Séraphin Couvreur

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Séraphin Couvreur ( Chinese  顧 賽 芬  /  顾 赛 芬 , Pinyin Gù Sàifēn , born January 14, 1835 in Varennes in the Somme department ; † November 19, 1919 in Xian County near Cangzhou ) was a French sinologist and missionary. He belonged to the Jesuit order and has been missionary since 1870 in Ho kien Fou ( 河 間 府  /  河 间 府 , Héjiān Fǔ ) in what was then the Chinese province of Zhili (today: Hebei ).

His Dictionnaire classique de la langue chinoise , published in several editions, was for a long time the standard work for a better understanding of ancient Chinese texts in the West. In this work he used his own French transcription system, the so-called Couvreur system .

He translated many classical Chinese texts, including the works Shi Jing and Shujing , the Sishu (Four Books), which includes the texts Lunyu , Mengzi , Daxue and Zhongyong , and works on Chinese rituals and ceremonies ( Liji and Yili ). His works are user-friendly because some of them have been translated into both French and Latin, but above all because they have reproduced the original Chinese text in parallel editions, including the French transcription.

His translations, which are accessible online today, are still of value today because - unlike James Legge - they do not mix the knowledge of ancient Chinese texts gained since the Qing period through recent text-critical research with the interpretation of the Zhu Xi , but rather the philosopher of the song times strictly follow. The translations by Richard Wilhelm also have this quality for the most part .

The influence of his translations in the German-speaking world can only be compared with that of Richard Wilhelm, who used them for his own translations.

Works

  • Les Quatre Livres - avec un commentaire abrege en Chinois une double traduction en Francais et en Latin et un vocabulaire des lettres et des noms propres. Sien Hsien, Imprimerie de la Mission Catholique, 1930 troisieme edition
    • Les quatre livres. I: La Grande Etude. II: L'Invariable Milieu. (= Les Humanites d'Extreme-Orient. Textes de la Chine) Cathasia Paris 1895
    • Confucius: Entretiens de Confucius et de ses disciples. Les Quatre Livres Volume 3. Translated from Chinese into French and Latin by Seraphin Couvreur. Paris / Leiden, Cathasia / Brill, ca.1951 (Les Humanites d'Extreme-Orient.)
    • Meng Tzeu: Oeuvres de Meng Tzeu. Les Quatre Livres Volume 4. Translated from Chinese into French and Latin by Seraphin Couvreur. Paris / Leiden, Cathasia / Brill, ca.1951
  • Cheu king. Traduction de Séraphin COUVREUR (1835-1919). Editions Kuangchi Press, 4th edition, 1966, 556 pages. Fac-simile de l'édition Ho kien Fou, Imprimerie de la Mission Catholique, 1896.
  • Chou king, Les Annales de la Chine, avec dessins. Traduction de Séraphin COUVREUR. Editions You Feng, 1999, 464 pages. Fac-simile de l'édition Ho kien Fou, Imprimerie de la Mission Catholique, 1897.
  • Tch'ouen Ts'iou / Tso Tchouan. The Chronique of the Principles of Lou. Three volumes. Edited by Seraphin Couvreur. Paris, Leiden a. a .: Cathasia, Brill et al. a. 1951 (Les Humannites d'extreme-Orient / Textes de la Chine).
  • Li Ki. Ou Memoires sur les bienseances et les Ceremonies. Texts Chinois avec une double Traduction en Francais et en Latin.Ho Kien Fou. (2 volumes) La Mission Catholique, 1913
  • Dictionnaire classique de la langue chinoise. Ho Kien Fu 1904
  • I-li: Cérémonial; Texts chinois et trad .. Hsien Hsien : Mission Catholique, 1916
  • Texts chinois avec trad. En françois et en français: choix de documents. 2. éd. - Ho Kien Fou, 1898
  • Seraphin Couvreur: Dictionnaire francais-chinois contenant les expressions les plus usités de la langue mandarine (Ho Kien Fou: Impr. De la Mission catholique 1908)
  • Choix des documents (Ho Kien Fou: 1901)
  • Dictionnaire classique de la langue chinoise suivant l'ordre alphabétique de la prononciation. 3. éd. - Ho Kien Fu: Impr. De la mission catholique, 1911
  • Ancient geography et modern de la Chine. Hien Hien: Mission cath., 1917
  • Ceremonial. Paris suffering. EJ Brill-Cathasia-Soc. Les Belles Lettres. 1951 (2nd edition [1916]).
  • Guide de la conversation français-anglais-chinois; Couvreur, S [éraphin], SJ; Guide to conversation in French, English and Chinese. 11. éd. Sien-Hsien dans le Tcheu Li: Mission cath., 1926

See also

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Couvreur, Seraphin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French sinologist and missionary
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1835
PLACE OF BIRTH Varennes , Somme department
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1919
Place of death District Xian in Cangzhou