Regni Chinensis
Descriptio is a very old work that is part of the collection of the IACM
Building
Library, written by Nicolas Trigault, 11 X 6 X 2cm in size, published by the Elzeviriana Office （famous 17th century Dutch press）in 1639. This work was written in Latin, which limits the
number of readers who can understand it.
The book was
recently discovered when a translation in English, The China that was: China as
Discovered by the Jesuits at the Close of Sixteenth Century by L. J. Gallagher,
published in 1942 by the Bruce Publishing Company, was found.
In the preface,
Gallagher introduces the translated work as follows:
The volume in
hand is a translation of the first book of the Expedition to China Undertaken by
the Society of Jesus. That complete work is made up of five books extending to
646 pages. The last four books are a translation into Latin of The Diary Father Mattew Ricci, originally written in Italian and rendered into Latin by Father
Nicolas Trigault, during a return voyage from China to Italy. Book No.1 is
Trigault’s original work done in Latin, an introduction to his translation of
Ricci’s Diary and written, as he informs us, to save the reader the interminable
task of continual reference to her writings during his readings of the four
books following. The Diary itself is an invaluable mission record and the
introduction to it is a rare ethnological and sociological study, neither of
which has ever before appeared in English. ( The China that was: China as
Discovered by the Jesuits at the Close of Sixteenth Century, translated by L. J.
Gallager, from the Latin of Nicolas Trigault, edition of The Bruce Publishing
Company, 1942. p.v )
Gallagher
recognized the importance of the Diary of Matteo Ricci, but at the same time
understood the value of the work Regni Chinensis Descriptio, which is the first
dedicated study of the Chinese culture.
This is a
separate and distinct work and quite different from a mission record though
included as Book 1 of the Christian Expedition to the Chinese. It is a
scientific ethnological and sociological study, an extraordinary presentation of
Chinese life, and the first publication on the Orient to awaken the attention of
Educational Europe to an academic interest in Chinese culture ( The China that
was: China as Discovered by the Jesuits at the Close of Sixteenth Century,
translated by L. J. Gallager, from the Latin of Nicolas Trigault, edition of The
Bruce Publishing Company, 1942.)
The summary of
this book reveals points of interest
1. Concerning
the Mission to China Undertaken by the Society of Jesus
2. Concerning
the Name, Location, and the Extent of the Chinese Empire
3. The Fertility
and the Products of the Chinese Empire
4. Concerning
the Mechanical Arts Among the Chinese
5. Concerning
the Liberal Arts, the Sciences, and the Use of Academic Degrees
Among the
Chinese
6. The
Administration of the Chinese Republic
7. Concerning
Certain Chinese Customs
8. Concerning
Dress and Other Customs and Peculiarities
9. Concerning
Certain Rites, Superstitious and Otherwise
10. Religious
Sects Among the Chinese
11. Signs of the
Doctrines of the Saracens, the Jews and the Christianity Among the
Chinese.
Art on the pages of
this rare book
Beyond its content, the design of this book
combines common elements of books printed in its time. Besides a
number on each page, there is also a quire signature, a letter of
the alphabet with a number to ensure the correct page order during
the binding of the book, marked on the lower part of each odd page,
an alphabet with number, for example A, A2, and A3 or B, B2, B3. In
this book, the pages were divided in 23 sections, ordered
alphabetically from A to Z, excluding J, U, W.
To
facilitate reading, a catchword, the last syllable at the end of each page was
repeated at the start of the following page. At the beginning of
each new chapter, the first letter is decorated with
illuminations, a typical device of that time. The edges of the pages
were tinted a reddish purple, a colour which in Christian symbolism,
conveys the idea of sublime pureness.
The splendid design of the title page
If
we compare the human body with a book, the face is represented by
the page heading which always reflects the book's spirit. The main
subjects are Catholicism and China. The page is divided
systematically in four parts. At the top is the figure of a scholar
or religious person, dressed in a long-sleeved Chinese-style robe,
taking a vessel of wine, which suggests the sacrifice of Jesus or
water, which invokes the idea of a clean spirit. A wreath of Akantos
(leaf of paradise) suggests the theme of eternity.
A map of China is found
on the lower part of a page with topographical details such as
rivers, lakes, and natural characteristics, and including the Great
Wall surrounding the vast Chinese territory. Considering both top
and bottom images suggests a representation of the propagation of
the Catholic religion in China.
It is very rare to find
an image placed vertically on each of the two sides of a page.
Typically, a Chinese couplet carved in stone is hung near a door as
shown here. On the right side is written "Wild Geese Flying at Ping
Sha " = Ping Sha Luo Yan ( 平沙落雁 ). Ping Sha Luo Yan is a piece of
classical music, played on the zheng, a musical instrument with
thirteen strings. The music is melancholy, and invokes the
homesickness scholars of the time.
On the left side is a
Chinese painting, a range of mountains, with geese flying from top
to bottom over the river thick with rushes, bringing to mind the
wind rising the rushes. If we carefully count how many geese are
painted, we find thirteen, reflecting a Chinese saying about "the
flight of thirteen geese" in the form of men(人). One goose in front
serves as a guide and the others follow in two lines. Possibly this
is symbolic of Jesus and the twelve disciples who founded the
religion.
In
the center of the page, details such as the title of the book, the
author, the name of the publishing house (in this book the printer
and the publisher are the same), the publisher's logo and the year of
publication. Almost all the necessary
information is there except the name of the author, Nicolas Trigault,
and that appears in the first chapter, below the frontispiece.
The
artistic part of this work is interpreted solely from the reviewer's
point of view which could be different from others. But it is
certain that through this work we can affirm that the symbiosis of
Chinese and Western culture was very much alive during this period.
The Jesuit missionaries had approached the Chinese scholars, and the
friendship that developed between them was so deep that they had
shared leisure time together, and created music, painting and
culture. The Jesuits' great admiration for Chinese culture gained
them the trust of the Chinese, who until then accept the Catholic
religion. This proved that Matteo Ricci's strategy of promoting
religion was a success.
All
interested parties are invited to examine and study in depth Regni
Chinensis Descriptio so that we can continue to appreciate this
intercultural friendship.
Hamel, Christopher de, A History of illuminated
manuscripts, London: Phaidon, 1994.
2.
Lee, Marshall Book Making: Editing , Design,
Production, New York: Norton, c2004.
3.
Trigault, Nicolas The China that was: China as
discovered by the Jesuits at the close of sixteenth
Century,translated by Gallagher, L.
J. Milwaukee: The Bruce publishing company , 1942.
4.
Vries, AD de Dictionaryof Symbols and Imagery,Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Company, 1974.
