Édouard Biot
Encyclopedia
Édouard Constant Biot, was a French
engineer
and Sinologist. As an engineer, he participated in the construction of the second line of French railway between Lyon
and St Etienne, and as a Sinologist, published a large body of work, the result of a "knowledge rarely combined.".
and physicist
Jean-Baptiste Biot
, he studied classics and mathematics as a free student at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand
in Paris. Admitted in 1822 to the École Polytechnique
, he chose not to enter and pursue his studies alone. In 1825 and 1826, he accompanied his father as an assistant on scientific expeditions to Italy
, Illyria
and Spain
.
Back in France, with desire to ensure his independence, he began a career in the emerging railway industry. In 1827, after a preparatory trip to England
, he joined forces with Marc Seguin
in the construction of the Lyon–Saint-Etienne railway, whose concession is granted to "MM. Seguin brothers, Édouard Biot and Company. "He worked as an engineer for nearly seven years, using his father's calculations for the levelling of the line..
When this project was completed in 1833, he decided to enjoy the independence he had gained to study the Chinese language
and literature
. He attended courses at the school of Stanislas Julien
of the Collège de France
and soon began a new career. An extensive series of papers, devoted to astronomy, mathematics, geography, history, social life and administration of China, led to his being elected a Fellow of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
in 1847, having already joined the Asiatic Societies of Paris and London, and several other learned societies.
Married in 1843, he lost his wife in 1846. Unable to overcome his grief, he fell ill and died in Paris four years later at the age of 46.
's On the Economy of Machinery and Manufacture into French and was the author of one of the earliest works on the railways, the Manuel du constructeur des chemins de fer (Manual of Railway Construction), published in 1834.
Besides his memoirs on Chinese civilization
, most of which were published in the Journal Asiatique
, he was also the author of a Dictionnaire Géographique de l'Empire Chinois (Geographical Dictionary of the Chinese Empire) and the Histoire de l'Instruction publique en Chine (History of Public Education in China), as well as the translation into French of the New Book of Tang
containing the table of political and administrative organization of China in the eleventh century BC. AD. He also translated the treatise entitled The Zhouli or The Rites of Zhou, from the series of books forming the Classic of Rites
. After his death, the publication was completed under the care of his father. The work of Biot is still referred to today.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and Sinologist. As an engineer, he participated in the construction of the second line of French railway between Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
and St Etienne, and as a Sinologist, published a large body of work, the result of a "knowledge rarely combined.".
Life
Son of the mathematicianMathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
Jean-Baptiste Biot
Jean-Baptiste Biot
Jean-Baptiste Biot was a French physicist, astronomer, and mathematician who established the reality of meteorites, made an early balloon flight, and studied the polarization of light.- Biography :...
, he studied classics and mathematics as a free student at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand
Lycée Louis-le-Grand
The Lycée Louis-le-Grand is a public secondary school located in Paris, widely regarded as one of the most rigorous in France. Formerly known as the Collège de Clermont, it was named in king Louis XIV of France's honor after he visited the school and offered his patronage.It offers both a...
in Paris. Admitted in 1822 to the École Polytechnique
École Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...
, he chose not to enter and pursue his studies alone. In 1825 and 1826, he accompanied his father as an assistant on scientific expeditions to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Illyria
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
Back in France, with desire to ensure his independence, he began a career in the emerging railway industry. In 1827, after a preparatory trip to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, he joined forces with Marc Seguin
Marc Seguin
Marc Seguin was a French engineer, inventor of the wire-cable suspension bridge and the multi-tubular steam-engine boiler.- Biography :...
in the construction of the Lyon–Saint-Etienne railway, whose concession is granted to "MM. Seguin brothers, Édouard Biot and Company. "He worked as an engineer for nearly seven years, using his father's calculations for the levelling of the line..
When this project was completed in 1833, he decided to enjoy the independence he had gained to study the Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
and literature
Chinese literature
Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
. He attended courses at the school of Stanislas Julien
Stanislas Julien
Stanislas Aignan Julien was a French sinologist.-Biography:Born at Orléans, he studied the classics at the Collège de France, and in 1821 was appointed assistant professor of Greek. In the same year he published an edition of The Rape of Helen of Coluthus, with versions in French, Latin, English,...
of the Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
and soon began a new career. An extensive series of papers, devoted to astronomy, mathematics, geography, history, social life and administration of China, led to his being elected a Fellow of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres
The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres is a French learned society devoted to the humanities, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France.-History:...
in 1847, having already joined the Asiatic Societies of Paris and London, and several other learned societies.
Married in 1843, he lost his wife in 1846. Unable to overcome his grief, he fell ill and died in Paris four years later at the age of 46.
Works
Biot translated Charles BabbageCharles Babbage
Charles Babbage, FRS was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer...
's On the Economy of Machinery and Manufacture into French and was the author of one of the earliest works on the railways, the Manuel du constructeur des chemins de fer (Manual of Railway Construction), published in 1834.
Besides his memoirs on Chinese civilization
Culture of China
Chinese culture is one of the world's oldest and most complex. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a large geographical region in eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and provinces...
, most of which were published in the Journal Asiatique
Journal asiatique
The Journal asiatique is a French academic journal founded in 1822 by the Société Asiatique with the aim of promoting Orientalism and Oriental studies. The Journal asiatique has been published without interruption since 1822. It is presently published twice a year by the French National Centre for...
, he was also the author of a Dictionnaire Géographique de l'Empire Chinois (Geographical Dictionary of the Chinese Empire) and the Histoire de l'Instruction publique en Chine (History of Public Education in China), as well as the translation into French of the New Book of Tang
New Book of Tang
The New Book of Tang , is a classic work of history about the Tang Dynasty edited by Ouyang Xiu and Song Qi and other official scholars of the Song Dynasty. The emperor called for a revision of the former Book of Tang in 1044. The New Book was presented to the throne in 1060. It was given its...
containing the table of political and administrative organization of China in the eleventh century BC. AD. He also translated the treatise entitled The Zhouli or The Rites of Zhou, from the series of books forming the Classic of Rites
Classic of Rites
The Classic of Rites , also known as the Book of Rites, Book of Customs, the Record of Rites, was one of the Chinese Five Classics of the Confucian canon. It described the social forms, governmental system, and ancient/ceremonial rites of the Zhou Dynasty...
. After his death, the publication was completed under the care of his father. The work of Biot is still referred to today.
Science and technology
- Traité sur l'économie des machines et des manufactures par Charles Babbage, traduit de l'anglais sur la troisième édition par Éd. Biot (1833)
- Manuel du constructeur des chemins de fer, ou Essai sur les principes généraux de l'art de construire les chemins de fer (1834)
History
- De l'Abolition de l'esclavage ancien en Occident (1840)
- Mémoire sur la condition de la classe servile au Mexique, avant la conquête des Espagnols (1840)
Books
- Dictionnaire des noms anciens et modernes des villes et arrondissements de premier, deuxième et troisième ordre compris dans l'Empire chinois (1842)
- Essai sur l'histoire de l'instruction publique en Chine et de la corporation des lettrés (2 volumes, 1845-1847)
- Le Tcheou-li ou Rites des Tcheou, traduit pour la première fois du chinois par feu Édouard Biot (2 volumes, 1851). Édité par Jean-Baptiste Biot. Réédition : Ch'eng Wen Publishing Co., Taipei, 1975. http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/chine_ancienne/B_livres_canoniques_Petits_Kings/B_21_tcheou_li/tcheou_li.html
Papers
- Notice sur quelques procédés industriels connus en Chine au XVIe siècle (1835) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93129j.pdf
- Mémoire sur la population de la Chine et ses variations, depuis l’an 2400 avant J.-C. jusqu’au XVIIe siècle de notre ère (1836) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93127v.pdf
- Mémoire sur la condition des esclaves et des serviteurs gagés en Chine (1837) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93129j.pdf
- Mémoire sur le système monétaire des Chinois (1838) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93129j.pdf
- Mémoire sur les recensements des terres, consignés dans l'Histoire chinoise (1938) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k931313.pdf
- Mémoire sur la condition de la propriété territoriale en Chine, depuis les temps anciens (1838) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93132f.pdf
- Note sur la connaissance que les Chinois ont eue de la valeur de position des chiffres (1839) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k931344.pdf
- Table générale d'un ouvrage chinois intitulé Souan-fa-tong-tsong, ou Traité complet de l'art de compter (1839) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93133s.pdf
- Mémoire sur divers minéraux chinois, appartenant à la collection du Jardin du roi (1839) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k931344.pdf
- Mémoire sur les montagnes et cavernes de la Chine (1840) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93136t.pdf
- Recherches sur la hauteur de quelques points remarquables du territoire chinois (1840) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93135g.pdf
- Recherches sur la température ancienne de la Chine. (1840) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93136t.pdf
- Tchou-chou-ki-nien (1841) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93138h.pdf
- Traduction et explication du Tchéou-peï (1841) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k931375.pdf
- Catalogue général des tremblements de terre en Chine (1841)
- Mémoire sur le chapitre Yu-kong du Chi-king et sur la géographie de la Chine ancienne (1842) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k931402.pdf
- Mémoire sur les déplacements du cours inférieur du fleuve Jaune (1843) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93141d.pdf
- Recherches sur les mœurs anciennes des Chinois, d'après le Chi-king (1843) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93142r.pdf
- Observations anciennes de la planète Mercure, extraites de la Collection des vingt-quatre historiens de la Chine (1843)
- Note sur la direction de l'aiguille aimentée en Chine, et sur les aurores boréales observées dans ce pays (1842)
- Mémoire sur l’extension progressive des côtes orientales de la Chine (1844) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k93144f.pdf
- Mémoire sur la Constitution politique de la Chine au XIIe siecle avant notre ère (1844)
- Études sur les anciens temps de l'Histoire chinoise (1845) http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k931464.pdf
- Catalogue de tous les météores observés en Chine, avec la date du jour de l'apparition et l'identification des constellations traversées (1846)
- Recherches faites dans la grande collection des historiens de la Chine, sur les anciennes apparitions de la comète de Halley (1846)
- Catalogue des comètes observées en Chine, depuis l'an 1230 jusqu'à l'an 1640 de notre ère (1846)
- Catalogue des étoiles extraordinaires observées en Chine, depuis les temps anciens jusqu'à l'an 1200 de notre ère (1846)
- Mémoire sur les monuments analogues aux pierres druidiques qu'on rencontre dans l'Asie orientale, et en particulier à la Chine (1848)
- Mémoires sur les colonies militaires et agricoles des Chinois (1850)