Juan González de Mendoza, O.S.A. (1545 – 14 February 1618) was a Spanish bishop, explorer, sinologist, and writer. He was the author of one of the earliest Western histories of China. Published by him in 1585, Historia de las cosas más notables, ritos y costumbres del gran reyno de la China (The History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof) is an account of observations of several Spanish travelers in China. An English translation by Robert Parke appeared in 1588 and was reprinted by the Hakluyt Society in two volumes, edited by Sir George T. Staunton, Bart. (London, 1853–54).
González de Mendoza was born at Torrecilla en Cameros (La Rioja (Spain)) in 1545. He joined the army but after some years resigned to enter the Order of Saint Augustine. He published his most famous text in 1585, Historia de las cosas más notables, ritos y costumbres del gran reyno de la China. It was based on the journals of Miguel de Luarca[citation needed], whose 1580 trip to Ming China provided a simple majority thereof. He never set foot in China[citation needed], but spent two years in Mexico before returning to Spain.
Historia de las cosas más notables, ritos y costumbres del gran reyno de la China (original Spanish; Rome, 1585)
The history of the great and mighty kingdom of China and the situation thereof (English translation by Robert Parke, 1588)
an 1853 reprint by Hakluyt Society: Mendoza, Juan González de (1853) [1588]. Staunton, Sir George Thomas (ed.). The History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof. Vol. 1, 2. Translated by Parke, Robert. Hakluyt Society.; vol. 1 at archive.org vol. 2 at archive.org; vol. 1 at Project Gutenberg; vol. 2 at Project Gutenberg
reprint: Mendoza, Juan González de (1970) [1853]. Staunton, Sir George Thomas (ed.). The History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof. Vol. 1. Translated by Parke, Robert (reprint ed.). B. Franklin. ISBN 0833723618.
reprint: Mendoza, Juan González de (1970) [1854]. Staunton, Sir George Thomas (ed.). The History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof. Vol. 2. Translated by Parke, Robert (reprint ed.). B. Franklin. ISBN 0833723626.
Links to many other translations: "Historia de las cosas más notables, ritos y costumbres del gran reyno de la China". Biblotheca Sinica 2.0 in Universitaet Wien. 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
^Lach, Donald F. (1965). Asia in the Making of Europe. Vol. I:The Century of Discovery. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 750.
^ a bSee footnotes to pp. 121–122 in the annotated 1853 English edition: The history of the great and mighty kingdom of China and the situation thereof
^Juan González de Mendoza (门多萨) (1998), 中华大帝国史 (Zhonghua da di guo shi) / History of the great and mighty kingdom of China and the situation thereof, 中外关系史名著译丛 (Zhong-wai guan xishi mingzhu yi cong) (Collected translations of famous works on Sino-Western relations), translated by He Gaoji (何高济), Beijing: 中华书局 (Zhonghua shu ju), ISBN 7-101-01587-5