Joachim Bouvet’s Activities And Contributions As A Jesuit In The Early Qing Dynasty

The historical facts about the missionaries who came to China during the Ming and Qing dynasty have always drawn wide attraction, but the corresponding researching findings mainly concentrate in the late Ming and Qing dynasty, obviously the early Qing is less than the above periods, so this paper is aimed at the missionaries who lived during the early Qing, proposing to explore Joachim Bouvet, a French missionary during the reign of Kangxi, as an individual case.When Joachim Bouvet arrived in China, it was Kangxi dynasty. He lived here for more than forty years, from Kangxi dynasty to Yongzheng dynasty, he was one of the Jesuits who advocated an upper route, and he had made many contributions to the culture exchanges between China and west countries.First, this text runs through the effects on the missionaries in China caused by the change of Ming and Qing, meanwhile makes an explanation about the preaching strategies at that time, striving to understand the context when Bouvet came to China and something about himself. Second, his main activities will be given according to the time sequence, as a teacher of Kangxi, serving as an envoy to Europe, surveying and mapping Chinese map, studying I-Ching etc. As his activities were almost related to Kangxi, so next, this paper will show the relationship between the two people, he saw the shift in Kangxi’s attitude towards Christianity, from tolerance to prohibition. The essay attempts to offer a glimpse of the circumstances of the whole Jesuits group in the early Qing. Then, thanks to the works of Bouvet, such as Portrait historique de I’empereur de la chine, l’ etat present de la Chine, Voiage du Siam, the worship of the heaven in the ancient and modern times and so on, this paper can give an analysis of his books, thus his view of China will be obtained. At last, the article provides an evaluation of Bouvet and his practice.The experience of Bouvet is an epitome of those who lived in the palace, that’s why we can improve our comprehension of communications between China and west in the way of making such a subject.