Constructing Confucius in the Low Countries

The first translation of Confucius’s Analects into a European language was a Dutchbook by Pieter van Hoorn. Printed in Batavia in 1675, it predated the better-knownLatin translation, Confucius Sinarum Philosophus (1687). Whereas the introductionof Confucius in the West has often been regarded as a project of the Jesuit mission,an exploration of the Netherlandish situation points out that the ‘manufacturing’of Confucianism was a variegated and multi-confessional affair. The process oftransmitting, translating, publishing, explaining, and judging Confucius presenteda challenge to Europeans from different backgrounds and allegiances, integratingnot only Latin and vernacular scholarship but also Asian expertise