Traité sur quelques points de la religion des chinois

French first edition, translated by Louis Champion de Cicé, of this treatise by Longobardo, bound with Lettre d'Eusèbe romain by Mabillon (Grenoble, Etienne Bon, 1698, 88 pp.); and Lettre à Madame de Lionne by Bernardino della Chiesa (n.p., n.d., 84 pp.)

A rare copy of one of the principal Western sources on Chinese philosophy, written by the Jesuit missionary Longobardo, who succeeded Ricci as superior of the Jesuit China mission. Also with an uncommon Grenoble edition of Mabillon's pamphlet, which opened the debate on the validity of the cult of the catacomb saints. At the end of the volume, in echo of Longobardo, is bound a response by Bernardino della Chiesa, apostolic legate in China, to one of the rare theological writings by a woman. Paule Payen de Lionne had fiercely criticized what she saw as the Jesuits' tolerance of Chinese idolatry.

Contemporary full basane binding, spine with five raised bands decorated with small gilt tools in the compartments, gilt rolls on the bands, red morocco lettering-piece, faded rolls on the board edges, rubbed corners, headcaps worn with losses of leather at head and tail, rubbing to the boards.

"The 'Traité sur quelques points de la religion des Chinois' aims to give a systematic explanation of Chinese philosophy, and more particularly of Confucian and Neo-Confucian philosophy. There is an effort on the part of the Jesuit missionary to integrate, within the framework of European metaphysics, certain key concepts of Neo-Confucianism, such as li (理: order, reason, principle), qi (气, or Ki in Longobardo and Leibniz: air, breath, energy), and taiji (太极, or Taikie in Longobardo and Leibniz: the supreme ultimate), as well as of ancient Confucianism, notably shangdi (上帝, or Xangti in Longobardo and Leibniz: the Sovereign on High). One of the author's principal theses is to assert that, on the one hand, "Li," the first principle of the Chinese system and first cause of the world, is the equivalent of "prime matter" in Aristotelian philosophy, and on the other hand, that from this first principle emanated "Taikie," or "the air," that is, the proximate matter of which all material things are composed: a process accomplished by means of "Ki," the "instrumental and formal cause." Furthermore, Longobardo asserts that the Neo-Confucians (the "interpreters") identify their first principle "Li" with the figure of "Xangti" (Sovereign on High) found in the Chinese classics, who, according to these texts, "governs the world, rewards the good and punishes the wicked," and that, consequently, neither "Li" nor "Xangti" can be the equivalent of God in the European conception."

 

(Jin Qian, "Le Discours sur la théologie naturelle des Chinois et la controverse Leibniz/Descartes sur la substance" Philosophiques, vol. 50, no. 1, 2023.)