Then there is a monarch such as Frederick the Great of Prussia. Not only could he design a Chinese tea house for his palace at Sans Souci, he also engaged in a discussion (via correspondence) with Voltaire on Chinese political philosophy which was made possible by more than two centuries of research carried out by Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries in China.
而普魯士的菲特列大帝，則一面在他忘憂宮的花園裡親自設計了一座中國茶亭，一面與伏爾泰通信討論中國皇帝的治理哲學。耶穌會士入華超過兩世紀以來的譯著與書信介紹陳篇累牘，他在信中坦白說到，政務太忙，無暇思考。