| Note | Description of manuscript text included in Dicionário Português-Chinês. 葡漢辭典. Portuguese-Chinese Dictionary. [Japonica-Sinica I, 198, ff. 32r-169r.]
Attributed to Michele Ruggieri and Matteo Ricci.
See Dicionário Português-Chinês.
Local access dig.pdf. [Ricci-Dicionario.pdf]
Jap-Sin I, 197
Portuguese-Chinese Vocabulary.
Manuscript, written on Chinese bamboo paper; one volume, leather bound. Unnumbered pages. 17.8 x 12.5 cm.
On folio 1 there is a note by D’Elia: “Frasario per imparare il cinese. Della mano del Ruggieri a quanto sembra. Potrebbe darsi che su una raccolta di frasi fatte del Ruggieri coi suoi giovani e di cui si servi il Ricci ai primi anni — la traduzione italiana delle prime pagine sembra del Ricci. 6. 10. 34. P. D’Elia.” Wieger’s catalogue (WH) gives: “Locutiones Lusitanae-Sinenses.”
It is doubtful whether this vocabulary is in the handwriting of Ruggieri and if Ricci had anything to do with it.
Jap-Sin I, 198
Portuguese-Chinese Vocabulary.
Manuscript on a kind of thin and soft white paper known as mianzhi 綿紙, bound in European style. 189 folios. 23 x 16.3 cm.
The first folio bears an inscription of D’Elia: “Questo è il Dizionario Europeo-Cinese fatto da Ruggieri — Ricci. È il primo del genere. La romanizzazione è italiana, probabilmente del Ricci — spesso scrittura del Ruggieri. Al principio c’è il primo catechismo verso il 1583–1588 e alcune . . . di cosmografia. Dicembre di 1583–1588. Molto prezioso. 6.10.34. P. D’Elia, S.J.” The same folio bears another Italian inscription: “Dell’ Archivio Romo | di Compa di Giesu.”
The whole book is written in Chinese ink, except that the Italian equivalents after the Chinese characters from folio 32r–34r are written in European ink. The Chinese characters were probably written by a native, though occasionally writing in foreign hands is added.
Folios -- -- Contents
2. -- Blank.
3r–7r. -- Romanization of words.
8r–12r. -- Blank.
12v–16v. -- Several transcriptions from Ruggieri’s Catechism (cf. Jap Sin I, 187).
17v–23v. -- The terrestrial globe:
紀天地毬，共有十二圖，南北二極，中央地一，每圖俱有三百六十分數.
24r. -- The names of the twenty-four solar periods 二十四氣 in Chinese with Latin equivalents.
24v–26v. -- Some Chinese characters.
27r. -- The names of the two capitals and the thirteen provinces of China and the names of dates.
27v–28r. -- The names of the Chinese cycles, the names of the twenty-four solar periods and some Chinese characters.
28v–31v. -- Chinese characters, occasionally with romanization and Latin explanation.
32r–156r. -- A Portuguese-Chinese vocabulary from A to Z. The Portuguese word is given first, followed by the romanization and then the Chinese equivalent. The last two lines (f. 156r) are written in Latin: “Laus Deo Virginique Matri Divis Gervasio e Protasio Amen. Jesus.” Perhaps the manuscript was completed on the Feast of Gervatius and Protasius (19 June).
157r–185r. -- A supplementary vocabulary. Folios 170r–171r gives the 日則訣 and folio 171v the 日則圖.
186v–187v. -- A copy of the verdict given by the magistrate on the calumny of Cai Yilong 蔡一龍 against Ruggieri. D’Elia reproduced this document in his Fonti Ricciane, vol. I, p. 242 (N. 297), where he puts the event under 26 October 1587. The handwriting of this verdict is badly done and there are several errors in the characters: 瞞住 is written 瞞准 and twice the character 理 is written 俚. And, in copying this document D’Elia failed to recognize the character 簿 and instead of 李主簿 he has 李主灣. We must admit that in the original this character is not clear. It can, however, be identified by its context.
188r–189r. -- Seemingly transcriptions from a book of rhymes; e.g. in 189r: dimen 地門 (groups of phrases on geographic expressions: 水緣，山光；源白，水遠 etc.) and in folio 188r renmen 人門 (phrases that deal with human beings: 時人，玉昆，偷閑，少年，野僧，漁郎).
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The following are some interesting curiosities within the text:
Folios -- -- Contents
102v. -- The words connected with figs are given different meanings: Figo de Portugal is given as 無花果 and 番蕉， Figuera as 蕉樹, Figo de India as 芭蕉 and Figo passado as 蕉乾.
103r. -- Fisico is given as 醫生 (under medico and chirugião [surgeon]), Fisico mor as 太醫 (under chirugião) and Freyra as 尼姑 (under Bonza);
108r. -- Igreja is given as 寺; Jogo is wrongly written賻 (it should be賭博 and 賭錢 should be 賭); Juiz is given as 官, perhaps because in China the local mandarins often acted as judges as well as being governors of the districts. India is given as 西洋, Larranje as 柑子, Larrançeira as 柑樹 and both Lição and livro as 書.
113r. -- Limão is given as 酸柑 and Limoeiro as酸柑樹.
122r. -- Nação Portuguese is given as 番人，夷人; obedezer as 孝順 and obediente as 孝.
132v. -- Por merce de deos is given as 因為[口+廖口+師]. These two characters for God do not appear in any other book. The Zhengjiao bianlan (cf. Jap-Sin I, 170) by Domingo de Nieva, O.P., published in Manila, 1606, gives the term Liaoshi 僚氏 for God, which is very close to the term we have here. It looked and sounded too odd to the Chinese people and soon went out of use and the terms Tianzhu, given in Ruggieri’s Catechism (Jap-Sin I, 189), prevailed throughout the centuries.
136r. -- Queiso is given as 牛乳 (milk) instead of 乳酪 (cheese).
149r. -- Tía Irmãa da Pai is given as 姑 and Tía Irmãa da Mai as 姨. It is interesting to note that the term tía is applied to the sister of the father and to the sister of the mother. The latter in Chinese is quite different.
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There are indications that this vocabulary was compiled in the Ming period: on folio 161r we find 大明國 (China), 唐人, chumpim 總兵, chaiuen察院 ; Colao 國老 (the character 國 should be 閣), i.e., Grand Secretary; Guei 衛, guards; then on folio 27r there is a list of the two capitals and the thirteen provinces 兩京十三省.
Among the things Chinese given in the vocabulary are: chaapa, 告示，票，文書; faxas 快子, cha 茶, fazer cortesia 作揖, jiunco 船, girobasa 通事, mandarin 官府，老爺，老爹，武官，大官. For ‘Europe’ the term 西竺 is used, as can be seen on folio 20r: 此毬西竺儒者作.
Source: Albert Chan, Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp.254-256. |
