17至18世纪意大利人对中国的印象和想象

在意大利,关于中华帝国及其文化的详细知识是从16世纪就开始流传的,但这些信息为更多人所知却是在17和18世纪。对中国的大规模发现始于访问过中国的耶稣会士寄回的各种报告的出版以及他们向欧洲介绍中国经书的译作。这些知识在学术界被不断地讨论,最初是耶稣会士和宗教阶层,接着是启蒙运动的信徒。它们同时也成了整个欧洲就福音传道方法或"礼仪"的种类而引起的广泛辩论中所使用的工具:中国的贤明形象、自然神论、开明的专制政体,这些都为意大利及欧洲的思想家们的辩论提供了有趣的素材。同样的,关于"中国礼仪"的争论最初只限于教会内部和不同教派之间,但慢慢地就冲破了宗教论争和福音传道方法的限制,牵涉到了更广泛的议题:儒家学说本质上是一种道德体系还是一种宗教?讨论的对象也变成了对宗教本身的定义、文化与信仰的关系、对上帝的看法、不同社会的价值观相对性这些问题。这些信息从而被用于更深层次的辩论之中,中国的体系被当作是这样或那样的国家的和道德的观念的标准。启蒙运动将辩论的焦点集中于以儒家学说为基础的中国体系的"合理性"上。因此,一种或多种关于中国的传说就如在欧洲其他国家一样在意大利滋生出来。我们将介绍几种观点,其中从无条件的赞美到苛刻的批判都有。意大利的作家们参与了欧洲关于中国问题的论战并考察了最新出版的关于中国的著作。我们可以把他们分为三类:"亲华者"、"排华者",及以调和的方法破除关于中国的早期传说者。

The Image and Imagination of China in the 17th and 18th Century's Italy

The circulation of early detailed information about the Chinese Empire and culture in Italy started in the 16th century,but it was in the 17th and 18th centuries that such knowledge became more diffused.The largest discovery of China started from the publication of broad reports sent by the Jesuits who visited China,and from their translations that introduced Chinese Classics to Europe.Such information was discussed in the intellectual circles,at the beginning among Jesuits and religious orders,and then among the followers of the Enlightenment movement.They became also tools in the broad debates that in the same time developed in the whole Europe on the methods of evangelization,or on the nature of the "rites":The image of a sage China,of its deism,its enlightened despotism offered interesting elements to the debate of the Italian and European thinkers.The same controversy on the "Chinese rites",originally limited to the ecclesiastical ambit and between the religious orders,overcame the religious topic and the evangelization methods,and involved wider issues:which was the nature of Confucianism,a moral system or a religion? Object of discussion became the concept of religion itself,the relationship between culture and faith,the idea of divinity,the relativity of the values in different societies.Consequently the manipulation of such information was used in further debates,and the Chinese system was mentioned as a model for this or that idea of state and morality:The Enlightenment movement focused their attention on the "rationality" of the Chinese system based on Confucianism.Thus,one or more myths of China grew also in Italy,as in the rest of Europe,and we can present some opinions,from the prevalence of an unconditioned admiration to diffidence.The Italian authors took part to the controversies developing in Europe on the Chinese issue and looked at the new works published on China.We can distinguish three tendencies:the "Sinophiles," "Sinophobes" and those who,in balanced way,contributed to dismantle the previous myths of China.