Giulio Aleni, in Chinese Ai Rulüe, was an Italian Jesuit missionary and scholar. He was born in Leno near Brescia in Italy, at the time part of the Republic of Venice, and died at Yanping in China. He became a member of the Society of Jesus in 1600 and distinguished himself in his knowledge of mathematics and theology. He is known for helping publish the Zhifang Waiji, an atlas in Chinese. Giulio Aleni also wrote a treatise criticizing the Ming dynasty, the Ming emperors and their elites, and their mistakes and errors. Near the end of his life, the Ming dynasty eventually got destroyed and replaced by the Qing dynasty founded by the House of Aisin-Gioro.
The Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits, is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola and six companions, with the approval of Pope Paul III. The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations. Jesuits work in education, research, and cultural pursuits. Jesuits also conduct retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes, sponsor direct social and humanitarian ministries, and promote ecumenical dialogue.
Manchu is a critically endangered East Asian Tungusic language native to the historical region of Manchuria in Northeast China. As the traditional native language of the Manchus, it was one of the official languages of the Qing dynasty (1636–1912) of China, although today the vast majority of Manchus speak only Mandarin Chinese. Several thousand can speak Manchu as a second language through governmental primary education or free classes for adults in classrooms or online.
The Qianlong Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth emperor of the Qing and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796. In 1796, he abdicated in favour of his son, the Jiaqing Emperor, out of filial piety towards his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor, who ruled for 61 years, so that he not officially usurp him as the longest-reigning emperor. Despite his retirement, however, the Qianlong Emperor retained ultimate power as the Emperor Emeritus until his death in 1799, making him one of the longest-reigning monarchs in history as well as one of the longest-lived, having died at the age of 87. He was respected as the "Emperor Manjushri" (文殊皇帝) by Tibetans.
Michel Benoist was a Jesuit scientist who served for thirty years in the court of the Qianlong Emperor during the Qing dynasty, known for his architectural and landscape designs of the Old Summer Palace. Along with Giuseppe Castiglione, Benoist served as one of two Jesuit advisors to the Qianlong Emperor, and transformed parts of the Old Summer Palace into what historian Mark Elliott calls an "imitation of Versailles or Fontainebleau."
Sir George Leonard Staunton, 1st Baronet was an Anglo-Irish botanist, diplomat, physician, judge and planter who was an employee of the East India Company.
Protectorate of missions is a term for the right of protection exercised by a Christian power in a Muslim or other non-Christian country with regard to the persons and establishments of the missionaries. The term does not apply to all protection of missions, but only to that permanently exercised in virtue of an acquired right, usually established by a treaty or convention, voluntarily consented to or accepted by the non-Christian power after more or less compulsion. The object of the protectorate may be more or less extensive, as it may embrace only the missionaries who are subjects of the protecting power or apply to the missionaries of all nations or even to the native Christians who are their recent converts.
Martino Martini, born and raised in Trento, was a Jesuit missionary. As cartographer and historian, he mainly worked on ancient Imperial China.
China–France relations, also known as Franco-Chinese relations or Sino-French relations, are the interstate relations between China and France.
François Crépieul was a Jesuit missionary in Canada and vicar apostolic for the Montagnais Indians.
Dominique Parrenin or Parennin was a French Jesuit missionary to China.
Joseph-Anne-Marie de Moyriac de Mailla was a French Jesuit missionary to China.
Antoine Gaubil was French Jesuit missionary to China.
Pierre-Martial Cibot was a French Jesuit missionary to China.
The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China is part of the history of relations between China and the Western world. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, between the 16th and 17th century played a significant role in continuing the transmission of knowledge, science, and culture between China and the West, and influenced Christian culture in Chinese society today.
The Immobile Empire is the English translation of L'empire Immobile, Ou, Le Choc Des Mondes: Récit Historique, a book of history published in French 1989 by the French politician and writer Alain Peyrefitte and translated into English in 1992. The book gives a sweeping narrative of the British Embassy of Sir George Macartney to the Qianlong Emperor of China in 1793. Published originally in French, the book was then translated into English, Chinese, Dutch, and Portuguese. Peyrefitte contends that the frustration of the mission and the stand off in relations between Great Britain and China over diplomatic and audience ritual was caused by the ignorant intransigence and cultural conceit of the imperial court. The empire was "immobile" because these attitudes stifled China's natural creativity and kept it bureaucratic, static, and feeble over the following century and a half.
The translation of the Bible into the Manchu language was started in the 18th century, but only the translation of the New Testament has been published.
The imperial hunt of the Qing dynasty was an annual rite of the emperors of China during the Qing dynasty (1636–1912). It was first organized in 1681 by the Kangxi Emperor at the imperial hunting grounds at Mulan (modern-day Weichang Manchu and Mongol Autonomous County, near what would become the summer residence of the Qing emperors at Chengde. Starting in 1683 the event was held annually at Mulan during the autumn, lasting up to a month. The Qing dynasty hunt was a synthesis of earlier Chinese and Inner Asian hunting traditions, particularly those of the Manchus and Mongols. The emperor himself participated in the hunt, along with thousands of soldiers, imperial family members, and government officials.
Gabriel de Magalhães, or gallicized as Gabriel Magaillans, was an early Portuguese Jesuit missionary to China who was one of the first Catholic missionaries to reach Sichuan and founded the original St. Joseph's Church in Peking.
An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China; Including Cursory Observations made, and Information obtained, in travelling through that Ancient Empire and a small part of Chinese Tartary (1797) is the official report on the British Macartney Embassy to China that took place between 1792 and 1794. It was written after the return to England by the Secretary to the mission Sir George Leonard Staunton, 1st Baronet (1737-1801), based on his own observations and notes from other crewmembers, including his twelve-year-old son Sir George Thomas Staunton, 2nd Baronet. The official publisher to King George III, W.Bulmer & Co. for George Nicol published the account in 1797.
