In The Question of John Hu, Jonathan Spence portrays John Hu as a bizarre, almost crazy figure. Hu is a poor catholic man from China selected by Father Jean-Francois Foucquet, A French scholar, to provide service as a copyist alongside him in France and later Rome. Hu’s behavior on the Voyage as well as during his time in France were perceived by Foucquet to be “Chinese madness” (Spence, 42). Hu’s perceived crazy actions include things such as stealing a horse, eating disproportionate amounts of food at a time, and refusing to have any sorts of interaction with women. Hu frequently changes his demeanor, happy one instance and angry the next, which puzzles Foucquet and others. Hu is eventually locked up in an insaneasylum after being labeled as insane.
Although Foucquet and others deem Hu to be an insane man, his actions really derive as a result of his perceived inferiority to the French and the isolation inflicted upon him by Foucquet. Foucquet is responsible in the sense that he is unable to view Hu’s actions through the eyes of Chinese culture and customs, rather he labels Hu as uncivilized for not altering his beliefs and social identity to assimilate himself into French culture. He measures Hu’s sanity through his level of competence to function properly in French culture, disregarding Hu’s own beliefs and practices as outlandish. Prime examples of this can be observed in the manner in which Fouquet dismisses Hu’s belief in separation of gender roles, and his religious convictions are so quickly disregarded and mocked, and even in his isolation from society which stops his ability to explore. John Hu’s rebellious behavior in France actually resulted from an ethnocentric disposition held by Foucquet and to a greater extent, the French society that restricted Hu from displaying his true character and punished him when he attempted to do so.
One example that sheds light on the ethnocentric manner with which John Hu and his beliefs are regarded is when Hu refuses to help out at mass because of the presence of women. While this can be looked upon as peculiar and odd from the readers point of view and by Fouquet, it is something that Hu has grown up with all his life and all he has known for forty years. Hu believes with strong conviction that men and women should be separate in the public sphere, a point heavily emphasized in China. Not only is this a strong belief of Hu’s stressed in Chinese culture, but Hu is also accustomed to the Jesuits conceding out of respect for Chinese customs. This makes it even more likely for Hu to react defiantly, It says “In obedience to Chinese custom, the Jesuits in Canton did not allow women to attend services there; nor did the Chinese even allow women to stroll openly in the streets” (Spence, 62). This statement exhibits how valuable this belief is in China and how deeply engrained it is in Chinese culture, that Jesuits would adhere to Chinese standards while in Canton. Fouquet however does not take into account the cultural background of Hu when examining his action and says “But Hu has been a month and a half in France by now and should be getting used to French customs, Fouquet feels” (Spence, 62). This precisely demonstrates the ethnocentrism displayed by Fouquet when judging Hu’s actions.
Fouquet has this expectation of Hu that he should simply give up his most precious beliefs and adopt French customs at all costs. Fouquet proceeds to regard the actions as behaving “wildly”(Spence 62), and confining him to a home in the Jesuit residence while neglecting to explore the deeper reasoning behind Hu’s actions which reveal that his actions are a customary cultural action not an isolated action subsisting purely for the purpose of defiance. Hu later writes “Men and and women should be kept in separate spheres” (Spence, 84). Fouquet disregarding his sentiments “Dismisses the object with scorn as the amusements of a child…” (Spence, 84). This strongly reiterates how Fouquet nonchalantly dismisses Hu’s strong cultural view. A belief so important in comprising Hu’s social identity is written off as the amusement of a child, which exhibits just how little Fouquet thinks of Hu and his views.
Another striking example of Fouquet’s ethnocentrism is seen in his opinions concerning Hu’s religious beliefs. Fouquet says that “Chinese rites will eventually be accepted as merely a civil and political cult”(Spence, 76). This shows yet another way in
which the Chinese culture is viewed so condescendingly. Hu is a devout Catholic who has dedicated his life in the name of religion which constitutes a massive part of his identity. French society however fails to comprehend how significant a role that religion plays in Hu’s life and does not consider it to be of great importance. In one instance Hu sees a crucifix on the wall and out of great reverence throws himself to the ground in front of a large audience. “Seeing a crucifix on the wall, Hu throws himself to the floor and kowtows repeatedly, ignoring the throng of the stunned onlookers…” (Spence, 81).
Hu’s devotion is so great which is obvious in his action, yet Fouquet once again is unable to transcend his narrow minded sense of superiority and feels shame and embarrasement to be associated with Hu. In a later meeting Hu has with the nincio, who is described as having a “strong sense of his own dignity” (Spence, 81). He is describes as “being neither amused nor impressed with Hu’s activities”(Spence, 81). We see yet again the sense of superiority shine through in the portrayal of Hu’s actions. Rather than being perceived as strongly devout he is depicted almost as being a man with no substance, which is how the nuncios reaction should be absorbed. There seems not one area where Hu is respected and taken seriously, which is also a sign of the times.
The final way in which Hu’s actions are justified as a result of the Ethnocentric view that Fouquet and French society use to judge Hu is the manner in which they isolate Hu hindering his chance at exploration. Hu is mislead by Fouquet in that Hu was
under the assumption that he was to explore this new society, being one of the only Chinese men to ever do so. “Surely he will be seeing astonishing places, doing amazing things. Fouquet does not contradict him on this” (Spence, 25). This statement obviously indicates that Hu is preparing to explore a new society and come back to China to tell of his journey, and this is confirmed by Fouquet. Hu, however, is quickly viewed as an embarrassment by Fouquet who tries to isolate Hu as much as possible.
On the voyage to France , Hu is immediately isolated from Fouquet and forced to eat with those of low salaries, and does not know how to properly eat. From here on out Hu is moving from house to house being deprived of his chance to explore by Fouquet. At Renaults house Hu eats his meals with the housekeeper in a separate room, until he objects and is forced to eat alone. To look at Hu’s actions such as stealing a horse and constantly disappearing as being crazy is a very simplistic view of the situation. Hu is describes as overjoyed when he is in Paris because he finally is able to explore. “Here Hu can stroll down to rue St. Antoine…past the church of St Paul to the right”( Spence ,74). Hu simply wants to absorb this foreign atmosphere that he might never again see as any foreigner would. To label this as insane is in and of itself insanity.
In concluding it is obvious that the Question of Hu is more about two cultures meeting. On one side there is Fouquet the self interested superior schoalar, and on the other there is John Hu, an innocent Chinese copyist trying to explore a new land. Hu is exploited from the outset as his views are written off as inferior ad he is placed on a pedestal that he can not measure up to. He is asked to intermix with women, mocked for his religious views are mocked and he is hindered from doing the exploring because of the embarrassment felt around him. John Hu was not insane he was curious and humble
and in France those qualities were viewed as insane.
