Joseph de Guignes facts for kids

Joseph de Guignes (born October 19, 1721 – died March 19, 1800) was a very smart French scholar. He studied the East, which includes parts of Asia and North Africa. This made him an orientalist. He was also a sinologist, meaning he studied China and its language. Plus, he was a Turkologist, someone who studied Turkic peoples and their languages. Joseph de Guignes was born in Pontoise and passed away in Paris.

Early Life and Studies

Joseph de Guignes followed in the footsteps of another scholar, Étienne Fourmont. He became a secretary and interpreter for Eastern languages at the Royal Library. This was a very important job for understanding different cultures.

Important Books and Recognition

In 1748, de Guignes published a book called Mémoire historique sur l'origine des Huns et des Turcs. This title means "Historical Memoir on the Origin of the Huns and Turks." This book was so good that it helped him become a member of the Royal Society of London in 1752. He also joined the French Academy of Inscriptions in 1754.

Soon after, he wrote a huge five-volume work. It was called Histoire générale des Huns, des Mongoles, des Turcs et des autres Tartares occidentaux. This translates to "General History of the Huns, Mongols, Turks, and other Western Tatars." He published this big work between 1756 and 1758. In 1757, he was given a special teaching job at the Collège de France. There, he taught about the Syriac language, an ancient language from the Middle East.

Key Ideas and Theories

Joseph de Guignes came up with an interesting idea about the Huns. These were the people who attacked the Roman Empire. He suggested that the Huns were the same group as the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu were a powerful group mentioned in ancient Chinese records. This idea became quite popular. A famous historian named Edward Gibbon even wrote about it in his book, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

Chinese Origins and Egyptian Links

De Guignes also had another theory. He believed that the Chinese nation originally came from Egypt. He thought that ancient Egyptians had traveled to China and started the civilization there. Even though many people disagreed with him, he stuck to this idea.

He wrote many articles trying to prove that Egyptian hieroglyphs (ancient Egyptian writing) and Chinese characters were connected. He thought one came from the other. While he was wrong about this main idea, he did make an important discovery. He showed that the oval shapes, called cartouches, in Egyptian texts held the names of kings and queens. Another scholar, J. J. Barthélemy, had hinted at this before, but de Guignes proved it.

Works

• 1748 – Mémoire historique sur l'origine des Huns et des Turcs
• 1757 – Histoire generale des Huns, des Mongoles, des Turcs et des autres Tartares occidentaux, 3 vols. Paris: Desaint & Saillant.
• 1761 – Recherches sur les Navigations des Chinois du Cote de l'Amerique, et sur quelques Peuples situés a l'extremite orientale de l"asie.

See also

• Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de Guignes