Michel Benoist was a Jesuit scientist who served for thirty years in the court of the Qianlong Emperor during the Qing dynasty, known for his architectural and landscape designs of the Old Summer Palace.
15 Facts About Michel Benoist
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The name Michel Benoist is an archaic form of the name "Benoit," and both are used interchangeably in textual sources.
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Michel Benoist was then sent to China on behalf of the Society of Jesus, arriving initially at Macao and finally to Beijing in 1744.
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When Michel Benoist arrived at the court of the Qianlong Emperor, the role of Jesuits had transformed.
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Many of Michel Benoist's accomplishments have been documented by two authors: Louis Pfister, and Alphose Favier, a Catholic bishop based in Beijing.
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Michel Benoist oversaw the construction of Castiglione's designs, taking over construction following Castiglione's death in 1766, and helped design multiple parts of the palace.
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Michel Benoist worked on numerous cartography projects for the Qianlong Emperor.
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Michel Benoist then produced a large world map on the walls of Yuanming Yuan.
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For instance, German Jesuit Schall von Bell previously argued that the planets and the sun moved in a circular motion, while Michel Benoist argued the sun was a static body.
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Michel Benoist, according to Sivin, was not only among the greatest champions of the Copernican model in China, but was one of the last successful Jesuit scientists to do so.
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Michel Benoist instructed the Qianlong Emperor on use of the telescope for the observation of celestial bodies.
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Michel Benoist set up a printing shop to produce prints of historic battle scenes from a set of copper engravings which had been gifted from king Louis XV of France in 1772, and was the last of Michel Benoist's contributions to the Qianlong Court.
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Michel Benoist died at 59 years old, shortly after learning of the formal suppression of the Society of Jesus in Europe.
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Michel Benoist's body was interred at the Zhengfusi cemetery on the outskirts a Beijing.
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Many of Michel Benoist's accomplishments were destroyed during the Second Opium war.