On 17 November 2022, Professor Paolo De Troia, from the Italian Institute of Oriental Studies at
the Sapienza University of Rome, presented a guest lecture and chaired by Dr. Mario De Grandis,
Lecturer of UCD Irish Institute for Chinese Studies (IICS), with over 100 people in attendance.
With the topic of “Western Countries in Chinese Jesuit Sources of the 17 th Century”, Professor
Paolo De Troia presented a large number of historical documents by employing a micro-historical
approach from the perspective of the cross-cultural introduction of the West, which encouraged
the audience to explore and discuss the exchange and collision of Chinese and Western cultures in
the 17 th century. In the context of world history and cross-cultural theory, and supported by
documentary sources, Professor Troia described the initial understanding of China and the West
before the 17th century as a “missed encounter” between Rome and the Han Dynasty. The
historical evidence and materials of both countries indicate full of unknowns and imaginations
about each other. However, “gentleness”, “friendliness”, and “justice” are the keywords of
historical narratives.
In the 17 th century, the Italian missionaries in the Society of Jesuits produced many scientific
books to spread Catholicism in China, such as Matteo Ricci's A Map of the Myriad Countries of
the World, Giulio Aleni’s Record of Foreign Lands, and Ferdinand Verbiest’s Full Map of the
World, describing the countries, regions, and islands of Asia, Europe, Africa, and America as they
were known in the West at the time. In this lecture, Professor Troia brought his audience with him
on a fascinating journey through the details of evidence and writings in a bilingual format. With
his guidance and interpretation, the audience had a rich experience to explore and understand the
valuable documentary archives including the beauty of letters and people’s thoughts.
Professor Troia pointed out that China was not a passive recipient in the process of understanding
the West in the 17th century but had its own strong scientific and intellectual inclinations. East
and West had distinctive dominant cultures and views on the universe. It was the Jesuits’
understanding of this critical difference in cosmological views that helped them successfully build
bridges between China and Europe, which, in a way, enhanced the influence of the West on China.
In conclusion, Professor Troia stressed that he had always paid attention to different language
versions of historical materials and sources in his research as some original essence and meaning
could be lost in the process of translation. It is interesting to explore the history through cross-
cultural and language perspectives as history is not only reflected in the documents and materials,
but also demonstrated in the gaps between languages.
爱尔兰中国研究院公共讲座暨第49届孔子博士论坛成功举办
2022年11月17日，都柏林大学中国研究院成功举办了公共讲座暨第49届孔
子博士生论坛。罗马大学（Sapienza University of Rome）意大利东方学系
（The Italian Institute of Oriental Studies）的Paolo De Troia教授做了主题演
讲，论坛以线上和线下相结合的方式同时进行，讲座由中国研究院讲师Mario
De Grandis 博士主持，100多人出席了本次论坛。
Paolo De Troia教授以“WESTERN COUNTRIES IN CHINESE JESUIT
SOURCES OF THE 17TH CENTURY”为主题，从西方跨文化传入的视角，以
微观历史的方式，呈现大量历史文献资料，引领论坛观众探讨了17世纪中西文
化的交流和碰撞。在全球史和跨文化理论的视野下，以文献资料为佐证，Paolo
教授介绍了17世纪之前中国和西方彼此初步了解，并将罗马和汉朝之间称之为“
错过的相遇”，两国的历史材料中对彼此都充满了未知和想象，而尽管未知，但
是“温和”、“友好”、“正义”仍是描述的关键词。
十七世纪耶稣会意大利传教士们为了在中国传播天主教编写了许多科学书
籍，比如利玛窦的《坤舆万国全图》、艾儒略的《职方外纪》、南怀仁《坤舆
图说》等著作，主要描述了当时西方所了解的亚洲、欧洲、非洲和美洲的一些
国家、地区及海岛。本次讲座中，以中英对照的方式，Paolo教授带我们一起探
究这些著作中的细节，现场观众跟随着他的讲解徜徉于妙趣横生的文献档案材
料之中，体察书信的流动和人物的思想。
Paolo教授指出，17世纪的中国在了解西方的这个过程中并不是被动的接
受者，他们有自己强烈的科学和知识倾向。中西有各自的主导文化，以及在其
中发展的天地见解。耶稣会会士正是认识到了这一点才顺利架设起了中国和欧
洲之间交流桥梁，这在某种程度上也增加了西方在中国的影响。
在结论部分，Paolo教授指出自己在研究中会在查阅西方资料的同时再查阅
中文版本，因为有时将中文的意思翻译成英文之后可能就失去一部分原始材料
想要表达的内容，这种跨语言文化观察是非常有趣的，因为历史不仅反映在文
献中，也体现在文献之间的缝隙中。