The Chinese gazette in European sources : joining the global public in the early and mid-Qing dynasty

"The Chinese gazette as a publicly available government publication was distributed in a variety of formats since the twelfth century. Little is known, however, about its form and content before 1800. By looking at China from the periphery, this study shows how European sources offer a unique way of expanding the knowledge about the gazette of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its interconnected history illustrates how the Chinese gazette, as translated by European missionaries, became a major source for reflections on state and society by Enlightenment thinkers. It thus joined a global public much earlier than so far assumed"-- Provided by the publisher Contents Acknowledgments Figures Introduction Brief Presentation of the Chinese Gazette A Question of Terms Short Historiography of the Study of the Chinese Gazette of the Early and Mid-Qing Dynasty Quasi Absence of Chinese Copies of the Gazette from the Early and Mid-Qing Dynasty About This Book Chapter 1 The Kangxi Period (1662–1722) 1.1 Scattered References 1.2 The Tancheng 郯城 Earthquake 1.3 Contacts with Publishers Conclusion Chapter 2 The Yongzheng Period (1723–1735) 2.1 Reports by Perroni in the Archivio Storico “de Propaganda Fide” 2.1.1 Selection of Various News 2.1.2 Description and Use of the Gazettes 2.1.3 Vision on the Emperor and the Bureaucracy 2.1.4 Other Documents 2.2 Letters by Contancin in Lettres édifiantes et curieuses 2.2.1 First Letter 2.2.2 Second Letter 2.2.3 Third Letter 2.2.4 Evaluating Contancin’s Letters as a Source 2.3 Reception 2.3.1 Academic Journals and Pamphlets: Journal des sçavans, Mémoires de Trévoux, and the Bee 2.3.2 The Collection Description ... de la Chine 2.3.3 Works on Chinese and World History 2.3.4 Enlightenment Thinkers: Voltaire, Montesquieu, Quesnay 2.3.4.1 Voltaire 2.3.4.2 Montesquieu 2.3.4.3 Quesnay 2.3.5 The Swedish Freedom of Writing and the Press Act of 1766 Conclusion Chapter 3 The Qianlong Period (1736–1795) 3.1 European and Chinese Sources 3.1.1 European Sources: A Collection, a Manuscript, and Letters 3.1.2 Chinese Source: tizou shijian 題奏事件 3.2 Text Management in Terms of Selection and Translation 3.2.1 Selection Process 3.2.1.1 The Case of Jin Congshan 金從善 3.2.1.2 The Case of Zhi Tianbao 智天豹 3.2.2 Translation into French 3.2.3 Editorial Work in Paris 3.2.4 Reasons for the Use of Gazettes as Source 3.2.5 Supplement through Personal Contacts 3.3 Presence of the Gazettes in Mémoires concernant les Chinois 3.3.1 References to the Gazettes 3.3.2 Topics Reported on the Basis of the Chinese Gazette 3.3.3 The Case of the Siku quanshu 四庫全書 3.4 Vision on the Gazette and the Emperor 3.4.1 Public Good, Imperial Truth, and Critical Views 3.4.2 A Certain Image of the Emperor 3.5 Reception History 3.5.1 Academic Journals 3.5.2 Bertin and the French King Conclusion General Conclusion Looking at China from the Periphery Form, Structure, Content Participants in the Local Information System Writers and Translators in a Global Information Network Interpreters and Commentators Interconnected Cultural History Guide to the Sources 1 Archivio Storico “de Propaganda Fide” (APF), Rome 1.1 Scritture Originali delle Congregazioni Particolari dell’Indie orientali e Cina (SOCP) 1.2 Scritture riferite nei Congressi (SC), Indie orientali e Cina 2 Lettres édifiantes et curieuses (LEC) 2.1 “Lettre du Père Contancin, missionnaire de la Compagnie de Jésus, au Père Etienne Souciet, de la même Compagnie” (2 December 1725 in Canton) 2.2 “Lettre du Père Contancin, missionnaire de la Compagnie de Jésus, au Père Etienne Souciet, de la même Compagnie” (15 December 1727 in Canton) 2.3 “Lettre du Père Contancin, missionnaire de la Compagnie de Jésus, au Père Duhalde, de la même Compagnie” (19 October 1730 in Canton) 3 Mémoires concernant l’histoire, les sciences, les arts, les moeurs, les usages, &c. des Chinois, par les missionnaires de Pékin, 17 vols., Paris: Nyon Libraire – Treuttel et Würtz, 1776–1814. (MCC) 3.1 Mémoires concernant ... les Chinois (MCC), Vol. 9 (1783) 3.2 Mémoires concernant ... les Chinois (MCC), Vol. 11 (1786) 3.3 Mémoires concernant ... les Chinois (MCC), Vol. 12 (1786) 3.4 Mémoires concernant ... les Chinois (MCC), Vol. 13 (1788) 3.5 Mémoires concernant ... les Chinois (MCC), Vol. 14 (1789) 3.6 Mémoires concernant ... les Chinois (MCC), Vol. 15 (1791) 4 Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), Paris, Département des manuscrits: Bréquigny 10 5 Existing Copies of tizou shijian 題奏事件 Bibliography Index