THE QUESTION OF HU <i> by Jonathan D. Spence (Vintage: $8.95) </i>

In 1722, the Jesuit missionary, Jean Foucquet, left Canton for France with a collection of Chinese books and John Hu, a former gatekeeper. Foucquet hoped to prove that the Chinese classics actually contained an ancient, corrupt form of Christianity, and chose Hu, who was literate, but not a scholar, and who spoke no Western languages, to copy Chinese texts. Hu either went mad or suffered overwhelming cultural shock when he reached France: He refused to work and behaved so eccentrically that he was confined to an asylum, while Foucquet went to Rome. Three years later, he was repatriated and became a sort of Oriental Marco Polo, describing the splendors of the West to skeptical audiences. Jonathan Spence’s impeccably researched account of Hu’s bizarre, unhappy career has the vitality of a well-written novel.