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The famous Chinese sage and philosopher Confucius was born in the village of Ch’uen, in the province of Lú (now Shandung). His golden rule was, ‘What you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others’.

Throughout the period of the Enlightenment, European intellectuals were fascinated by Confucian ideas and the Chinese political system. This book contains the first widely available translation in the West of parts of Confucius’ works by a number of western scholars, including the Belgian Jesuit Philippe Couplet (1622–93), an important historian of the Jesuit mission in China.

The portrait of Confucius shows him wearing the traditional costume of the scholar and carrying a symbol of administrative office. The library shown in the background represents the learning contained in the Imperial Academy, as indicated by the Latin text and Chinese characters (‘Studies of the Nation’).

Citation:
1. Philippe Couplet, Confucius Sinarum philosophus, sive scientia Sinensis latinè exposita (Paris, 1687),
Marsh's Library Exhibits,
accessed November 18, 2024,
https://web.marshlibrary.ie/digi/items/show/559