Indiana University Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies
ENG
1987
ISBN-10: 0933070209
PDF
228 pages
About the Book:
The Jesuit scholar Fr. Athanasius Kircher was 0ne of the most remarkable men of his time. He published forty major works in Latin on topics ranging from the natural sciences to Oriental studies. Many of his writings can be read with profit even after the passage of over three hundred years.
In 1667 Fr. Kircher published his China Illustrata. This book attempted to provide Europeans with a picture of the Chinese Empire and of the neighboring countries. Kircher drew on the written Jesuit sources, on oral accounts by returning missionaries, and on a variety of western sources such as Marco Polo. For over two hundred years, Kircher’s China Illustrata was probably the single most important written source for shaping the Western understanding of China and its neighbors.
Strictly speaking this work is formally known by its full Latin title:
Athanasii Kircheri e Soc. Jesu China monumentis : qua sacris quà profanis, nec non variis naturae & artis spectaculis, aliarumque rerum memorabilium argumentis illustrata auspiciis Leopoldi primi, Roman. Imper. semper Augusti, munificentissimi mecaenat. Alternatively it is also known by its shorter title China monumentis or by a variant China Illustrata.
Essentially, for the non-Latin reader, this meant that Athanasius Kircher (of the Society of Jesus) acted as a compiler, bringing together information on things both religious and secular, as well as concerning the various natural things of China (such as flora, fauna and landscape), in addition to anything else that might be of interest, such as exceptional handicrafts and so on. These items were accompanied by numerous illustrations.
General readers will appreciate not only the skill of the engraver(s) but also the fine details contained within the illustrations, that convey information about items like tea, ginseng, the Great Wall and the clothing of the emperor. Scholars will appreciate the reportage about China, and enjoy being able to read (and search) redacted accounts about China from almost three hundred years ago.
About the Author:
Athanasius Kircher was ordained a Jesuit in 1628 in Mainz, Germany, but fled his homeland and settled in Rome in 1634 to escape the Thirty Years War. He remained in Rome most of his life researching a wide variety of disciplines, from geography and astronomy to medicine and music. He was a rigorous and sometimes unconventional scientist, yet all his writings retain some of his mystical and religious conceptions of nature. The "China Illustrata" was first published in Latin in 1667, in German in 1668, and in French two years later. The text is based on descriptions by European explorers (many of them Jesuits) in China, India, and other Asian countries. With this book Kircher hoped to demonstrate the origin of Oriental "customs, ceremonies, and idols . . . and to demonstrate the way to bring [back] those who have been turned away from Christ by devilish malice." The splendid engravings were based on explorers' sketches and original images imported from Asia. Not only are they clear visualizations of Kircher's philosophy toward Asian traditions but they are also the first complete illustrations of various aspects of the civilization.
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