The Dutch Commodification of Confucius

Abstract

In the second half of the seventeenth century the Dutch Republic became the indisputable centre of European book production.1 The remarkable political structure of the Dutch Republic, as well as the absence of an absolute state religion were fundamental for this economic potential. Religious and economic immigrants combined with native skill to provide the necessary manpower, professional skills, and (equally important) creativity to give the industry its defining boost.2 The relatively stable economic situation presented printers and publishers with the opportunity to sell their books ‘wherever there was a demand for them’.3 Dutch cultural and economic growth was an important impetus for innovation on the book market, and a number of business-savvy publishers saw the commercial potential of books on China. In addition to the mercantile and missionary perspective in reproducing and reassembling information, these Dutch publishers displayed a new strategy towards Chinese religion and philosophy: that of ‘cultural entrepreneur’. This term has recently been identified especially in economics and the social sciences, yet it has also been employed in the study of culture in the Dutch Golden Age. A widely used definition is given by Thomas Aageson: