Noahic Chinese

The Jesuit Louis le Comte’s Nouveau memoires sur l’etat present de la Chine (1696) defended the losing Jesuit side in the “rites controversy” – the debate about whether Chinese converts were permitted to continue in ancestor worship and other traditional rites. His book was eventually condemned by the Sorbonne.

Le Comte’s argument was not, however, extreme or novel in his time. He argued that the Chinese empire had been established by the children of Noah (133-4), who had migrated East after the flood. They inspired the faith of their descendants, and vestiges of this Noahic religion persisted through the centuries. Fohi, the first emperor of China, selected seven animal species to offer in sacrifice to “the sovereign Spirit of heaven and earth” (134). Hoamti, the third emperor, built a temple where the “Sovereign Lord of heaven” worshiped with sacrifice. Le Comte recognized that the Jews had the peculiar blessing of God’s presence in their temple but the Chinese could boast that they “sacrificed to the Creator in the most ancient temple in the universe” (135).

Le Comte estimates that the “knowledge of the true God” was preserved in China for 2000 years through the leadership of many emperors and several dynasties, before it finally degenerated into idolatry. Their piety was such as to be an example for Christians (141).