Évariste Régis Huc

Évariste Régis Huc, C.M., or the Abbé Huc,* (1813–1860) was a French missionary Catholic priest and traveller, famous for his accounts of China, Tartary and Tibet, in his book "A Journey Through the Chinese Empire". Since the travels of the Englishman, Thomas Manning, in Tibet (1811–1812), no European had visited Lhasa. Huc stimulated European interest in Central Asia and blazed a trail for Asian studies.

Huc was born in Caylus, Tarn-et-Garonne in France on August 1, 1813. When he was 24, he entered the Congregation of the Mission (also known as Vincentians) at Paris. Shortly after receiving Holy Orders in 1839, he was sent to China. He spent some eighteen months in the Vincentian seminary in Macau preparing himself for the regular work of a missionary and learning the Chinese language. He modified his personal appearance and dress in accordance with Chinese taste, then started from Guangzhou (Canton). He at first pastored a Catholic mission in the southern provinces.

Moving on to Beijing (Peking), Huc gained more knowledge of the Chinese language, then settled in the Valley of Black Waters or Heishui, 300 miles (480 km) north of Beijing and just within the borders of Mongolia. There, beyond the Great Wall of China, a large but scattered population of native Christians had taken refuge from the persecutions of Jiajing (Kia-king), in an earlier era.

Huc devoted himself to the study of the dialects and customs of the "Tartars," for whom he translated several religious texts. Huc's intention was to travel from China to Lhasa, and from there to India (much as Xuanzang had travelled via Tashkent, Samarkand and Taxila much earlier, in the 7th century). This work prepared him for his journey to Tibet in 1844 at the instigation of the vicar apostolic of Mongolia. By September 1844 he reached Dolon Nor and made arrangements for his journey. Soon after, accompanied by his fellow-Vincentian, Joseph Gabet, and a young Mongour priest who had embraced Christianity, he set out. To escape attention the party assumed the dress of lamas or priests. Crossing the Yellow River, they advanced into the terrible sandy tract known as the Ordos Desert. After suffering dreadfully from want of water and fuel they entered Gansu, having recrossed the flooded Yellow River. Upon entering Kuen-Kiang-Hien both missionaries fell dreadfully ill and had to put the journey on hold to rest and recover. By January 1845 they reached Tang-Kiul on the boundary. Rather than take an independent four months journey to Lhasa, they waited eight months for a Tibetan embassy expected to return from Peking. Under an intelligent teacher they meanwhile studied the Tibetan language and Buddhist literature. During three months of their stay they resided in the ancient Kunbum Llamasery, which was said to accommodate 4,000 persons. In late September 1845 they joined the returning embassy, which comprised 2,000 men and 3,700 animals.

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