Cowhide cover, bronzing on the mouth, dyed paper ring lining, red brush on the book... This is a precious classic with the characteristics of book binding in the French Enlightenment period, but the content of its records is China's political propositions more than 2,000 years ago, Ethics, moral concepts.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Shuang
Opening the brown cover of the book, with faint handwriting on the title page, the author, François Bennier, wrote in the opening "To the Reader" that the book was "as a key and entry to the reading of Confucius."
This French edition of "Introduction to the Analects" is a national gift.
On March 24, 2019, President Xi Jinping met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Nice, France.
Macron first invited Xi Jinping to the living room.
"It was found by a French sinologist for us." He carefully picked up a book on the table, his face showing pride, "This book was published in 1688 and is the first French edition of "Introduction to the Analects" original."
"Voltaire and Montesquieu were both deeply influenced by Confucius' thought." After listening to President Macron's introduction, President Xi Jinping said: "This gift is very precious. I will take it back and store it in the National Library of China."
The choice of the national gift was proposed by the director of the National Museum of Asian Art in Guimet, France.
Christina Kramrotti, director of the library at the Guimet Museum, said that as a national gift, it subtly and delicately demonstrated the time-honored friendly relations between the two countries.
Afterwards, this precious book traveled thousands of miles to the hometown of its thoughts.
The National Library of China held a collection ceremony to continue the story of the head of state's diplomacy leading cultural exchanges -
As a traditional Chinese cultural classic, The Analects of Confucius was introduced to Europe as early as the 17th century.
Many scholars compare Confucius with Socrates.
"The rich ideological connotation of The Analects and the world outlook and philosophical system of the oriental civilization it represents have enabled more European scholars to see the greatness of Chinese civilization." Xiong Yuanming, director of the National Library of China, said, "The general secretary was on the spot. The decision to include this book in the Tibetan map has made a good story about the exchange of civilizations."
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Shuang
As the first complete foreign language manuscript of the European Enlightenment period entered into Tibet, the national picture is "Introduction to the Analects of Confucius" "tailor-made", custom-made acid-free preservation box, stored in a constant temperature and humidity rare book warehouse.
In addition to the "Introduction to the Analects of Confucius", Guotu currently has 24 languages and about 260 translations of "The Analects of Confucius", which constitute the version pedigree of "The Analects of Confucius" for external dissemination.
In order to let more people know about this precious manuscript, Guotu specially held a special exhibition for it. At the same time, it also exhibited the engraved editions of "The Analects" in Japan and Korea, as well as French, Italian, German and English from the 17th to 19th centuries. The translation reflects the spread of Confucian classics around the world at that time.
"An "Analects of Confucius" hides the spiritual roots of the Chinese people" "Confucian classics are the code for the world to understand Chinese civilization"... The audience's messages were full of confidence and pride.
In November 2013, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the Confucius Institute and the Confucius Institute in Qufu, Shandong.
Picking up the two books on the table, "Confucius Jiayu" and "The Analects of Confucius", the general secretary said, "I want to read these two books carefully."
In the general secretary's mind, "the rich philosophical thoughts, humanistic spirit, educational thoughts, and moral concepts of China's excellent traditional culture can provide useful inspiration for people to understand and transform the world, and can provide useful inspiration for the governance of the country, and it can also provide useful inspiration for morality. Construction provides useful inspiration”.
"The general secretary cherishes the story of "The Analects of Confucius", which is a vivid demonstration of protecting the fire of civilization and inheriting and innovating the excellent traditional Chinese culture.
Text reporters: Zhou Wei, Wang Qiuyun
Video reporters: Yang Mu, Zhang Shuang, Chen Shan, Li Yan, Tang Ji
Vision | Editor: Jiang Xiao, Yang Wenrong
Video editor: Yang Wenrong, Zhang Huihui