a French Jesuit and missionary, was born in 1679, at the ancestral castle near Nantua. He entered the order quite young. In 1701 he was appointed to take a part in the mission to China, and embarked in 1703 for Maeao, and thence for China. He quickly mastered the Chinese language, and as readily familiarized himself with the institutions of China, so that he became of great service to the Celestial empire. In 1708 a map of China and Tartary was prepared for the Chinese government under his superintendence, and he secured not only approval for his services, but was actually invited to take office at court. He died June 28,1748, at Pekin. His studies were mainly in the history and archaeology of China, and his works are of the same department. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, 32:877.