Évariste Régis Huc
Évariste Régis Huc (born August 1, 1813 in Toulouse , † March 31, 1860 in Paris ) was a French explorer and missionary who became world famous for his crossing of Mongolia , Tibet and China in the years 1844-1846.
Life
Huc entered the congregation of the Lazarists at the age of 24 and, after receiving the sacrament of Holy Orders, went to China in 1839, where he spent 18 months preparing for missionary work in a Lazarist seminary in Macau . Huc learned Chinese and outwardly adapted himself to his surroundings in terms of clothing and customs.
Huc initially worked near Beijing , but devoted most of his time to studying local languages and translating religious works. In 1844, after he founded a mission in Dolon Nor , Inner Mongolia , he set off for Tibet with Abbe Joseph Gabet (1808–53) and a Buddhist convert to find out more about this country. To avoid paying attention, the two of them again wrapped themselves in the robes of the local lamas .
After Huc had crossed the Yellow River and crossed the Ordos Plateau with numerous hardships , he reached Gansu on the border with Tibet, where he decided, instead of making the arduous journey to Lhasa alone , to wait for an embassy from Tibet.
Huc spent 8 months in the border town of Tang-Kiul studying Buddhist literature and learning Tibetan . Eventually, Huc met the Tibetan legation, which provided 2,000 men and 3,700 animals.
Immediately through the desert of Qinghai , Lake Koko Nor and over snow-covered passes, Huc reached Lhasa on January 29, 1846.
Huc met the Dalai Lama and was promised the opening of a mission. Due to an intervention by the Chinese embassy, however, Huc was ultimately directed to Canton , outside the country's borders, where Huc stayed until 1852.
Due to his poor health, Huc returned to Europe , not without visiting India , Palestine and Egypt , where he died in Paris in 1860.
Works
- Huc, (Regis Evariste) and (Joseph) Gabet: Walks through Mongolia and Thibet to the capital of the Tale Lama. From Huc and Gabet. Edited in German by Karl Andree. Leipzig, Lorck, 1855. - Also published under the title: Walks through the Chinese Empire. Edited in German. by Karl Andree . Leipzig, Lorck, 1855 (house library for regional and ethnology. Vol. 8).
- (New edition :) Huc, Régis Évariste: Wanderings through Mongolia to Tibet 1844-1846. Edited and edited by Hans Walz. With a foreword by Dr. Ernst Schäfer . Stuttgart, Steingrüben Verlag, 1966.
- Huc, Régis Évariste: The Chinese Empire. 2 volumes, Leipzig, Dyk, 1856
- (New edition :) Huc, Évariste Regis: The Chinese Empire. Edited by Wolfgang Rieland. (2 parts in 1 volume). Basel / Frankfurt, Stroemfeld / Roter Stern, 1987.
Web links
- Literature by and about Évariste Régis Huc in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Huc, Évariste Régis |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French explorer and missionary |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 1, 1813 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Toulouse |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 31, 1860 |
| Place of death | Paris |