Catholic missionary work, Protestant preachers in assessing Ming xin bao jian were in consent with their predecessors.