"The Question of John Hu" - A Story of Two Cultures Colliding

In The Question of John Hu, Jonathan Spence portrays John Hu as a bizarre, almost crazy figure. Hu is a poor catholic man from China selected by Father Jean-Francois Foucquet, A French scholar, to provide service as a copyist alongside him in France and later Rome. Hu’s behavior on the Voyage as well as during his time in France were perceived by Foucquet to be “Chinese madness” (Spence, 42). Hu’s perceived crazy actions include things such as stealing a horse, eating disproportionate amounts of food at a time, and refusing to have any sorts of interaction with women. Hu frequently changes his demeanor, happy one instance and angry the next, which puzzles Foucquet and others. Hu is eventually locked up in an insaneasylum after being labeled as insane.  

Although Foucquet and others deem Hu to be an insane man, his actions really derive as a result of his perceived inferiority to the French and the isolation inflicted upon him by Foucquet. Foucquet is responsible in the sense that he is unable to view Hu’s actions through the eyes of Chinese culture and customs, rather he labels Hu as uncivilized for not altering his beliefs and social identity to assimilate himself into French culture. He measures Hu’s sanity through his level of competence to function properly in French culture, disregarding Hu’s own beliefs and practices as outlandish. Prime examples of this can be observed in the manner in which Fouquet dismisses Hu’s belief in separation of gender roles, and his religious convictions are so quickly disregarded and mocked, and even in his isolation from society which stops his ability to explore. John Hu’s rebellious behavior in France actually resulted from an ethnocentric disposition held by Foucquet and to a greater extent, the French society that restricted Hu from displaying his true character and punished him when he attempted to do so.