A New Investigation into the Confucian Translations and Interpretations of Claude de Visdelou S.I.

Claude de Visdelou, a French Jesuit missionary who arrived in China in the 17th century, was renowned for his remarkable linguistic talent and profound knowledge of Sinology. He left behind numerous Latin translations of Chinese classics, many of which were preserved in manuscript form and are currently held in Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Based on an examination of Visdelou’s life and his Latin translations of Confucian documents, such as Daxue, this paper aims to analyze the complex reasons why Visdelou openly opposed the Jesuit policy of tolerance toward Chinese rituals and was promoted by the Roman Curia for his opposition to the Jesuit’s approach. The paper also reflects on his translation activities as a personal intellectual struggle and as a means of cross-cultural knowledge construction from the perspective of Sino-Western cultural exchange history.