Francisco Varo facts for kids

Francisco Varo (born October 4, 1627 – died January 31, 1687) was a Spanish friar from the Dominican order. He traveled to China as a missionary. He is famous for writing the second grammar of Mandarin Chinese in a Western language. This book was called "Arte de la lengua mandarina" and was published in 1703. In China, he was known by his Chinese names, Wan Fangjige (Chinese: 萬方濟各; pinyin: wàn fāngjìgè) and Wan Jiguo (Chinese: 萬濟國; pinyin: wàn jìguó).

Life of Francisco Varo

Francisco Varo was born in Seville, a city in Spain. When he was 16, on October 8, 1643, he joined the Dominican order at a place called the San Pablo convent. The Dominicans are a group of Catholic priests and brothers.

Varo decided to go on a long journey to China. Another friar, Juan Bautista de Morales, was looking for volunteers to go on missions to the East. Varo was one of them. His journey to China took him through Mexico and the Philippines. On June 12, 1646, Varo sailed from Sanlucar de Barrameda in Spain to Veracruz in Mexico.

The trip to Manila in the Philippines was delayed because there were Dutch ships around. But they finally left on April 12, 1648, and arrived in Manila in early July.

It was planned from the start that Varo would go to China. However, he first spent a year in Manila. He stayed with the Chinese community there to learn their language. On July 10, 1649, he left Pasig, near Manila. He arrived in Fujian, China, on August 3, near a place called Amoy. Then he moved to Fuan for his mission.

The coast of Fujian was attacked by Koxinga. He was a loyal supporter of the Ming dynasty, an old Chinese ruling family. Koxinga was very active between 1624 and 1662. The Qing dynasty emperor, who ruled China at the time, ordered people to leave the coast in 1662. This was to stop Koxinga from getting support. This also allowed Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch influence to grow along the coast.

From 1671 to 1672, Varo was sent away to Canton by the Qing government. This happened because of religious reasons.

While in China, Varo studied the Chinese language very carefully. He learned both Mandarin and the local dialect called Min Nan. He was one of the few people who could master the very complicated form of the language used in legal systems and formal meetings. Because he was so good at it, his superiors made him a Chinese teacher for other missionaries.

Varo was chosen to be the Vicar Provincial many times. This was an important leadership role in his religious order. On January 31, 1687, he was chosen as the Vicar Apostolic for the provinces of Guangdong, Yunnan, and Guangxi. This was an even higher position.

He died in Fuzhou, China.

Francisco Varo's Writings

Francisco Varo wrote many things, but most of his works were not printed while he was alive. This was because there wasn't enough money. He wrote several religious books. One of them was about the Chinese Rites controversy. This was a big argument about whether Chinese traditions could mix with Christian beliefs.

During his time in exile in 1671, he wrote "The Manifestor and Declaration." These two writings were greatly influenced by his superior, Juan Bautista de Morales. Later, they were used as a basis for rules for missionaries in the East Indies and China. Varo's letters are also very helpful. They tell us a lot about what life was like in the missions during his time.

He also wrote two Chinese dictionaries that used Roman letters (like the ones we use). One was called "Vocabulario da lingoa mandarina" in Portuguese. The other was "Vocabulario de la lengua Mandarina" in Spanish. He finished the Spanish one in 1670 and the Portuguese one in 1692.

His most important work was "Arte de la lengua mandarina," published in 1703. This was the second grammar of the Chinese language in a Western language that we still have today. The first was by Martino Martini in 1656. Varo's book was published after he died by another friar, Pedro de la Pinuela, in Canton.

Varo knew about an earlier grammar by Francisco Diaz. He might also have known about a work by Juan Bautista Morales. Sadly, both of these grammars have been lost. Varo was also influenced by the grammar written by Antonio de Nebrija. Varo's grammar does not describe the Mandarin Chinese spoken in Beijing. So, it's not a direct "ancestor" of modern Standard Mandarin. Instead, it describes a common language that was spoken in Nanjing between the 1500s and 1700s.

Varo gave advice to people learning Mandarin (which was called Guanhua back then). He told them to specifically find Chinese people from Mandarin-speaking provinces to learn the language correctly. He used Nanjing as a good example of a place to learn.

See also

In Spanish: Francisco Varo para niños