The first «Shang shu» translations into European languages (XVI-XVIII centuries)

At the moment one of the most important and topical areas of the world sinology is the studying of the Confucian classics, including The Book of Documents, the history of their research in Europe and translations into European languages. Until the full translation of The Book of Documents into French in 1770 two centuries before that appears partial translation of this monument. The first was the translation of a passage from syncretic monument «Min Xin Bao Jian» by a Dominican monk Juan Cobo. This translation was published in 1590. A Jesuit missionary Martino Martini in 1658, in his «History of China...» put information about the first (including mythological) rulers of the ancient China, outlining some stories from «Shang shu». Gabriel de Magalhães continued this tradition in his book «A new history of China.» (1688), confirming the reliability of the «Shang shu» texts to build a chronology of Chinese history. In 1711 was published a complete translation to Latin language of Confucian «Si shu», and «Shang shu» and its heroes were often mentioned. Features, sources and destination of various translations are described in this article.