The mathematicians sent to China by Louis XIV in 1685 (Q5944756)

The historiography of Chinese science, from the point of view of Sino-Western relations, from the seventeenth century onwards, is largely dominated by an ideological bias, induced by the idea that Western science was introduced into China by Jesuits and not by scientists: these missionaries are often viewed as the ``villains'' of the story, in a context of a purported advanced Chinese civilisation, maintained in a state of scientific backwardness by these religious (cf. the works published by Joseph Needham and his numerous followers). Based on the most painstaking and meticulous research into archives, the present article is truly exceptional. Taking avail of the available documentation in a well-balanced historical perspective, the author explains why and how French Jesuits mathematicians were sent to China by the Sun-king, Louis XIV. The origin of the project, the political context and the rivalry between France and Portugal, the scholarly background of the mathematicians, the travel between France and China, their scientific activity and, lastly, the dissolution of the group, nothing is forgotten. Most importantly too, the argumentation is supported by numerous original documents, liberally cited. A considerable bibliography (more than ninety items long) is also appended. It thus appears that, far from being backward and limited to outdated conceptions, the science transmitted to China at the beginning of the eighteenth century was to the contrary particularly advanced and reflected what was going on at the Academy des Sciences, in Paris, at the time.