Lecture by Gregor Weimar SVD, Monumenta Serica Institute
Friday 31 January 2025, 5 pm to 6 pm, online in the Mission History Network convened by Prof. David Onnekink (Utrecht University).
Abstract
Louis Antoine de Poirot (1735 – 1813) was the first translator of biblical books into the Manchu language. These biblical translations and in particular the editing and annotations exemplify the Jesuit mission strategy of “accommodating” the Christian message into the environment of the host nation, here the Manchu context of the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911).
Gregor Weimar presented his doctoral research on the extensive editing and annotative work by Louis de Poirot in this session of the Mission History Network chaired by Dr. Lars Laamann (SOAS, University of London).
The research and analysis show, that Poirot aimed to make his texts appealing to a Qing Chinese literati audience, through the annotating and editing of his texts in a Chinese literary fashion, e.g. the inclusion of prefaces. Furthermore, Poirot aligned the Bible’s message with Confucian values and make them orthodox through genealogical arguments of a complete lineage from Creation to the beginning of the Christian Mission.
Despite the Qing state’s growing unease with religious activities, Poirot’s texts were produced without official permission from both sides, the Catholic Propaganda Fide in Rome and the Qing state, making these texts illegal on both fronts.
Gregor Weimar argues that these texts were intended for a Manchu readership in a reality of a Catholic Church crumbling at the beginning of the 19th century in Qing China. He further emphasizes the importance of cultural translation and the feasibility of using Manchu as a medium to reach the Qing elite. He suggests that Poirot’s texts were prepared for use in a catechetical setting by inserting annotations and visual devices into the texts to help an untrained reader to understand the terms and concepts foreign to a Manchu reader. These texts were meant to be used by catechetical instructors, likely Manchu nobles, beyond the presence of theologically trained Catholic priests, potentially giving agency to lay people unprecedented in the Catholic mission.