路易十四派遣“皇家数学家”传教士来华的背景

An Investigation into the Motivation Behind King Louis XIV's Dispatch of Mathematicians to China

17世纪,葡萄牙国力日渐衰败,令其无法再从经济上支持传教士的东方拓展之旅,这不仅让罗马教廷颇为不满,而且让欧洲新崛起的法国看到了一个取而代之的机会。当时法国遇到的障碍主要有两个,一是葡萄牙所拥有的保教权;二是罗马教廷所要求的宣誓问题。但是,法国政治、科学和宗教的发展需求,加之暹罗使团的突然来访,让路易十四最终决定派遣有皇家科学院通讯院士之称的耶稣会士跟随暹罗使团前往东方。这些耶稣会士便是在中法交流史上赫赫有名的"皇家数学家"。

In the seventeenth century,the power of the Portuguese empire started to decline,making it virtually impossible to support the Jesuits for their exploration of the East financially.This left Roman Curia rather unhappy and meanwhile gave the rising French an opportunity to take over.Having said that,the French also faced two obstacles：the Portuguese monopoly of Patronage in the Far East since the 17th century and the oath of allegiance as required by the Roman Curia.However,driven by the rapid advancement in politics,science and religion,coupled with the unexpected visit of the Siamese mission,the French king Louis XIV eventually made the decision to dispatch the Jesuits to accompany the Siamese mission on their expedition to the East.This group of the Jesuits is famously known as the King＇s Mathematicians in the exchanges between France and China.