, one of the French missionaries in China, whose knowledge of that
, one of the French missionaries in
China, whose knowledge of that country was carried to a
wonderful extent by an active spirit of inquiry, was born
at Caillac, in 1708, and in 1721 was sent by the Jesuits,
to which order he belonged, to China, where he resided
thirty -eight years. He acted as interpreter at the court of
Pekin; and his knowledge of the sciences and History of
China were matter of astonishment to the Chinese themselves. He sent many curious memoirs on the subject to
Europe, besides which, he published a good history of
Gengiskhan, in 4to, 1739; and after his death appeared
a translation of the “Chou King,
” in Lettres curieuses et edifiantes.
”