Antoine Thomas

Antoine Thomas (January 25th, 1644, Namur - June 29th 1709, Beijing) is a Belgian priest Jésuite , missionary and Astronome at the imperial court of China.

Formation

Born in Namur in 1644 it entered the Society of Jesus in 1660 and, after initial training with the religious and spiritual life, was sent to teach in the colleges of Armentières, Huy and Tournai. He specialized then in Mathématiques and Astronomie and was sent, with his own request, as missionary in China (1677). A length and difficult voyage - passing by Goa (India), the Siam (Thailand) and Malacca - brought finally to Macao (1682), then the main door obliged for China, just in time to observe a eclipse there sun (1683).

At the imperial court of Beijing

The Father Ferdinand Verbiest, then old, called it in Beijing where it was quickly named `Vice-Président of the court of Mathematics' such an important position (for the fixing of the imperial calendar) that influential (because near to the emperor himself) in the Chinese empire. With died of Ferdinand Verbiest it replaced it as mathematician and official astronomer of the court. During 20 years the Thomas Father was then an adviser close to the emperor Kangxi who, beyond the scientific problems, frequently consulted it on morals questions and nuns. In 1692 it obtained a `edict of tolerance' which gave to the missionaries a quasi-total freedom to preach the Christian faith.

Quarrels of the Chinese Rites

At one time when the future of Christianity in China seemed promising the quarrel known as of the `Chinese Rites' became increasingly acrimoniously in Europe. One showed the Jesuits to authorize with the Chinese new converts the practice of certain rites (like the Vénération of the Ancestors ) considered as pagan in Europe. Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon, pontifical legate, were sent to Beijing in 1705 to inquire into the orthodoxy of these rites which the Jesuits said being a simple social habit. It appeared immediately clear that its opinion was made before even as it does not unload in China. Neglecting the Chinese habits and not holding any account of the official label it froissa seriously the emperor who had initially received it. The warning statements of Thomas, then higher of the Jesuits in China, did not prevent Tournon from promulgating a decree (Nanking, 1707) obliging the missionaries to abolish these rites under penalty of serious ecclesiastical sanctions. A last petition of Thomas beseeching the legate to suspend of it the application, time to allow ultimate resorts to the pope, was rejected. The consequences were disastrous. Of benevolent that it was the emperor became increasingly suspicious. The confirmation of the decree of Tournon by the Pope Clément XI (1715) involved then a strong reaction of the emperor who banishes the Christian missionaries of the empire (1721).

Died

These last developments were not known of the Father Antoine Thomas because he died in 1709, in Beijing, and was buried close to his friend and predecessor Ferdinand Verbiest, in the cemetery Jesuit of Beijing. The regular maintenance of the tombs of the fathers Jesuits by the Chinese authorities, whatever were the disorders and regime changes, underline the fact that the Chinese throughout the history kept of the regard for these `Sages come from the West'.

Principal work

Synopsis mathematica , Douai, 1685.

References

F. Bontinck, the fight around the Chinese liturgy with 17th and 18th centuries , Leuwen, 1962.
Yves Thomaz de Bossierre, a Belgian, Mandarin at the court of China , Paris, 1977.

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