, France, 14 August 1727; died at Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, China, 8 August 1780) was a French Jesuit missionary to China.

Life

He entered the Society of Jesus 7 November 1743, and taught humanities with much success. He was sent to China at his own request 7 March 1758, and arrived at Macao

Mação

Mação is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 400.0 km² and a total population of 7,763 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of eight parishes, and is located in the Santarém District....

 25 July. He reached Beijing 6 June 1760, joining the Jesuits who were retained at the court of the emperor.

Cibot during his many years in China found time to devote to historical and scientific studies. Modesty prevented him from signing many of his essays. His style was somewhat diffuse, and his writings were valued chiefly for their variety and the information which they contained.

Works

Many of his notes and observations on the history and literature of the Chinese were published in the "Mémoires concernant l'histoire, les sciences les arts, les moeurs, les usages, etc., des Chinois: par les missionaires de Pékin" (Paris, 1776–89, 16 vols.). These volumes were at the time the chief source of information in Europe regarding China and its people.

Cibot's most lengthy work, his "Essai sur l'antiquité des Chinois", appeared in the first volume of the "Mémoires". In it he claims Yao

Yao (ruler)

Yao , was a legendary Chinese ruler, one of the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors. His ancestral name （姓）is Yi Qi （伊祁） or Qi（祁）,clan name （氏）is Taotang , given name is Fangxun , as the second son to Emperor Ku and Qingdu...

 (2356 B.C.) as the founder of the Chinese Empire. This view was not held, however, by other contemporary writers: in the second volume of the "Mémoires" his colleague, Father Amiot, in his "L'antiquité des Chinois prouvée par les monuments", defended the traditional Chinese chronology.

Cibot also instituted a comparison between the Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

 and the Chinese in connection with a commentary on the Book of Esther

Book of Esther

The Book of Esther is a book in the Ketuvim , the third section of the Jewish Tanakh and is part of the Christian Old Testament. The Book of Esther or the Megillah is the basis for the Jewish celebration of Purim...

(Mémoires, vols. XIV-XVI). He collected a herbarium

Herbarium

In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...

and contributed a number of articles on various topics in natural science to the "Mémoires", e.g. "Notices de quelques plantes arbrisseaux de la Chine" (vol. III), "Observations sur les plantes, les fleurs, et les arbres de Chine qu'il est possible et utile de se procurer en France"; "Notice sur le borax"; "Mémoire sur les chevaux" (vol. XI); "Notice sur l'hirondelle, sur le cerf et sur la cigale" (vol. XII), etc.