"Sinensis Imperii Libri Classici Sex": An Early Masterwork of Sinology as a source of the German Enlightenment?

• Applicant: Dr. Henrik Jaeger
• Subject Area: History of Philosophy
• Term: from 2014 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 254950666

The Jesuit Father François Noël (1651 - 1729) published in 1711 in Prague the first complete translation of the Four Books in his Sinensis Imperii libri Classici, a work that included also the Confucian classics Xiaoxue and the Xiaojing. In the same year, he edited also a voluminous description of Chinese Philosophy (Philosophia Sinica tribus tractatibus), the most comprehensive and exhaustive work on this topic ever written by a European by the early 18th century. Even in the light of modern sinological scholarship Noëls achievements do represent an astonishing level of understanding of the Confucian tradition.In 1712, soon after the publication of the Sinensis Imperii libri Classici sex this book was reviewed by Christian Wolff (1679 - 1754), the most prominent and influential philosopher of the early enlightenment in Germany. Wolff seems to have studied this work in the following years intensively: In his Speech on the Practical Philosophy of the Chinese held in 1721 in Halle, he cites the Libri Classici as the source of his insights into Chinese Philosophy and expresses his admiration for Noël as interpreter of the Confucian tradition. This speech was called the Starting point of the Enlightenment (Hinske), because it was the beginning of a great scandal that troubled the philosophical and theological word in the academic centers of Europe. In the end this speech led to the banishement of Wolff from Prussia in 1723 by the threat of Death. In order to gain a more detailed understanding of the Confucian influences on Christian Wolff, a profound research into the Sinensis Imperii libri Classici sex is a very important step. It will supply a basic prerequisite for the understanding of the intercultural character of the Early Enlightenment.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants