Foucquet's Dynamic Character

At the beginning of the book it starts off with our main protagonist Hu in an asylum and you automatically get a first impression that he is “mad”. Hu wasn’t a mad person, but a person who misjudged and the relationship dynamic he had with Foucquet is what drove him to seem “mad” and there was no major change in Hu’s behavior throughout the journey in 1722. The relationship dynamic was questionable between Hu and the missionary Foucquet at first it was meant to be a business relationship. Foucquet needed someone to help decipher and transcribe Chinese religious textbooks the relationship initially began as an employer and employee relationship as “The two men draw up a written contract and signed it” (Spence,24) furthermore since Foucquet was short on time he had no other choice than to bring Hu. Hu was literate and able to do manuscript part of the deal was Hu had to work for Foucquet for 5 years and have his voyage back home be paid for Foucquet even though this was all done in secret since they didn’t want a scandal of a Chinese man dying in Europe. Foucquet also treated Hu like a child and a servant as “He makes tea for Foucquet without being asked, and also prepares the ships little altar for Mass when necessary” (Spence,40) he is very demeaning to Hu as there is clearly cultural and social differences between Hu and the people on the boat …show more content…
If Foucquet would have allowed Hu to document and write a book about his travels Hu might have been more cooperative throughout the journey as he has expressed his idea to Foucquet at least