686 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS, [aNNO 176Q. 



The particulars which were stated to the Jesuits at Pekin, and have been re- 

 cited to the Society, were as follow ; viz. 1 , Whether certain characters, to the 

 number of 29, copied from the bust at Turin, together with several other cha- 

 racters, to the number of 200, copied from undoubted monuments of Egypt, 

 are really and indeed Chinese characters; and if they be, of what dialect, and of 

 what age are they ? 2. What sense does each of these characters express ; and 

 what is the particular interpretation? 3. Does the history of China, or popular 

 tradition, or any analogy with the modern or ancient method of writing of any 

 other nation, afford ground for supposing that these characters have been re- 

 ceived from foreigners: or were they invented by the Chinese themselves? 4. Are 

 there any monuments or customs among the Chinese, which resemble those of 

 the ancient Egyptians; or which should induce us to think, that there has ever 

 been any communication between the two nations ? 



The answer received from China takes notice only of the small number of 

 characters which were copied from the bust of Turin; occasioned probably by 

 some accident or failure in the packets, of which there were 3 copies sent, and 

 one of them containing the Turin characters only; the answer is dated from 

 Pekin, October 20, 1764, addressed to the members of this Society, but with 

 no subscription, or signature, excepting 4 stars, and this addition ' of the com- 

 pany of Jesus.' 



■ The author's method, or order, is as follows: 1. An introductory preface. 2. 

 A state of the inquiry, as collected partly from the letter, and partly from Mr. 

 Needham's printed book. 3. What the author calls an historical picture of the 

 Chinese tongue and its characters. 4. An application of this historical delinea- 

 tion, in the way of principles, to decide concerning the 29 characters of the bust 

 of Turin. 5. A more general application of the said principles, in order to elu- 

 cidate the hieroglyphical writing, and consequently the antiquities of Egypt, by a 

 proposed collation with the ancient symbolical writing of China, exemplified by 

 various instances: and lastly the notes, containing circumstantial details of some 

 particulars, as well historical as critical, which might otherwise have broken the 

 thread of the letter. 



The particular branch discussed in this letter, as well as the general learning of 

 China, are subjects in a manner new to Europe ; and the various books of the 

 Chinese are called by the author a Potosi, which might enrich Europe; espe- 

 cially with regard to laws, government, the useful arts, natural history, and the 

 like. Some strictures from the letter are to this effect : 1 . In the preface, men- 

 tion is made of the insufficient attempts of the Greeks and Romans to explain the 

 hieroglyphical writing of Egypt; and of the later attempts of father Kircher, and 

 Mr. de Mairan, who anticipated Mr. Needham in the idea of explaining them 

 by the characteristic writing of China ; which idea they quitted almost as soon as 



