Michel Benoist (, 8 October 1715 in Dijon, France – 23 October 1774 in Beijing, China) was a Jesuit scientist who served for thirty years in the court of the Qianlong Emperor (1735 - 1796) during the Qing Dynasty, known for his architectural and landscape designs of the Old Summer Palace (Yuanming Yuan). Along with Giuseppe Castiglione, Benoist served as one of two Jesuit advisors to the Qianlong Emperor, and transformed parts of the Old Summer Palace into what historian Mark Elliott calls an "imitation of Versailles or Fontainebleau." Early life Michel Benoist was born on 8 October 1715 in Dijon, France. The name Benoist is an archaic form of the name "Benoît," and both are used interchangeably in textual sources. Benoist studied in Dijon and at Saint Sulpice, Paris. He entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Nancy on 18 March 1737 and was formally ordained as a Jesuit priest in Trier in 1739. Shortly after, he left for Paris to study mathematics, astronomy, and hydraulics under Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille and Louis Guillaume Le Monnier, two members of the French Academy of Sciences. It was under their guidance that Benoist studied architecture, preparing for his work with the Qing court. Benoist was then sent to China on behalf of the Society of Jesus, arriving initially at Macao and finally to Beijing in 1744. Jesuits and the Qianlong Emperor When Michel Benoist arrived at the court of the Qianlong Emperor, the role of Jesuits had transformed. Although Jesuits were kept at the court since the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, their powers to proselytize in the Qing Empire were reduced dramatically. According to Jesuit scholar Jean Charbonnier, the imperial decree of 1724 was a drastic change for Catholic missionaries, enforcing draconian measures to limit the spread of Christianity. By the time of the ascent of the Qianlong Emperor, the role of Jesuit missionaries was reinvented. As Mark Elliot notes in his biography of the Qianlong Emperor, Jesuits were allowed to learn and document Manchu and Chinese languages and culture in return for their service to the Qianlong court as subjects. Like many Jesuits, Michel Benoist entered the court knowing it was unlikely for him to return to his homeland. Works Over the course of thirty years, Michel Benoist served the Qianlong Emperor on a number of construction projects and as an advisor on European affairs. The Qianlong Emperor revered Benoist as a