Abstract
The first translation of Confucius’s Analects into a European language was a Dutch book by Pieter van Hoorn. Printed in Batavia in 1675, it predated the better-known Latin translation, Confucius Sinarum Philosophus (1687). Whereas the introduction of Confucius in the West has often been regarded as a project of the Jesuit mission, an exploration of the Netherlandish situation points out that the ‘manufacturing’ of Confucianism was a variegated and multi-confessional affair. The process of transmitting, translating, publishing, explaining, and judging Confucius presented a challenge to Europeans from different backgrounds and allegiances, integrating not only Latin and vernacular scholarship but also Asian expertise.
Keywords: Confucius, Pieter van Hoorn, Philippe Couplet, Jesuits, VOC/East India Company, philosophy

Local access dig.pdf. [Constructing Confucius Low Countries.pdf].
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"This publication deals with a manuscript, written by Philippe Couplet S.J., who was a missionary in China from 1658 till 1681. He was sent as a procurator of the Chinese missions to Europe, where he stayed till 1692. ... It was during this time that he composed: A Brief Report of the Situation and Quality of the Missions in China. The present study contains an Italian transcript (pp. 40-96) and a facsimile edition (pp. 163-241) of this document. In an appendix, 316 Chinese works, presented by Couplet to Pope Innocent XI in 1685 and preserved in the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, are listed (pp. 121-138). Gatta added an introduction and some conclusions.”
“The Brief Report mentions in a nutshell all the main characteristics of the missionary approach of the Jesuits: evangelization from the top to the bottom, assimilation with the culture of the Confucians, the coincidence of the original Chinese and Christian notion of God and of the ethical norms, the accomodation to the rites of Confucianism, the negative relationship with Buddhism and Taoism, the importance of the study of astronomy and other sciences and the use of books published in Chinese. Both the mission of Couplet to Europe and his Brief Report have played a role in the Rites Controversy..." (Arnulf Camps in Exchange)—From Monumenta Serica website.

Introduzione: Biografia e bibliografia di Philippe Couplet — Capitolo I: Il manoscritto intitolato Breve relatione dello stato e qualità delle missioni della Cina — Capitolo II: La Cina del periodo: lineamenti storici — Capitolo III: Il testo: Breve relatione dello stato e qualità delle missioni della Cina [la trascrizione] — Capitolo IV: La prima parte: I metodi di intervento pastorale adottati — Capitolo V: La seconda parte: Un piccolo manuale di intervento missionario; Conclusioni.
Appendice: Catalogus Librorum Sinicorum — Catalogus Librorum Astronomicorum et Philosophicorum Sinicorum.
Facsimile: Breve relatione dello stato e qualità delle missioni della Cina (A.R.S.I., Jap. Sin. 131)