Antoine Thomas
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Antoine Thomas (25 January 1644 – 29 June 1709) was a
Early life
Born in
At the Chinese imperial court
Thomas was called by the ageing Father Ferdinand Verbiest, who had just found himself appointed 'vice-president of the Tribunal of Mathematics', (a very important and influential post in the Qing Empire of China), to join him in Beijing. After the death of Verbiest in 1688, Thomas took his place as the main mathematician and astronomical expert in China. For twenty years he was then a close adviser to the Kangxi Emperor who, beyond scientific questions, consulted him also on moral and religious matters. In 1692, he obtained an 'edict of tolerance' that gave the missionaries almost complete freedom to preach Christianity.
Chinese Rites controversy
At a time when the future of the Christian faith seemed to be bright in China, the
Main work
Synopsis mathematica, Douai, 1685.
- Eloge de René Descartes (in French). Yverdon. 1765.
See also
- List of Belgians
- Religion in China
- Christianity in China
- Jesuit China missions
- Roman Catholicism in China
References
- Bontinck, F., La lutte autour de la liturgie chinoise au XVII et XVIIIème siècles, Louvain, 1962.
- Thomaz de Bossierre, Yves, Un Belge Mandarin à la cour de Chine, Paris, 1977.