Alfonso Vagnone's Tongyou Jiaoyu 童幼教育 (On the Education of Children, c. 1632). The earliest encounter between Chinese and European pedagogy

This manuscript aims to provide a complete study of Alfonso Vagnone S.J.’s (1568 – 1640) treatise, Tongyou Jiaoyu 童幼教育(On the Education of Children, c.1632), alongside its first annotated translation in the English language. It draws upon my revised doctoral thesis, which investigated the role played by Tongyou Jiaoyu, the earliest proof of a Sino-Western exchange in the field of pedagogy, in introducing European Classical and Renaissance moral philosophy into late Ming China. In particular, it is the purpose of this project to investigate how Vagnone’s text related to the European and Chinese pedagogical traditions by providing an analysis of the historical and cultural background, along with examining the most relevant works on the education of children that most influenced the Jesuit’s writing. This work will also take a deep dive into Vagnone’s rhetorical style and translation strategies in order to identify which elements of Western moral philosophy were selected and how these were adapted to fit the Chinese cultural milieu.