La Chine illustrée d’Athanase Kircher (China monumentis illustrata, 1667). La découverte des caractères chinois et son apport aux débats sur les écritures au XVIIe siècle

The discovery and knowledge of Chinese characters in the 17th century nourished reflections about the principal ideas that occupied the thinkers of the 17th century. Kircher, best known as an Egyptologist, popularized information about China. As for writing, the comparison with Egyptian hieroglyphs allowed him to oppose on one hand a writing which corresponded to ordinary words and language used in everyday life, and on the other the subtlety and the mystery of Egyptian hieroglyphs, which remained removed from the day-to-day life due to their inspiration stemming from more abstract ideas.