The Classics Department’s undergraduate working group in Latin-Chinese translation studies is collaborative initiative devoted to the study of materials related to the shared intellectual history of Europe and China in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Formed in 2024, the initiative aims to connect students with knowledge of Latin and classical Chinese at USC in collaborative efforts to prepare English editions of select works from the period for the purpose of broad, public dissemination.
The initiative’s focus is currently on the work of the Italian humanist scholar Martino Martini (1614-1661), who travelled widely in China in the early seventeenth century and wrote extensively on topics in Chinese language and culture (in Latin) and in theology, philosophy, and ethics (in Chinese). Among these works are the first Chinese grammar to circulate in Europe, the most detailed and accurate atlas of China (Novus Atlas Sinensis, 1655), and first work of Chinese history in a western language (Sinicae Historiae Decas Prima, 1658). Works in Chinese include Martini’s treatises on friendship (Qiuyou pian [“On seeking friends”], 1661) and theological works incorporating aspects of Renaissance humanist thought (Zhenzhu linghun lizheng [“Rational proofs of the existence of a True Lord and the immortality of soul”] 1650-60). Martini’s writings, as a whole, are among the most substantial of efforts by European and Chinese thinkers to put their respective cultural traditions in dialogue in the period, and provide critical evidence for the postclassical reception of Latin literature at this critical juncture in global intellectual history
Qiuyou pian will be our first title for publication. The treatise examines the nature and ethics of friendship in a wide-ranging discussion incorporating diverse anecdotes and maxims from classical Greco-Roman literature and Biblical sources. Aligned with important strands of inquiry in the Confucian tradition, in which the topic of friendship had long been a venerable theme of philosophical and literary reflection, the treatise also is only the second work of its kind to anthologize classical Greek and Roman literary sources in Chinese. The edition produced by the initiative will present original texts of both Qiuyou pian and Martini’s sources alongside student-produced English translations and basic commentary intended for non-academic audiences. When completed, the edition will offer a valuable resource for sharing knowledge of Martini’s work in English for the first time, and a compelling showcase of interdisciplinary collaboration in undergraduate language study at USC.
For further information on the initiative, including about opportunity for involvement through the Undergraduate Research Associates Program, please contact Prof. Lucas Herchenroeder (herchenr@usc.edu) and Prof. Stefano Rebeggiani (rebeggia@usc.edu).