José Monteiro's Vera, et unica praxis: A seventeenth-century Jesuit primer for the learning of Mandarin Chinese and a later version

Cristina Costa Gomes and Isabel Murta Pina
University of Lisbon | Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre

A manuscript written by the Portuguese Jesuit José Monteiro (1646–1720) and a later one by his French confrère Jean-François Foucquet (1665–1741) shed new light on the didactic materials used in the China mission during the initial stage of learning Chinese Mandarin as a second language. These manuscripts, which are written in Portuguese and romanised Mandarin, are the only surviving copies we know of, although others have existed. This paper argues that the two documents prove the existence of an earlier common model, even though they were written independently. This model lost to history circulated at least in the Fujian Province from the late 17th century onwards. It was partly the result of the compilation of several earlier materials produced since the beginning of the China mission, which had the same purpose of training new learners in the Chinese language. José Monteiro’s document further reveals his intention to systematise the original version and disseminate his manual more widely throughout the mission, probably by printing it.

Publication history

Date received: 12 November 2024

Date accepted: 17 January 2025

Published online: 4 March 2025

Table of contents

As is well known, Catholic missionaries created a vast array of linguistic works during the early modern period as part of their process of learning Chinese languages. Several scholars have analysed these materials, revealing a dynamic process full of interactions, contributions, and influences that accumulated and were reformulated or re-adapted over time (such as Masini 2017, Wu 2017 and Breitenbach 2000). As stated by Zwartjes (2024: 124) these materials were “built upon the work of their predecessors”.

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