During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the 17th century, French Jesuit missionaries such as Joachim Bouvet thrived as tutors and diplomats in the Chinese court. At a time when chinoiserie, Chinese-inspired objects of art, was becoming fashionable among the French elite, Bouvet and his colleagues served as purveyors of culture and knowledge between the two empires. Hong Kong’s Liang Yi Museum explores one aspect of this connection with its new exhibit, “Great Minds Think Alike: 18th Century French and Chinese Furniture Design.”

The...