Isidoro Lucci S.J. (1661-1719) and João Baptista Lima (1659-1733) at the Qing Court : The Physician, the Barber-surgeon, and the Padroado's Interests in China

Abstract

This article provides a detailed account of the life and work of Isidoro Lucci S.J. and João Baptista Lima at the imperial court in late 17th-century China. Lucci, accompanied by the barber-surgeon and Macao-born Lima, was the first professional Jesuit physician to arrive in Peking in response to a special request of the Kangxi emperor. First, their complex travel route until their arrival in Peking will be highlighted, as well as how their stay in the Chinese capital gave rise to a conflict within the Jesuit China Mission due to competing interests between Padroado members and the Mathématiciens du Roi. Second, the medical activities of Lucci and Lima at the court in Peking and on imperial tours will be depicted, including their conflicts with Chinese palace physicians. Moreover, it will be shown that caring for elite patients, among them the 'Son of Heaven' suffering from diseases and thus being subjected to the crude methods of contemporary European medicine, moved them far away from the ideal of charitable physicians. Eventually, the causes will be examined that brought the stay of Lucci and Lima in Peking to an abrupt end, being triggered by a combination of political, religious and medical factors working against them.