The story of a French missionary at Qianlong's court

In 1760, Pierre-Martial Cibot, a 33-year-old Frenchman, arrived in Beijing. Commissioned by the Society of Jesus, a religious order of the Catholic Church, he began working for Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and adopted a Chinese name, Han Guoying.

From the 17th to the 18th centuries, many European missionaries traveled to the Forbidden City in Beijing, which was then the seat of the Qing royal court, and is now known as the Palace Museum. They expected the Catholic Church to be recognized and supported by the rulers of the world's most populous country.

Compared with others who visited the Forbidden City, like Italian Jesuit painter Giuseppe Castiglione, who left abundant artistic masterpieces, or his French compatriot Joachim Bouvet, who became Emperor Kangxi's math teacher, Cibot has been largely forgotten.

Initially commissioned as a watchmaker, according to a few surviving documents, he did not impress the emperor with his skills. His desire for a low profile was such that he even concealed his real name in most letters, instead signing off with "L'afflige tranquille" (The Quiet Sufferer).

However, when researchers in recent years delved deeper into that special period of Sino-European cultural exchange, legendary stories about Cibot emerged.

He made key contributions to designing mechanisms for the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. He was devoted to botanical studies on plant specimens. He even spent time studying ancient Chinese classics, tracing the legends of Yao, and exploring the origins of Chinese civilization in comparison with ancient Egypt.

A new book, L'afflige tranquille: le Francais Pierre-Martial Cibot a la cour de Qianlong (The Quiet Sufferer: the Frenchman Pierre-Martial Cibot at the Court of Qianlong), was recently released by Palace Museum Press.

Written by Laurent Cibot, a family descendant, the book portrays a vivid image of Pierre-Martial Cibot and features letters, pictures and paintings. Beyond his skills as an artisan, naturalist, missionary, and scholar of the Enlightenment era, the author also provides a broad picture of the Chinese emperor, royal court, various social classes, and Europeans from that period.

"Through his writings and research, he contributed to enabling Westerners of his time to better know China," Laurent Cibot said on Aug 22 at the Palace Museum while introducing his new book.

"He was a witness and a participant in the exchanges between two great civilizations: China and the West.

"Curiosity, the desire to learn, the desire to understand others, as well as the need to create connections, are common values shared by all humanity."

Apparently, Pierre-Martial Cibot was someone who had a strong desire to learn more about China. For example, he was interested in traditional Chinese medicine and translated Huangdi Neijing (The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor), a hugely influential book about traditional Chinese medicine dating back 2,000 years. He also recorded how gardeners in Beijing protected plants from southern China, allowing them to survive the frigid winters of the city.

Most of Pierre-Martial Cibot's works were included in a 17-volume work with 8,000 pages, which was published in France in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

"The new book is a breakthrough in exploring a lesser-known but important chapter of Sino-French cultural communication," says Zhang Xiping, a professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

"Pierre-Martial Cibot was an outstanding representative of exchanges of that time."

The Frenchman died in Beijing in 1780 after living in the city for 20 years. He was one of the last French missionaries sent to China before 1840, a turning point in Chinese history when Western powers began to invade and exploit China for decades. The spirit of mutual learning and understanding that once prevailed was forgotten.

In 1860, Anglo-French forces burned the Old Summer Palace where Pierre-Martial Cibot once worked as an engineer. In 1900, when the Eight-Nation Alliance forces invaded Beijing, his grave was destroyed, but the tombstone survived and now stands in the courtyard of the Beijing Stone Carving Art Museum.

"I felt the connection between the past and the present, and also the connection between his journey and my own path," Laurent Cibot says, recalling the first time he stood in front of the tombstone in 2021.

Two years later, he began to write his newly published book, not only to recount a piece of history, but also to inspire modern readers.

As Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former prime minister of France, wrote in the preface: "Today, the understanding of others, the sense of dialogue, and the ability to comprehend others without necessarily thinking like them are more necessary than ever."