ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Beyond China: Visual Elements in Sino-European dictionaries (17th-18th centuries).

• In Event: GRAPHICS AND TEXT TWENTY YEAR LATER-2: Diagrams, Figures, Plans And Graffiti In Translation

English Abstract

Among the Sino-European dictionaries preserved by the Vatican Apostolic Library, Borg.cin.423 is a rather unusual manuscript due to its numerous corrections and addenda. Its author sometimes added graffiti next to the character representing the object indicated in the entry, as well as a few building plans and diagrams. In this presentation, we will attempt to catalogue these drawings (to understand the logic behind their selection, if any) and to bring them together and compare them with other visual documents, such as tables, diagrams or figurative images, which can be found in the multilingual manuscript dictionaries, mainly compiled by missionaries. These visual elements shed light on an understudied aspect of the transmission of knowledge and beliefs between China and Europe, where they are shyly associated with information dominated by writing and Chinese characters.

Author

• Michela BUSSOTTI, EFEO Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient / UMR CCJ