1685年,出于扩展法国在东亚影响的需要,法国国王路易十四(Louis XIV,1638-1715)专门派出由五名"国王数学家"耶稣会士组成的传教团,1687年他们抵达中国。传教团中的张诚(Jean-Francois Gerbillon,1654-1707)、白晋(Joachim Bouvet,1656-1730)到中国后供职于康熙宫廷,而团长洪若翰(Jean de Fontaney,1643-1710)及其他两位成员李明(Louis-Daniel Le Comte,1655-1728)、刘应(Claude de Visdelou,1656-1737)则到各地传教。当礼仪之争白炽化之时,李明于1696年在巴黎出版了《中国近事报道》(Nouveaux mémoires sur l’état présent de la Chine)一书,为耶稣会士的在华传教政策辩护。该书出版后,于1700年被巴黎索邦神学院列为禁书。不过由于该书内容非常丰富,涉及当时中国文化与社会的许多方面,如有关儒家创始人孔子、儒家伦理道德以及儒家礼仪习俗等方面的重要内容,因而该书出版后对当时欧洲启蒙思想家如伏尔泰(Voltaire,原名Francois-Marie Arouet,1694-1778)、魁奈(Francois Quesnay,1694-1774)、莱布尼茨(Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz,1646-1716)都产生过影响。本文将通过考察李明对儒家经典和儒家文化传统的诠释来研究李明的儒家观。
In 1919 the first Jesuit coming from the francophone region of Canada(Québec) arrived in Xuzhou.After that date,other French Canadian missionaries never ceased to come to Xuzhou.Until 1949,more than 70 Jesuits have preached there.These missionaries have left a number of invaluable documents.Very consistent archives may be found in the Archives des Jésuites in Saint-Jér?me,including the periodical Le Brigand which deals specifically with this mission of Xuzhou,personal books such as Canadiens en Chine from ?douard Lafortune,and a collection of Chinese artifacts among which one may admire the work of art " Bed of the Empress " Cixi,presently available at the Musée de la Civilisation,in the city of Québec.These numerous documents have contributed to lay a solid foundation for our study of French Canadian Jesuits in Xuzhou before 1949.
