Shen Fuzong (沈福宗) introduced the world to the wonders of China and was something of a fascination for King James II of England, so much so that Shen’s portrait still hangs today in the King’s Dining Room in Windsor Castle.
Born in Nanjing in 1657 CE, Shen would have perhaps amounted to very little other than his becoming an ordinary mandarin, were it not for two facts; his parents had converted to Christianity and he himself spoke Latin.
Such meant he was chosen by Jesuit Father, Philippe Couplet (1623-1693), to accompany him on one of the regular tours of Europe by missionary Jesuits that were intended keep the Vatican in the loop as to the goings on in the Far East.
Once there, Shen made the biggest impact in France and England. He impressed King Louis XIV by teaching him how to to use chopsticks and demonstrating the writing of Chinese characters. The King responded by having all the fountains at Versailles switched on in honour of Shen and Couplet, an act normally reserved for royalty, etc.
The visit was also a religious and diplomatic success; the King agreed to sponsor a French Jesuit mission to China comprising scientists and mathematicians.
In England, Shen became the very first Chinese man to visit that which is now Great Britain, doing so with the aim of also winning support from King James II, knowing of his commitment to the promotion of Catholicism.
Shen then achieved an audience with the King after attending the installation of Ferdinando d’Adda as Roman Catholic Archbishop, whereupon the King developed quite an affinity for his visitor from China.
Shen’s portrait (pictured), “The Chinese Convert” by Sir Godfrey Kneller, dated 1687, was commissioned by the King soon after Shen had established himself as a well-known figure at the King’s court.
According to the Royal Collection Trust, “[Shen] is depicted in Chinese robes, holding a crucifix and looking towards the window as the light illuminates his face, suggesting divine inspiration”.
So taken with the oriental human oddity and his painting was the King that he had it hung in the room adjacent to his bedchamber.
His reputation established, Shen next spent much of the summer that same year in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, where he helped the Librarian, Thomas Hyde, with various projects relating to Chinese measurement and calendrical practices. He also assisted Hyde with the cataloguing and translation of various Chinese books and manuscripts.
Were it not for Shen, the academic discipline of Sinology would be very different today.
Fortune would again soon play into his hands, when in April of 1688, Shen and Couplet left London, shortly before the King was overthrown. They headed for Lisbon, where Shen entered the Jesuit novitiate and took his first vows in 1690. The following year, and after taking for himself the Latin name of Alphonsus, Shen discovered he was being sent back to China.
Destiny this time, would not be so kind. An epidemic broke out on board his ship while voyaging home; Shen passed away on 2 September, 1691, just 2 days before the ship reached Mozambique.
