17世纪末法国与暹罗外交的斡旋者-塔查尔

大航海时代的开启让欧洲君主的视野由陆地面向海洋,而在整个扩张过程中,法国作为在西、葡、荷之后崛起的欧洲新势力,从17世纪逐步向亚洲渗透,并希望取而代之。法国抓住暹罗主动示好的机会首次向其派遣了使团,虽未取得预期的成功,但在塔查尔的推动下,路易十四决定继续坚持下去。塔氏怀着使整个暹罗改宗的理想,脱离了赴华传教团,一生5次往返于欧亚大陆之间以推动两国外交,最后他的事业却以失败而告终。虽然17世纪末法国在暹罗的种种活动已经体现出了它的殖民主义野心,但从塔查尔的主观来看,他所做的一切努力依然只是为了传播福音,拯救生灵。

Guy Tachard-A Diplomatic mediator between France and the Kingdom of Siam at the End of the 17th Century

Starting from the 15th century,European emperors began to set their eyes on the oceans.Spain,Portugal and the Netherlands are the three pioneers that led the expansion into Asia through maritime travels,thus ushering in the Age of Discovery.Into the 17th century,however,France rose to a great power and gradually expanded its tentacles into Asia in an attempt to replace the three rivals.The proposal of an alliance between Siam and France from the King of Siam offered France a great opportunity to send its official mission to the country for the first time.The mission failed to achieve the much-desired success.But with the advocacy of Guy Tachard,King Louis XIV decided to maintain their ties.Guy Tachard,on the other hand,was single-mindedly devoted to converting the entire Siamese to Catholic faith,and he didn’t follow the other members to China,and instead he traveled back and forth between the two countries 5 times in his entire life,in a constant effort to promote their diplomatic relations.Sadly,his ambition was doomed to a failure amid the colonial expansion of France by the end of the 17th century.But to Guy Tachard himself,all he did was to spread the Gospel and save lives with justification.