在中西交通史的研究领域内,中国文化与法国的关系始终是一个热门题目,对于这一幕历史究竟应该怎样予以评价,历来的研究者人言言殊,似乎至今尚无一致的定论。本文试图通过论述在旧制度(ancien régime)时期法国发现中国文化的历程,来对旧制度时代末期法国文化所受中国的影响提供某些线索。虽则历史的这一幕在西欧是一种带有普遍意义的现象,但对法国却更具有其特殊的意义;法国这一特例也许更能有助于我们理解整个西欧。 In the field of Chinese and Western traffic history, the relationship between Chinese culture and France has always been a hot issue. How history should be appraised in this historical scene? There has been no consistent conclusion to date on the history of researchers. This article attempts to provide some clues on the impact of French culture on China in the old institutional era by addressing the process by which France discovered Chinese culture during the period of the old system (ancien régime). Although this scene of history is a phenomenon of universal significance in Western Europe, it has its own special significance for France. This special case of France may further help us to understand the entire Western Europe.