La Chine en Europe

Abstract

Bruno Neveu : China in Europe. The West's contact with China and its civilisation from the 16th century onwards was almost solely through Catholic missionaries. In the 18th Century the mainly French Jesuits in Peking played a role as cultural intermediaries which was crucial for the development of the Enlightenment's Orient. An analysis of recent historical works shows clearly the exceptional talents of the Jesuits who were at the Imperial court, and the coherence of their apologetic principles. But one should not forget the presence of other missionaries (Augustins, Dominicans, Carmelites) ; they were more concerned with popular teaching and aware of the place of Taoism alongside the educated class's Confucianism, whose image in Europe was attractive but inexact. On the other hand, the reactions of the Chinese to the introduction of Western religious, philosophical and scientific reality is beginning to be better known thanks to the research of Sinologists.