The translator || French Jesuits in and out of the Qing Palace: translated for Kangxi and taught geometry in Manchu

Source of this article: Ancient Beijing and Western Civilization Ouyang Zhesheng

Transferred from: China Translation And Research Institute

As the ancient capital of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, Beijing's historical position in the history of cultural exchanges between China and the West is comparable to that of Han and Tang Chang'an. Professor Ouyang Zhesheng of the Department of History of Peking University, his new book "Ancient Beijing and Western Civilization" (Peking University Press, August 2018) focuses on the "Beijing experience" of Western missionaries and envoys who came to Beijing during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties (before the Opium War), focusing on the route and way for Westerners to come to Beijing, the means of living, living, activities and communication in Beijing, the interaction with people in Beijing, the observation and research of Beijing architecture, customs, geography and history, and The politics, economy, and history of China. The collection and snooping of cultural and military intelligence presents the image of Beijing from a Western perspective.

Kangxi Period: Advocating Western learning

In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, Tang Ruowang was valued by the Shunzhi Emperor because of his profound achievements in astronomy, and he was appointed as the superintendent of the Qin Heavenly Supervisor, jia Taichang Temple, and was given the title of "Tongxuan Teacher", becoming the first person in the West to enter the Qing court. In the early years of the Kangxi Dynasty, Nan Huairen, Xu Risheng, Amdo, Min Mingmei, Ji Li'an, and Dai Jinxian successively took charge of the Qin Tianjian and had close relations with the Qing court. In addition to governing astronomical affairs, they also participated in foreign-related affairs, acting as translators, Nan Huairen participated in the talks with Russian envoys in 1676; Xu Risheng participated in the negotiations of the Treaty of Nebuchu between the Qing Dynasty and Russia in 1689. Because Kangxi advocated Western learning, he often asked Nan Huairen and Amdo for advice on astronomy, geometry and instrument usage, and Xu Risheng was known for his music, which won Kangxi's joy and often ordered him to play for it. Kangxi's relations with the Jesuits were harmonious, and Catholicism was also developed in Beijing. It can be said that the use of Westerners in the early Qing Dynasty was mainly based on the astronomical observation of the Qin Tianjian and the need for diplomatic translation.

The French Jesuits entered the Qing Palace on February 7, 1688, after Zhang Cheng and his party arrived in Beijing, and Zhang Cheng and Bai Jin were left in Beijing for use. According to their lives in Beijing: "The two priests soon became familiar with the Manchu language, gained the emperor's trust, and explained all the geometry to the emperor, and the two of them compiled various mathematical books in Manchu, and the emperor ordered the people to translate them into Chinese, and personally wrote the preface to the volume. The two also built a chemistry laboratory in the palace, with all the necessary instruments, and began to edit all the anatomy, which was later facilitated by Father Badomin and translated into Manchu. Zhang Cheng participated in the negotiations on the Treaty of Nebuchu between China and Russia as an assistant to Xu Risheng, acting as an interpreter, which Zhang recorded in detail in his diary. Missionaries entering the palace often enjoyed many benefits or conveniences, and learning the language was one of them. Fu Shengze revealed this:

Priests in the court had many conveniences in learning, which were not available in the provinces. For, as far as learning Chinese characters is concerned, they can find the best teachers; as far as the language is concerned, there are constantly people around them who are talking to them in a gentle and elegant way, and it must be admitted that this knowledge is absolutely necessary for them, and no matter how intelligent and capable they are, and who do not understand the Chinese language and writing, they cannot enter the circle of prominent figures of the Empire. These great men invited us, talked to us, and sometimes tolerated us talking about the doctrine of soul salvation. Although they never converted to religion, they at least sometimes protected the religion they respected.

The first French Jesuits to enter the Qing Palace were Zhang Cheng and Bai Jin, and the historical records of the French Jesuits observing the early Kangxi period were mainly from their hands. Zhang Cheng's diary records his eight Tatar expeditions from 1688 to 1698, of which the third to seventh (1691, 1692, 1696, 1696-1697, 1697) were accompanied by the Kangxi attendants. After his second trip to Beijing, Kangxi received Zhang Cheng, Bai Jin, and other Jesuits at the Yangxin Temple on January 16, 1690, and ordered them to teach mathematical knowledge in geometry. In the months that followed, Kangxi continued to consult, sometimes for several days in a row, reflecting Kangxi's desire to learn from the West. Bai Jin's Biography of the Current Emperor of China also recounts this teaching process:

When we lectured to the emperor, some of them were in Chinese, some of them were in Manchu. However, Manchu was far clearer, clearer, and easier to understand than Chinese, and the Kangxi Emperor learned that Father Zhang Cheng and I had made considerable progress after studying Manchu for seven or eight months, and had been able to exchange ideas with others fairly accurately. Therefore, the emperor wanted to use the two of us to explain Western science to him in Manchu. ...... The Emperor instructs us to first proceed in Manchu to the Euclid Principle.

In order to facilitate the teaching, the Kangxi Emperor gave us a room in the imperial palace. This room was originally the residence of his father, the Shunzhi Emperor, and is now the place where the emperor dines. We met the Emperor in this room and spent part of the day. ...... The Kangxi Emperor decreed that every morning we would be picked up by the ShangsiYuan to take us into the palace and return us to our apartments in the evening. He also assigned two court officials who were fluent in Manchu and Chinese to assist us in preparing the manuscripts for the lectures, and asked the scriveners to transcribe the drafts clearly. The Emperor instructed us to enter the palace every day to dictate the contents of the manuscript. He listened carefully, practiced repeatedly, drew by hand, asked questions immediately if he did not understand, and we studied together for several hours.

In his long letter to Father Lachaise on February 15, 1703, Hong Ruohan also reported on the kangxi emperor's study with Zhang Cheng and Bai Jin:

The king, seeing that his entire empire was in peace, decided to study European science, either for amusement or out of concern. He himself chose arithmetic, the foundations of Euclidean geometry, practical geometry and philosophy. Father Amdo, Father Zhang Cheng, and Father Bai Jin were instructed to write a number of these works. The first is Arithmetic, and the other two are Euclidean Fundamentals of Geometry and Geometry. They used Manchu as a demonstration, checked with the manchu teacher who had taught him, and if some words were unclear or inappropriate, they immediately changed other words. The priests explained to the emperor, who easily understood the lessons they gave him, and he increasingly appreciated the reliability of our science and studied diligently with a new enthusiasm.

The priests entered the palace every day, two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening with the emperor. The emperor usually put them on their seats, asked them to sit next to him so that he could see their faces, and made them more comfortable when explaining to him.

When the people first taught him these lessons, the emperor was very interested. He did not interrupt the course when he went to Changchun Garden, which was two miles away from Beijing. The priests had to go there every day, regardless of the weather. They left Beijing at four o'clock in the morning and did not return until the beginning of nightfall. They had to work again as soon as they returned, often late into the night in preparation for the next day's lectures. ...... When they returned, the emperor was not idle; he himself reviewed what the priests had just explained to him: he re-read the illustrations, and he summoned a few princes to explain them to them personally. He wouldn't give up if he hadn't fully figured out what he wanted to learn.

The emperor studied like this for four or five years, and he was always very diligent, and he did not slack off in government affairs, and did not miss the upper dynasty for a single day. He did not stop at speculation what he had learned, but put it into practice; it made him happy to learn and fully understand what was being taught him.

This study of Kangxi lasted for quite some time. Through close contact with the Jesuits, his attitude towards the outside world has changed greatly, and Bai Jin has been impressed by this: "For a long time, the Jesuits have revealed their views on the people of Europe and other countries in the world to the emperor. In particular, after studying our art and science, the Kangxi Emperor realized that China was not the only civilized country in both science and art; in addition to China, other countries also had civilized scientists and skilled craftsmen who were good at making exquisite works of art. Based on this understanding, the Kangxi Emperor was very different from the xenophobic habits of his people, and ordered that the envoys of the Netherlands, Portugal, and Russia be given extraordinary preferential treatment and courtesy. ”

If Zhang Cheng and Bai Jin were witnesses to the history of the early Kangxi Period, then Ba Duoming was the main translator of the late Kangxi Period. After Kangxi's death, Ba duoming spoke highly of Kangxi in a letter dated May 1, 1723 to the gentlemen of the French Academy of Sciences:

The Chinese emperor, who was also very famous in Europe, loved science and was eager to acquire foreign knowledge, because he did not think it necessary to learn our language in order to use this knowledge; he felt that the most convenient way for him was for me to translate in detail the discoveries [of France] into his native language, for I had previously given him only a cursory introduction in conversation.

The monarch, who died on December 20, 1722, was one of the kind of extraordinary figures that one had only been seen in many centuries, who had no restrictions on his knowledge, and no one in Asia had ever loved science and art as much as he did. To introduce him to new discoveries, especially from Europe, is simply flattering and flattering to him; and this new discovery can only be attained so much in your excellent Academy of Sciences, and therefore it is your Academy of Sciences that the Jesuit missionaries talk the most about with this great monarch.

When I arrived in China twenty-five years ago, he was already made to attach importance to astronomy and geometry, which you had carefully perfected, and even presented him with many exquisite instruments, large and small, made under your guidance, and taught them to use. Your research in physics has not been forgotten. As for the problems of human anatomy and disease, they are just getting started.

The great monarch, who was familiar with the texts of TCM, knew that knowledge of TCM would not be perfect without adding knowledge of anatomy to the knowledge of TCM to guide doctors in prescribing and surgeons to perform surgeries. Therefore, he ordered me to translate an anatomical works and a medical encyclopedia into Tatar.

In his second letter to the gentlemen of the French Academy of Sciences in 1723, Badomin spoke of his and other Jesuits accompanying Kangxi on a tour, and several Western surgeons were present in Kangxi's entourage, reflecting Kangxi's trust in Western medicine:

For the next eighteen years, I followed the Emperor every time he went out to visit the Tatar region. I was accompanied by the late Cardinal de Tournon doctor Dr. Bourghèse, the Frenchman Frapperie and Rhodes assistant friar, the Genoese paramino assistant friar, the Calabrian assistant friar Costa, all Jesuits, some surgeons, some pharmacists, and finally the French Jesuit Antai . Rousset) assistant friar and surgeon at the Holy Spirit Hospital in Rome, Mr. Gagliardi.

Among the missionaries who entered and left the Qing palace in the first half of the 18th century, Ba Duoming lasted the longest time and his position was also the most prominent. He entered China on November 4, 1698, and then entered Beijing, where he died on September 29, 1741. The Kangxi Emperor attached great importance to it, personally choosing a teacher to teach him Manchu and Chinese languages, and Badomin soon became proficient in Manchu and Chinese, and no one in Europe could match him. "Emperor Qian became more and more proficient in geometry, plants, anatomy, and medicine as learned by Zhang Cheng and Bai Jin'er. Domini also told the emperor about the political customs of the nations of the world and the interests of the European dynasties; the emperor was able to value Louis XIV as a man, and all of them were able to speak with the power of Dominion." "All Europeans who have entered the Dprk, if they are teachers, if they are envoys of the Holy See, if they are envoys of Portugal and Russia, they often use Bardomine as translators. Domin served on such a dangerous matter for forty years, and the emperor expressed satisfaction with his interlocutors. The languages spoken by Domini are Manchu, Chinese, Latin, French, Italian, and Portuguese, and everyone is amazed." In Sino-Russian exchanges and negotiations, Bartom's good offices have played a very important role. In his letter to Father Wessel on 10 October, Father Sha Ruyu gave great praise to Bardomine's character, talent, and enthusiasm, and reported on the scene of the funeral, which was as high as the previous most solemn funeral of Nam Huai Ren, who died in 1688:

The passing of Father Bardom is a unanimous lament for missionaries, Christians, idolaters and figures large and small. His various speeches at his funeral are a testament to the respect and admiration that people have for him. The Emperor was willing to bear all this, and he did so with the courage to be worthy of being a great monarch. The Royal Brother led ten other princes to make a contribution to this, and each of them sent his officials to accompany the spirits to our cemetery, which is located 2 miles west of Beijing. A large number of dignitaries, officials and other celebrities of the Empire, in accordance with the emperor's example, came to us to express that they were very saddened by this loss and that they shared our suffering. They are not content to merely give us these expressions of sympathy, but they also add to the funeral procession by presenting them all the way to the cemetery. Although they were very non-Christian, they attended all the prayers we held during the burial.

Yongzheng Period: Strictly Practicing "Forbidden Religion"

Zhang Cheng, Bai Jin, and Ba Duoming's evaluation of Kangxi was full of praise, in addition to the three of them, the French Jesuits who entered the palace during the Kangxi Dynasty included Hong Ruohan, Liu Ying, Feng Bingzheng, Yin Hongxu and others. Yongzheng's short reign, coupled with his harsh policy of "forbidden religion" from the beginning of his reign, markedly distanced himself from the Jesuits. Ba Duoming, a translator who was highly regarded during the Kangxi Dynasty, did not participate in the negotiations of the Treaty of Kyakhta between China and Russia, reflecting Yongzheng's distrust and even indifference to him. Ba Duoming's several letters tracked down the fact that Prince Sunu's family was exiled, which is proof that Yongzheng strictly practiced "forbidden religion". Yongzheng had very little contact with the Jesuits, but only remembered the missionaries in Beijing when the European mission arrived, exchanging opinions or conveying their will. The reason why Yongzheng pursued the policy of "forbidding religion" was not only related to his own belief in Buddhism and his vigilance against Western missionaries, but also the direct cause of the Jesuits' involvement in the dispute over the crown prince.

Feng Bingzheng may have been the first French Jesuit to report yongzheng's "forbidden religion" policy to the European side. On October 16, 1724, he lamented in a letter to a priest sent from Beijing: "Our sacred religion has been completely banned in China, and all our missionaries have been expelled from China except the missionaries in Beijing." Our churches were either demolished or moved for other purposes. The edict has been promulgated. The edict ordered Christians to renounce their faith, forbade Chinese to Christianity, and punished those who violated the order severely. The church we have spent two hundred years of painstaking efforts to build has ended up in such a sad end. ”

Song Junrong witnessed the scene of Yongzheng's scolding of the Catholic Church. On October 22, 1725, two envoys sent by the Pope, Ge Daduo and Yi Defeng, arrived in Beijing, and before receiving the envoys, on November 27, Yongzheng received Song Junrong and other missionaries in Beijing in advance, and clearly announced his "forbidden religion" policy, and Song Junrong recorded what he saw:

The Emperor ordered the construction of a new palace twenty miles from here. The day before yesterday, he summoned us. After giving the tea, he scolded the Catholic Church in front of us and compared it to the evil sects. However, he also acknowledged that Catholicism would bring benefits. When he talks about the pope and the kings of Europe, he is so distracted that he can't say why. It seems that he was educated far less than his father. He went on to say that two men sent by the Pope (both of whom were not present at the time) could speak freely to him. In addition, he treated us with great courtesy and ordered us to be given a cantaloupe each. ......

This was the first time I had met the monarch, who was tall, forty-nine years old, with a good mouth, but spoke faster. It seems that he has a lot of brains and is refreshed. His reign was "Yongzheng".

On May 18, 1727, the Portuguese Medela delegation entered Beijing, and Yongzheng held a grand welcome ceremony when the mission entered Beijing, giving the mission a very high-standard reception. Song Junrong, who witnessed the solemn ceremony, wrote: "A few days ago, the emissary of the King of Portugal, Mr. Medler, led his luxurious carriage and horse retinue into Beijing openly. The Chinese and Tatars here had never seen such a lineup, and they were shocked to learn of the luxurious life of the nobleman and his courtiers. However, on July 21, 1727, Yongzheng summoned the missionaries in Beijing, Suchong Lin, Magelang, Fei Yin, Dai Jinxian, Lei Xiaosi, Ba Duoming, Song Junrong, and others in Beijing, to reiterate their "forbidden religion" policy, comparing the Europeans' prohibition of spreading Buddhism with their own "forbidden religion" policy, which made the missionaries present tremble with fear and have difficulty arguing.

Yongzheng occasionally made an exception, and Song Junrong reported a rather special grace to Father Gaiar:

On January 26, 1727, the emperor sent a decree to announce the entry of Europeans into the palace. This is an unprecedented and extraordinary honor for the proclamation. The eunuch announced to us that the emperor would eat with us in his great hall. Twenty people were called, and I was one of them. At 4:00 p.m., one of the emperor's personal eunuchs led us to the imperial court. The Emperor sat on a very ornate high platform, and the Europeans were divided into ten people on each side. According to Chinese etiquette, we knelt down on both knees and bowed to the emperor. ......

My esteemed priest, at such a lavish banquet, the Europeans were starving. Because they were forced to sit cross-legged on a felt mat, this way of sitting was very uncomfortable; the wine on the pour was not tasteful; and the same was true of most dishes. We also have to try our best to restrain ourselves, neither spitting nor coughing, nor wiping our noses. Every time the Emperor uttered a word which he wanted to please, we had to get down on our knees and prostrate ourselves on the ground. Do the same every time you toast to him. In addition, it is certainly interesting for Europeans to see the various etiquettes observed by people serving the emperor. Everything is procedural, and everywhere reflects imperial prestige and reverence. Through this kind of etiquette, it is clear at a glance that people are serving the Lord of a nation. Those cups, plates and bowls are clean, gorgeous and unparalleled. This is not so much a tribute to a monarch as an idol.

This text is often used in various documents as a classic record of Court banquets in the Qing Dynasty in the West. In this grace, Yongzheng, in addition to giving various money and goods to the missionaries, also paid special tribute to the work of several Jesuits who were in Beijing at that time: "The emperor was very satisfied with father Badomin's rigorous attitude in translating various official documents. Father Ba translated various Latin documents submitted by the Russians. The Emperor also expressed satisfaction with the accurate report made by Badomin to his thirteenth brother Prince Yunxiang of Yixian regarding the representations with the emissaries of the Empress Dowager. The Thirteenth Imperial Brother Prince had made it clear on several occasions that the Emperor was very appreciative of the map drawn by Xu Maode, Father Feng Bingzheng and me. The thirteenth royal brother Yunxiang also told me: The emperor was very pleased to read the recital on the situation in Tsarist Russia that I entrusted to Prince Yunxiang. Finally, His Majesty is very fond of many of the paintings of Monk Chen Shining. I respect the priest, all this prompted the Emperor to publicly express his satisfaction with the Europeans. Apparently, Yong was taking this opportunity to appease the missionaries in Beijing, and he wanted to convey to the outside world a policy of "forbidding religion" but not excluding the use of skilled craftsmen among the missionaries and the use of their skills. Nevertheless, in the writings or letters of the Jesuits, we can hardly see a depiction of Yongzheng giving a kangxi-like evaluation, which reflects the estrangement of the relationship between the two.

Interestingly, Gong Dangxin, who had left Beijing, learned about the dynamics of the Qing court at that time by reading the Di Bao, and he decided that this was an effective way to grasp the intelligence of the Qing court. In a letter to Father Tieheni Sussier on 2 December 1725, he wrote of this discovery: "The Chinese di bao is very useful for governing the country, and in some parts of Europe, such reports are full of nonsense, bad words, and rumors, while the Chinese di bao only publishes matters related to the emperor. Since the Chinese government is a perfect monarchy, and all parts of the country are reported to it in every detail, this kind of newspaper can play a great role in guiding local officials to perform their duties and admonishing the literati and ordinary people. On December 15, 1727, he wrote back: "Two years ago, I had the honor of writing you several letters on the way China governed the country, and I talked about a kind of 'di newspaper' circulating throughout the country, from which I obtained a lot of information. "I confess to you that I never imagined that reading such a newspaper would be of such great use to a missionary." "In the Di Bao, we can obtain a lot of knowledge about Chinese religion, various schools of thought, regulations, customs and habits, etc., from which we can understand the way Chinese treat people and things, and we can also learn the exact words and sentences from it, and improve the oral and pen expression ability in all aspects." "The Chinese Newspaper covered almost all the public affairs of this vast empire, and it published its recitals to the Emperor and his approvals, decrees, and the favors it extended to its subjects. The Newspaper is a collection of sixty to seventy pages, every day. "This kind of newspaper publishes three hundred small collections every year, and if you read it carefully, you can learn very interesting knowledge in all aspects of the newspaper." In the words, there is obviously a kind of excitement of "discovery".

Qianlong period: time wide and strict

After Qianlong ascended the throne, the policy of "forbidding religion" was adjusted somewhat, and the attitude toward missionaries was lenient and strict, and its basic purpose was to "make full use of those who receive them, and to make good use of them in peace." The attitude and movements of Qianlong were observed by the Jesuits in Beijing. Through the three dynasties of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong, Ba Duoming, the oldest qualified in Beijing, shrewdly realized that "the Qianlong Emperor really hated Christianity", saying: "Because the emperor's behavior has never been consistent, he has always been mysterious in making any decision. He did hate Christianity, but out of courtesy he dealt with us cautiously and was able to treat us well before people, for fear of being too noticeable about the differences between him and his father. On Chinese New Year's Day, when all of us went to worship the emperor, he opened a large hall in which he intended to live and let us enter the palace. We could see him from there, but it was too far away to speak to him, so we held a worship service there. "This may be the case in the early years of Qianlong. By the 1770s and 1780s, Qianlong's relationship with the missionaries in Beijing was more harmonious than people thought. Han Ying was quite fond of Qianlong, and he even explained Qianlong's attitude of being close to the missionaries: First, he developed the habit of following Kangxi to meet with Westerners in his childhood. Second, his wife's respect for Christianity had a certain influence on him. The third is a special love for painting and therefore friendship with Lang Shining. Fourth, during his reign, "Europeans did far more for him than for his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor." Fifth, Qianlong "realized that he had previously been deceived by those who accused us." After a period of observation and testing, Qianlong was indeed kind to the missionaries in Beijing, so much so that Han Ying admitted that "now he has such a good feeling for us that those who oppose us in Beijing, Macau, or Guangzhou no longer have any influence in the court." Unlike Yongzheng's psychology of "hatred of religion", Qianlong handled his relations with the missionaries more carefully, and showed a strong interest in Western learning and Western art like Kangxi.

As early as the later years of Kangxi, because of his love of Western enamel craftsmanship, Ma Guoxian, Ni Tianjue and others were summoned to the palace to teach. In 1716 Ma Guoxian wrote in a letter: "The emperor was impressed by our European enamel and hoped that his royal workshop would introduce this craft... Now That Lang Shining and I were painting on the glaze, the two of us were locked up like prisoners in the royal workshop day and night, surrounded by a group of corrupt people who claimed not to understand the art and refused their request. The Attitude of the French Jesuits and Italian Missionaries to the Chinese Demands was different, and they adopted an attitude of cooperation with the Qing Dynasty in order to further expand the influence of the French Jesuits, Ni Tianjue brought this technology into the Qing Palace, and its craft came directly from Limoges in France, and a letter from Feng Bingzheng in 1720 mentioned this matter: "In fact, under the imperial decree, the Chinese craftsmen only took five or six years to make enamel, but its progress was amazing, and Father Ni Tianjue was still their master. ”

Qianlong's love of European craftsmanship did not allow Kangxi, and the Westerners who came and went to the Qing Palace during his reign were often some Jesuits with craftsmanship. On October 15, 1780, Fang Shouyi wrote a brief letter about the three main talents who entered the palace: painters, watchmakers, and mechanics. Then there is translation and astronomy. Qianlong was extremely admiring of Western fine arts and astronomy, and he was unabashedly in front of outsiders, and Han Hanying was deeply impressed by this: "This monarch has awarded prizes to Europeans, and he openly told everyone that only Europeans are proficient in astronomy and painting, and Chinese in front of them are only 'offspring'. It's easy to see how much this preference hurts a proud people, because in the eyes of this nation, everything that is not native is vulgar. ”

The missionaries who entered the Qing Palace as painters were Lang Shining, Ma Guoxian, Wang Zhicheng, Ai Qimeng, He Qingtai, An Deyi, and Pan Tingzhang, and Wang Zhicheng talked about his specific work as a painter in the palace in his book:

In the emperor's palace and his gardens, he rarely brought in magnates such as princes and ministers except for the upper dynasty. Of all the Westerners here, only painters and watchmakers were allowed to enter all places, which was necessary due to their profession. The place where we usually paint is one of these small palaces that I have told you about. The Emperor went there almost every day to inspect our work, so that we could not leave the table, let alone go too far, unless it was something that needed to be painted there that could be moved. Although they brought us there, they were closely guarded by the eunuchs. We must walk in a hurry, silently, on tiptoe to the ground, as if we were stealing to do something bad. It was in this way that I witnessed and browsed the entire beautiful Imperial Garden and entered all the suites. ...... During the day, we are in the middle of the garden, where dinner is served by the emperor. To spend the night, we arrived in a fairly large city or a town, and we bought a house very close to the royal family. When the emperor was still driving the capital, we also returned with the car. At this time, we stayed in the deep courtyard of the palace during the day and returned to our church at night.

On October 17, 1754, in a long letter to Father De La Tour, Qian Deming reported that Wang Zhicheng had served Qianlong in the palace, including being summoned by the emperor to Rehe to make a "Victory Map" for Qianlong after qianlong quelled the Dzungar rebellion, and the emperor wanted to make Wang Zhicheng an official, but Wang Zhicheng politely refused, wang briefed the ministers on the situation in France in the palace, and the king painted and made newspapers with other missionaries in the Qing Palace, such as chiming bells, spraying water jets, glassware, and walking lions. Although the number of surviving paintings of Wang Zhicheng was less than that of Lang Shining, his painting skills were not inferior to those of The Lang clan, and they were on a par with the Lang clan at that time.

Among the Western craftsmen who entered the palace, Jiang Youren and Han Ying were more prominent, and they presided over the European-style palace design in the Yuanmingyuan. On November 16, 1767, Jiang Youren wrote to Babilao DaodaiRoshi that he had come to Beijing as a mathematician in 1745 at the behest of Qianlong. Two years later, "he was responsible for the construction of the water law according to the edict of His Majesty the Emperor", adding new highlights to the beautiful Yuanmingyuan:

It was in these gardens that the emperor wanted to build a European-style palace, decorated in a European style from the interior to the exterior. He entrusted me with the construction of the water law, although my low energy in this area has been exposed.

In addition to the construction of water law, I was also responsible for other work in geography, astronomy and physics. Seeing that His Majesty the Emperor was very interested in all this, I used my spare time to draw for him a world map of 12 feet, half length, 6 feet and half high. I also attached a note about the Earth and celestial bodies, about the trajectories of new discoveries on Earth and other planets, the trajectories of comets.

Jiang Youren wrote three consecutive letters to Father Jialisi in November and December 1773 regarding his contact with Qianlong in the palace. The first letter talked about gifts such as telescopes and other gifts from the newcomers Li Junxian and Pan Tingzhang to pay tribute to Qianlong, pan Tingzhang made a portrait of Qianlong, the architectural style of the palace and various ornaments. The second letter records the conversation between Jiang Youren and Qianlong, covering how European missionaries were selected to come to China, the platemaking of the copperplate engraving "Victory Map", the situation in European countries and Southeast Asia, and various parts of Japan, the current situation of missionaries in China and the movement of celestial bodies, and the study of the princes. The third letter reported with Qianlong about the movement of celestial bodies, telescopes, religion and missionaries, the evaluation of Chao Junxiu, wine and the religious life of missionaries, etc. At the beginning of the conversation, Jiang Youren introduced the "Sun Center Theory" to Qianlong, which may be the first time that Chinese have come into contact with this principle. On October 23, 1774, when Jiang Youren was overwhelmed by the exhaustion of his work and the news of the dissolution of the Jesuits, an unnamed Jesuit, reporting on his death, gave a detailed review of his achievements in China, especially the construction of water laws, fountains, and Western-style buildings in the Yuanmingyuan, and finally concluded:

If one day writes a Chinese ecclesiastical yearbook, one could simply quote the non-Christians' claims and thoughts about Father Jiang Youren to make future generations understand that his virtues are higher than his talents. The emperor gave a hundred taels of silver for his funeral, inquired in detail about his final illness, and finally said, "This is a good man, very diligent." These words from the mouth of the monarch are high praise, and if they refer to a Tatar or Chinese (Han) person, they will make their children and grandchildren a great reputation.

Twenty years in Beijing (1760-1780), according to a Jesuit who was close to him, he "paid attention to and loved various disciplines, and had a wealth of knowledge; his concentration, especially his enthusiasm, enabled him to succeed in all the work he was engaged in (such as astronomy, mechanics, linguistic and historical research, etc.)." "He did a great deal of work on academic papers sent to Europe by missionaries in Beijing and published with the care and support of the Minister of State, Mr. Bertin, but he never wanted them to bear his name." On 7 November 1764, Korea Wrote to Father Dervier, revealing: "I have been working in the royal palace for four years. In the palace, a large water clock with jets of water, birds chirping and ever-changing animal figures was made. I see the emperor often. Believe me, He only allows those who disobey His will to become martyrs. Without Him protecting us openly, we would soon be gone. Please pray for the conversion of the Emperor himself and his whole family, who love us. According to his book of November 22, 1767, "Yu was a water sprayer and a mechanic for five years in the Imperial Garden of the Palace of China, and since the emperor established martial arts, he has become a horticulturist and a florist." ”。 Most of the works left by Han Hanying after his death have been included in the China Series.

There is also a horticulturist in the Qing Palace, Tang Zhizhong. According to a brief letter from Garays to Carasso of 13 December 1757, Tang Zhizhong was involved in the expansion of the Imperial Garden and the construction of a European-style palace with Jiang Youren:

This priest entered the palace three years ago with the help of seeds of his flowers and vegetables. At that time, the emperor had the imperial garden expanded. Father Tang also decorated the imperial garden with some fountains and waterfalls. The project has not yet been completed, and Father Jiang Youren is now in charge of the matter there. The monarch also had a European palace larger than the one he had built seven years earlier. The emperor seemed satisfied with the mechanical service provided by the Europeans and rewarded them with prominent positions. But the emperor's reward was limited to this, and our sacred religion was hardly spread by it. In Beijing, christianity has not yet been treated, but in the provinces, Christianity has never been allowed to exist and missionaries have been hunted down.

Jiang Youren depicted Qianlong's daily diet based on his own close observation, which added new material to our understanding of Qianlong's living habits:

His Majesty always ate alone, and no one dined with him, only the eunuchs served him. His breakfast was scheduled at 8 a.m. and lunch at 2 p.m. In addition to these two meals, the emperor did not eat anything except drinks during the day, and drank a light and refreshing thirst-quenching drink in the evening. He never drank wine or other sweet shochu that could be extremely exciting. In recent years, however, he has been drinking, at the doctor's suggestion, an old wine that has been brewed for many years, or more precisely a beer; like all chinese wines, he drinks it after it is hot: one cup at noon, one cup in the evening. His usual beverage when eating is tea, or ordinary water-brewed tea, or milk tea, or a variety of teas that are crushed together and fermented and prepared in various ways. ......

Although the dishes are extremely sumptuous, His Majesty never takes more than a quarter of an hour to each meal. If I hadn't witnessed all this countless times in the emperor's dining suite, or in other places where I could see dishes coming in and out, I would have been hard to believe.

Fang Shouyi summed up the use of Westerners in the Qing Palace: "The only reason why people here value Europeans is because they need astronomy and accurate, reliable, and knowledgeable translations. The current emperor loves to paint, but one of his successors may be dismissive of it. Europe sent more clocks and machines than people needed. The Jiaqing Emperor, who succeeded Qianlong, not only had little interest in learning Western art, but also extended the original policy of "forbidding religion" from the localities to Beijing, and this exchange activity in the palace naturally basically stopped with Qianlong's death.