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Research on Joachim Bouvet's Chinese This document is downloaded from DR‑NTU (https://dr.ntu.edu.sg) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Joachim Bouvet’s interpretation of Zhouyi and his mathematical model : research on Joachim Bouvet’s Chinese manuscripts of Yijing in the Apostolic Vatican Library collection Mu, Xiaofeng 2020 Mu, X. (2020). Joachim Bouvet’s interpretation of Zhouyi and his mathematical model : research on Joachim Bouvet’s Chinese manuscripts of Yijing in the Apostolic Vatican Library collection. Doctoral thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/144167 https://doi.org/10.32657/10356/144167 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution‑NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY‑NC 4.0). Downloaded on 06 Oct 2021 16:38:40 SGT Joachim Bouvet’s Interpretation of Zhouyi and His Mathematical Model Research on Joachim Bouvet’s Chinese Manuscripts of Yijing in the Apostolic Vatican Library Collection MU XIAOFENG SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES 2020 Joachim Bouvet’s Interpretation of Zhouyi and His Mathematical Model Research on Joachim Bouvet’s Chinese Manuscripts of Yijing in the Apostolic Vatican Library Collection MU XIAOFENG School of Humanities A thesis submitted to the Nanyang Technological University in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2020 Statement of Originality I certify that all work submitted for this thesis is my original work. I declare that no other person's work has been used without due acknowledgement. Except where it is clearly stated that I have used some of this material elsewhere, this work has not been presented by me for assessment in any other institution or University. I certify that the data collected for this project are authentic and the investigations were conducted in accordance with the ethics policies and integrity standards of Nanyang Technological University and that the research data are presented honestly and without prejudice. Date: 19/10/2020 Name of Student: MU XIAOFENG Signature of Student: Supervisor Declaration Statement I have reviewed the content of this thesis and to the best of my knowledge, it does not contain plagiarised materials. The presentation style is also consistent with what is expected of the degree awarded. To the best of my knowledge, the research and writing are those of the candidate except as acknowledged in the Author Attribution Statement. I confirm that the investigations were conducted in accordance with the ethics policies and integrity standards of Nanyang Technological University and that the research data are presented honestly and without prejudice. Date: 19/10/2020 Name of Supervisor: Li Chenyang Signature of Supervisor: Authorship Attribution Statement Please select one of the following; *delete as appropriate: * (A) This thesis does not contain any materials from papers published in peer-reviewed journals or from papers accepted at conferences in which I am listed as an author. Date: 19/10/2020 Name of Student: MU XIAOFENG Siganature of Student: Acknowledgments Since 2012, for eight years now, I have been studying for a Master’s and then a doctoral degree at the Philosophy Department of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Looking back at these years when I worked and studied at the same time, memories come back how, besides attending classes in Singapore or in Shanghai, I did academic research in spare time, sacrificing family and business. Inevitably, I find my mind filled with many mixed emotions of sadness, joy, helplessness, anxiety, and even the idea of giving up, but ultimately the clear awareness emerges that what made me stick to my goals was everyone around me who supported and encouraged me. As I am finishing my Ph.D. dissertation, I would like to express my deepest respect and gratitude to all of you. First of all, I must express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Li Chenyang. It is a great fortune for me to get acquainted with Professor Li and further do academic research with him. He is not only a generous Confucian scholar, but more like a loving elder. His patience and tolerance for my academic study, and his care and encouragement for my life are all Confucian exhortations that have deeply influenced me and will serve as an example for me to learn from throughout my life. My thesis committee members Professor Scott Cook and Professor Franklin Perkins have rendered their support to my work from the beginning and throughout its completion. I would like to take this opportunity to thanks them for their support, care and professional guidance. Three anonymous examiners of this thesis offered encouragement as well as valuable detailed suggestions for revisions. Their insightful comments helped me significantly improve this work. To them, I am grateful. I also must extend my deepest respect and gratitude to Professor Carlo Socol of the Salesian University of Rome. As an envoy of Chinese and Western cultures i like Matteo Ricci, he not only guided and strengthened me in my faith, but also paid close attention to my academic research. In addition to helping me search for Western literature as much as possible, he gave me many valuable suggestions for my thesis and helped me revise my grammar. He was like a kind father, making me feel the love of God and his amazing providence. I would also like to show my grateful appreciation to Dr. Yu Dong of the Vatican Apostolic Library. She not only helped me photocopy all the Chinese manuscripts of Joachim Bouvet listed in her catalogue, but also kindly entrusted Fr. Joseph Shi SJ, now over 90 years of age, to bring the documents to me personally, in Shanghai. Without her generosity and trust, this paper would not have been possible. Heartfelt thanks go to my enlightening teacher of Yijing, Professor Gu Guozhong. He was the first to accompany me through the gates of the studies of Zhouyi and has always shown concerned about and concretely supported me in my studies. Deep love and appreciation are due to my family, in particular to my wife, Xuan Yan, and to my sweetest son, Gianni Tingkun, for their constant patience and support. In addition to all the above, I am very grateful to the School of SOH, NTU for my graduate education and to many people who have supported and encouraged me though all these years. I would like to thank them here and to honestly acknowledge that without them, I would have been unable to hold on until my dissertation was finally finished. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………………. i Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………….……iii Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………… iv List of classical Chinese terms with English translation/Pinyin often used in this dissertation …………………………………………………………………………………………… v 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Literature review .................................................................................................................. 3 1.2. Research materials ........................................................................................................... 12 2. Yijing study by missionaries in late Ming and early Qing dynasties ..................... 14 2.1. The early stage of missionaries’ Yi-study ...................................................................... 15 2.2. Emperor Kangxi and the missionaries’ Yijing study ..................................................... 19 3. The life of Joachim Bouvet and a study of his 16 research papers on Yijing ....... 28 3.1. Biography ........................................................................................................................... 28 3.1.1. Education ........................................................................................................................ 29 3.1.2. Applying for the China mission .................................................................................... 33 3.1.3. Life and service during Kangxi’s reign ........................................................................ 35 3.1.4. The Chinese Rites Controversy .................................................................................. 41 3.2. A textual research on Bouvet’s 16 Chinese works ....................................................... 43 4. Bouvet’s theological interpretation of traditional Yijing concepts ............................ 58 4.1. Xiantian 先天 and Houtian 後天 ...................................................................................... 61 4.2. Three-Yi 三易/三义 ............................................................................................................ 69 4.3. Taiji 太極 ............................................................................................................................. 81 5. Bouvet’s mathematical interpretation of Yijing ............................................................ 97 5.1. Western philosophy of mathematics ............................................................................ 104 5.1.1. The mystical system of the Hebrew Kabbalah ........................................................ 105 5.1.2. The mathematical philosophy of Pythagoras and Plato ........................................ 110 5.2. Mathematical interpretation -Tianzundibeitu 天尊地卑圖 ......................................... 113 5.2.1. Image-numerological study of Yijing ......................................................................... 114 5.2.2 Tianzundibeitu ..............................................................................................................
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