JULIEN, STANISLAS-AIGNAN, the first Chinese scholar of his age in Europe, was h. at Orleans, in France, Sep. 21, 1799, and in 1823. became a pupil of Abel Remusat, who had recently been appointed to deliver a course of lectures on Chinese. In less than a year, he had made himself master of the principal difficulties of the language, and actu • ally executed (in Latin) a translation of the great Chinese philosopher, which was published at the expense of the Asiatic society of Paris, and pronounced faultless. From that time, his labors were chiefly directed to the languages and literature of the far east. Ancient and modern Chinese, Mautchu, Sanskrit, the Mongolian tongues, were familiar to him, although, at the same time, he is said to have known almost all the European languages. His translations (into French) embrace the most important works in all departments of Chinese literature. He has given specimens of the Chinese drama in his Hoei-lan-ki (The Circle of Chalk, 1832) and his Tclazo-chi-koumd (The Chinese Orphan, 1834); of Chinese romances, by his ll'hite and Blue; or, the Two Snake Fairies (1834), and several other pieces in Sahnigondis and the• Constitutionnel. Julien was also the first who succeeded in translating Chinese poetry well—the constant use of allegory and allusion to facts not known to Europeans rendering it nearly unintel ligible. But more valuable still than those purely literary productions are his transla
tions of the great works that enable us to understand the religion and philosophy of the Chinese, such as the Book, of Rewards and Punishments (1835), in which are contained the doctrines of Tao-sse; the Book of theWay and of Virtue (1841) by Lao-Ism', written in the 6th C. B.C., and forming the oldest and most illustrious monument of Chinese philosophy; and above all, the history of the Life and Travels of Illouen-Tsang (1852), a work of immense importance for the earlier history and geography of India and the knowledge of Buddhism. But not content with these brilliant labors. Julien sought to instruct us concerning the industry and arts of the Chinese, in a variety of treatises, of which we may mention his Summary of the Principal Chinese Treatises upon the Culture of MuTherry Trees and Silk-warms (1837), and his Treatise on the Art of Manufacturing Porcelain (185G). In 18G9, he published the first part of the Syntax of the Chinese Lan guage. On the death of Remusat, he became his successor at the college de Fanee, and in 1855 president of the college. He was also conservator of the Bffiliothilque Imperia le, and was specially charged with the oversight of the Chinese department. Ile died in Feb. 1873.