Macau Ricci Institute Public Forum: Judging a Book by its Cover: Shen Fuzong, Thomas Hyde and the Chinese Collection of the Bodleian Library (1687)

The Bodleian Library has housed Chinese books since its foundation, and by the seventeenth century, its sinica collection had grown into one of the largest in Europe. Yet, lacking knowledge of the Chinese language, its librarians were unable to decipher, organize, or catalogue these works. When news arrived of a Chinese visitor in England, they seized the opportunity to enlist his help. The visitor was Michael Alphonsius Shen Fuzong (沈福宗, c.1657/58–1691), a Christian convert from Nanjing who had served as assistant to Father François de Rougemont (1624–1676). Between 1683 and 1691, Shen travelled across Europe with Father Philippe Couplet (1624–1692), visiting Oxford in the summer of 1687. During his stay, he collaborated with Thomas Hyde (1636–1703), Bodleian librarian, to examine the Chinese books systematically for the first time. Hyde later incorporated Shen’s information into the Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ in unum collecti (1697/1698), a catalogue of libraries in England and Ireland. This made the Bodleian’s Chinese collection one of the first in Europe to be thoroughly examined, organized, and catalogued.

In his doctoral dissertation (2025), Dr. Måns Ahlstedt Åberg undertook a pioneering study of the Shen–Hyde collaboration, reconstructing its inner workings and outcomes. His research draws on source material, including documents never before used in academic publications, thereby offering fresh insight into this landmark moment in Sino-European intellectual exchange.

 博德利圖書館自成立之初便收藏有中文書籍。 在十七世紀的發展歷程中，其漢學藏品規模不斷擴大，成為歐洲最大的收藏之一。 然而，由於當時館員們缺乏中文知識，無法解讀這些著作，因而難以對其進行妥善的組織和編目，更遑論閱讀。 因此，當有中國訪客抵達英國的消息傳來時，他們便抓住機會，聘請此人協助他們檢視這些藏書。這位訪客便是來自南京的天主教皈依者沈福宗（Michael Alphonsius Shen Fuzong，約1657/58–1691）。 他年輕時曾擔任魯日滿神父（François de Rougemont，1624–1676）的助手。 1683年至1691年間，他與柏應理神父（Philippe Couplet，1624–1692）同遊歐洲，期間於1687年夏到訪牛津。 在牛津客居期間，他與博德利圖書館館長湯瑪斯·海德（Thomas Hyde，1636–1703）合作，首次對這些中文藏書進行了系統性的檢視。 他向海德提供的資訊，後來被收錄於《英格蘭與愛爾蘭手稿聯合目錄》（Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ in unumcollecti，1697/1698年）中，該目錄涵蓋了英格蘭和愛爾蘭多家圖書館的藏書。 這使得博德利圖書館的中文典籍收藏成為歐洲最早得到全面檢視、整理和編目的收藏之一。

在其博士論文（2025年）中，阿爾斯特德·奧貝里博士（Dr. Ahlstedt Åberg）開創性地詳細梳理了沈福宗與海德的合作過程，揭示了其內在運作機制及最終成果。 該研究基於原始資料，其中部分資料此前從未在學術出版物中被使用過。