Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s9.t2.19

v1.c7.s9.t2.19

In early 17ᵗʰ century CE, Italian missionary Matteo Ricci (Matthaeus Ricci, 1552 ~ 1610) and French missionary Trigault (Nicolas Trigault, 1577 ~ 1628) introduced Confucius and his works to West in Latin and French, respectively. Confucius and his ideas began to attract the attention of Western scholars. From the late 18ᵗʰ to the early 19ᵗʰ century CE, there were several scholars studying Sinology. Legge (James Legge, 1814 ~ 1897) translated the “Four Books”, “Five Classics” into English which were published from 1861 to 1886. In 1867, he also published a monograph describing the life and thoughts of Confucius. Soothill (William Edward Soothill, 1861 ~ 1935) had long been and missionary and educator in China, having translated the “Analects of Confucius” into English (1906), besides which he authored “China’s Three Religions” (1913) and other works. Thereafter, English books on the life and thought of Confucius continued to be published. The Indian intellectual elite had ample opportunities to read these English books. For example, an eminent Indian Sinologist P C Baghchi wrote a special section in his book *India and China* to talk about Confucius and his ideas.