Francisco Varo
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(April 2014) |
Francisco Varo(October 4, 1627 – January 31, 1687) was a Spanish Dominican friar, missionary in China, and author of the second grammar of Mandarin Chinese in a western language, "Arte de la lengua mandarina" (1703). His Chinese names were Wan Fangjige (Chinese:Vạn phương tế các;pinyin:wàn fāngjìgèVuán Fāng Çhí kǒ) and Wan Jiguo (Chinese:Vạn tế quốc;pinyin:wàn jìguó).[1][2]
Life
[edit]Varo was born in the city ofSeville.On October 8, 1643, Varo joined the Dominican order in the convent of San Pablo. Varo then embarked on his journey to China when Juan Bautista de Morales recruited volunteers to carry out missions in the East, Varo was among them. He began a journey to China via Mexico and the Philippines. On June 12, 1646, Varo sailed to Veracuz in Mexico from Sanlucar de Barrameda. The trip to Manila in the Philippines was delayed by the presence of Dutch ships, but they started out from April 12, 1648, arriving in early July.
It was planned form the beginning that Varo go to China, but he still spent a year among theChinese community in Manilato learnthe language.On July 10, 1649, he departed from Pasig, near Manila, and arrived on August 3 in Fujian, at a part near Amoy, and then moved ontoFuanto his mission. Fujian's coast came under attack by theMing dynastyloyalistKoxinga,who was very active between 1624 and 1662. the Qing Emperor ordered the evacuation of the coast in 1662 to undermine support for Koxinga, which allowed Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch influence to increase on the coast. From 1671 to 1672 Varo was exiled toCantonby theQing dynastygovernment for religious reasons.
Varo studied the Chinese language there, bothMandarinand thelocal dialect.He was among the few who managed to master thecomplicated form of the language of the legal system and formal hearings.His superiors made him Chinese teacher for other missionaries.
He was appointed Vicar provincial repeatedly. On January 31, 1687, he was elected Vicar Apostolic of the provinces ofGuangdong(Archdiocese of Guangzhou),Guangxi(Archdiocese of Nanning), andYunnan(Archdiocese of Kunming).
He died inFuzhou,China.
Work
[edit]Most of Varo's numerous writings were not printed during his lifetime due to lack of funds. He wrote several religious works, including a treatise on theChinese Rites controversy.During his exile in 1671 he wrote "The Manifestor and Declaration", two treatises heavily influenced by the thought of his superior Juan Bautista de Morales and were later used as the basis of the decrees of the nuncios in the East Indies and China. His letters are an excellent source about life in the missions of his time.
He also wrote two Romanized Chinese dictionaries, "Vocabulario da lingoa mandarina", in Portuguese, and the "Vocabulario de la lengua Mandarina" in Spanish, finished in 1670 and 1692, respectively.
His most important work was "Arte de la lengua mandarina" (1703), the second grammar of The Chinese language in a Western language which survived (after that ofMartino Martini,which dates back to 1656). It was published after his death by Fr. Pedro de la Pinuela in Canton. Varo knew of a previous grammar by Francisco Diaz, and possibly the work ofJuan Bautista Morales,grammars which have both been lost, and he was also influenced by the grammar ofAntonio de Nebrija.Varo's grammar is not of the Mandarin Chinese of Beijing, so it is not a "predecessor" of modern Standard Mandarin, but it is akoinewhich was spoken between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries in Nanjing.
Grammars on Mandarin
[edit]- "Arte de la lengua mandarina" (1703)
- .Francisco Varo; Weldon South Coblin (2000). Weldon South Coblin (ed.).Francisco Varo's grammar of the Mandarin language (1703): an English transl. of Arte de la lengua Mandarina.Vol. 93 of Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science / 3. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 282.ISBN1-55619-606-7.Retrieved23 September2011.
Varo advised people learning Mandarin (Guanhua) to specifically seek out Chinese from Mandarin speaking provinces to learn the language properly, usingNanjingas an example.[3][4][5]
Other work
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Francisco Varo; W. South Coblin; Joseph Abraham Levi (2000). W. South Coblin; Joseph Abraham Levi (eds.).Francisco Varo's grammar of the mandarin language, 1703: an English translation of 'Arte de la lengua Mandarina' /[edited by] W. South Coblin, Joseph A. Levi; with an introduction by Sandra Breitenbach.Vol. 93 of Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science: Studies in the history of the language sciences (illustrated ed.). John Benjamins Pub. Co. p. xi.ISBN90-272-4581-9.Retrieved23 September2011.
was also an active and energetic teacher of Chinese, and in addition to his grammar he is also known to have written Portuguese-Mandarin and Spanish- Mandarin glossaries. Varo had two Chinese names. The first of these, Wan Fangjige
(the University of Michigan) - ^Francisco Varo's Grammar of the Mandarin Language: 1703: An English Translation of 'Arte de La Lengua Mandarina'
- ^Francisco Varo; Weldon South Coblin (2000). Weldon South Coblin (ed.).Francisco Varo's grammar of the Mandarin language (1703): an English transl. of Arte de la lengua Mandarina.Vol. 93 of Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science / 3. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 31.ISBN1-55619-606-7.Retrieved23 September2011.
Not just any Chinese, but only those who have the natural gift of speaking the Mandarin language well, such as those natives of the Province of Nan king ffi^C, and of other provinces where the Mandarin tongue is spoken well.
- ^Hà đại an (2002).Đệ tam giới quốc tế hán học hội nghị luận văn tập: Ngữ ngôn tổ. Nam bắc thị phi: Hán ngữ phương ngôn đích soa dị dữ biến hóa.Vol. 7 of đệ tam giới quốc tế hán học hội nghị luận văn tập: Ngữ ngôn tổ. Zhong yang yan jiu yuan di san jie guo ji han xue hui yi lun wen ji. Yu yan zu. Trung ương nghiên cứu viện ngữ ngôn học nghiên cứu sở. p. 24.ISBN957-671-936-4.Retrieved23 September2011.
Not just any Chinese, but only those who have the natural gift of speaking the Mandarin language well, such as those natives of the Province of Nan king, and of other provinces where the Mandarin tongue is spoken well "(Coblin and Levi
(the University of California) - ^Fu ren da xue (Beijing, China), S.V.D. Research Institute, Society of the Divine Word, Monumenta Serica Institute (1997).Monumenta serica, Volume 45.H. Vetch. p. 288.Retrieved23 September2011.
In urging his readers to learn their pronunciation from native Chinese Speakers he says, "Not just any Chinese, but only those who have the natural gift of speaking the Mandarin language well, such äs those natives of the Province of Nan king, and of other provinces where the Mandarin tongue is spoken well" (1703:5). He also urges the use of glossaries compiled in Nanking and
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) (the University of Virginia)
