China and the West

Voltaire. Zadig ou La destinée histoire orientale.
Basil Guy : China has a rôle in it and an importance which is tantamount to a declaration of faith on the part of Voltaire. All is brought to a head in the chapter of 'Le souper', where Zadig enters into discussion with a man from Cathay and others, 'qui dans leurs fréquents voyages vers le golfe arabique avaient appris assez d’arabe pour se faire entendre'. Each stranger speaks in turn, and when the mandarin's turn arrives, he begins : "Je respecte fort les Egyptiens, les Chaldéens, les Grecs, les Celtes, Brama, le boeuf Apis, le beau poisson Oannès ; mais peut-être que le 'Li' ou le 'Tien' comme on voudra l'appeler, vaut bien les boeufs et les poissons". Voltaire believes the Chinese are wisdom incarnate. Once again this was a common idea at the time he was writing, and it is not extraordinary for him to think of the people of China as the only ones on earth who are free from error and foolishness. Such being the case, it was natural for Voltaire to find that in addition to being wise and upright, the Chinese were also religious and tolerant. Obviously, sooner or later, this wisdom and toleration and humanity which were so much to the honour of the man from Cathay must be found concentrated as it were in Zadig's own person. Zadig is an almost perfect indication of Voltaire's taste and interest in the Far East during what we should like to consider his first Chinese period.