Product Code Database
Francisco Varo (October 4, 1627 – January 31, 1687) was a Spanish Dominican friar, missionary in China, and author of the second grammar of Mandarin Chinese in a western language, "Arte de la lengua mandarina" (1703). His Chinese names were Wan Fangjige (first=t Vuán Fāng Çhí kǒ) and Wan Jiguo (first=t). (the University of Michigan) Francisco Varo's Grammar of the Mandarin Language: 1703: An English Translation of 'Arte de La Lengua Mandarina'
It was planned form the beginning that Varo go to China, but he still spent a year among the Chinese Filipino to learn Lan-nang. On July 10, 1649, he departed from Pasig, near Manila, and arrived on August 3 in Fujian, at a part near Amoy, and then moved onto Fuan to his mission. Fujian's coast came under attack by the Ming dynasty loyalist Koxinga, who was very active between 1624 and 1662. the Qing Emperor ordered the evacuation of the coast in 1662 to undermine support for Koxinga, which allowed Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch influence to increase on the coast. From 1671 to 1672 Varo was exiled to Guangzhou by the Qing dynasty government for religious reasons.
Varo studied the Chinese language there, both Mandarin Chinese and the Min Nan. He was among the few who managed to master the complicated form of the language of the legal system and formal hearings. His superiors made him Chinese teacher for other missionaries.
He was appointed Vicar provincial repeatedly. On January 31, 1687, he was elected Vicar Apostolic of the provinces of Guangdong (Archdiocese of Guangzhou), Guangxi (Archdiocese of Nanning), and Yunnan (Archdiocese of Kunming).
He died in Fuzhou, China.
He also wrote two Romanized Chinese dictionaries, "Vocabulario da lingoa mandarina", in Portuguese, and the "Vocabulario de la lengua Mandarina" in Spanish, finished in 1670 and 1692, respectively.
His most important work was "Arte de la lengua mandarina" (1703), the second grammar of The Chinese language in a Western language which survived (after that of Martino Martini, which dates back to 1656). It was published after his death by Fr. Pedro de la Pinuela in Canton. Varo knew of a previous grammar by Francisco Diaz, and possibly the work of Juan Bautista Morales, grammars which have both been lost, and he was also influenced by the grammar of Antonio de Nebrija. Varo's grammar is not of the Mandarin Chinese of Beijing, so it is not a "predecessor" of modern Standard Mandarin, but it is a koine which was spoken between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries in Nanjing.
Varo advised people learning Mandarin (Guanhua) to specifically seek out Chinese from Mandarin speaking provinces to learn the language properly, using Nanjing as an example. (the University of California) (the University of Virginia)
|
|
