Europe and China: Science and the Arts in the 17th and 18th Centuries

Description

Missionaries, and in particular the Portuguese Assistancy of the Society of Jesus, played a fundamental role in the dissemination of Western scientific knowledge in East Asia. They also brought to Europe a deeper knowledge of Asian countries. This volume brings together a series of essays analyzing important new data on this significant scientific and cultural exchange, including several in-depth discussions of new sources relevant to Jesuit scientific activities at the Chinese Emperor's Court. It includes major contributions examining various case studies that range from the work of some individual missionaries (Karel Slavíček, Guillaume Bonjour) in Beijing during the reigns of Kangxi and Yongzheng to the cultural exchange between a Korean envoy and the Beijing Jesuits during the early 18th century. Focusing in particular on the relationship between science and the arts, this volume also features articles pertaining to the historical contributions made by Tomás Pereira and Jean-Joseph-Marie Amiot, to the exchange of musical knowledge between China and Europe. CONTENTS HISTORY OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES: PORTUGAL AND EAST ASIA IV Acknowledgements Foreword Luís SARAIVA 1. Introduction: Portuguese History of Mathematical Sciences and East Asia 2. The Beijing meeting 2.1. Section I: Portugal and the Jesuit missions in Asia (two papers) 2.2. Section II: The Jesuits and the knowledge of China in Europe (two papers) 2.3. Section III: Tomás Pereira (1646–1708) (four papers) 2.4. Section IV: New sources on Western science at the Chinese Emperor’s Court (three papers) 2.5. Section V: Missionaries in Beijing during the reigns of Kangxi and Yongzheng (three papers) Photographs of conference participants I. Portugal and the Jesuit missions in Asia Portugal and the Jesuit mission to China: trends in historiography Rui Magone 1. Two Paradigms 2. One Book 3. Gestalt Switch Evangelization, politics, and technology transfer in 17th-century Cochinchina: the case of João da Cruz Alexei Volkov 1. Introduction 2. João da Cruz: The Conventional Biographies 3. João and the Two Missions 4. Problems with the Conventional Biography 5. João’s Background: An Alternative Version 6. João’s Knighthood: An Evidence? 7. The Letter of da Gama 8. Conclusions Acknowledgments References88 APPENDIX A — The cannons made by João currently exhibited at the Ministry of Defence in Bangkok APPENDIX B — João’s bronze gong II. The Jesuits and the knowledge of China in Europe The Jesuits and their study of Chinese astronomy and chronology in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Han Qi 1. Chinese Chronology versus Biblical Chronology: The Origins of the Study of Chinese Astronomy in Europe 2. Cassini and His Study of Ancient Chinese Astronomical Observations 3. Jesuit Astronomers and Their Study of Ancient Chinese Astronomy 4. Foucquet’s Criticism of Chinese Chronology and Gaubil’s Refutation of Chinese Astronomy 5. Concluding Remarks Acknowledgments The Jesuit Jean-Joseph-Marie Amiot and Chinese music in the eighteenth century Nii Yoko 1. Introduction 2. Antiquity of Chinese Music 3. “Science” and Chinese Music 4. Amiot’s “Science” in China and the Eighteenth-Century Europe 5. Conclusion References III. Tomás Pereira (1646–1708) Some data on Tomás Pereira’s (Xu Risheng ) biography and manuscripts Isabel Pina 1. Tomás Pereira’s Family and Portuguese Background (1646–1666) 2. From Lisbon to Goa (1666–1671) 3. The Stay in Goa (1666–1671) 4. The Sojourn in Macau (1671–1672) 5. Summoned to Beijing 6. Pereira’s Manuscripts in European Languages Acknowledgments References Pereira’s trip to Tartary in 1685 Davor Antonucci 1. Introduction 2. Jesuits’ “Rediscovery” of Tartary 3. Pereira’s Trips to Tartary: 1688, 1689 and 1696 4. Pereira’s Trip to Tartary: The 1685 “Hunting Trip” 5. Final Remarks Acknowledgments References Thomas Pereira and the knowledge of Western music in the 17th and 18th centuries in China WANG Bing and Manuel Serrano Pinto 1. A Musical Instrument — The Pipe Organ 2. Musical Composition — Hymns 3. Musical Theory 4. Remarks and Problems Acknowledgements Pereira’s musical heritage as context for his contributions in China Joyce Lindorff 1. Introduction 2. Musical Heritage — Braga and Coimbra 3. Western Musical Works in China 4. Pereira and Western Music Theory 5. Pereira’s Musical Contributions to Cultural Exchange 6. Music Theory in “Translation” — The Lülü Zhengyi 7. Final Remarks IV. New sources on Western science at the Chinese Emperor’s Court Verbiest’s manuscripts on astronomy and mechanics (1676): from Beijing to Moscow and Constantinople Noël Golvers and Efthymios Nicolaidis 1. Verbiest’s Texts in the Library of the Metochion of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem 1.1. The Compendium Historicum / De Astronomia / apud Sinas Restituta / Auctore Ferdinando Verbiest / Flandro–Belga Brugensi / E Societate Jesu / Tribunalis Astronomici / In Regia Pekinensi / Praefecto / Anno Christi M.DCLXXVI, referred bellow as CH 1.2. The Astronomiae apud Sinas Restitutae / Mechanica / Centum et Sex Figuris Adumbrata / Auctore Ferdinando verbiest / Flandro–Belga Brugensi / e Societate Jesu / Tribunalis Astronomici / in Regia Pekinensi Praefect, referred below as M 2. The History of the Copy of Verbiest’s Texts 2.1. Nicolas Spathary, Head of the Russian Mission to China 2.2. Chrysanthos Notaras’ Mission to Moscow and the Copy of Verbiest’s manuscript 3. The Date of Verbiest’s Autograph, and the Texts it Contains 3.1. The Composition Date of Compendium Historicum 3.2. The Composition Date of Mechanica 4. Verbiest’s Astronomy Engineering and Physics Presented in the “Metochion” Manuscript 4.1. The Compendium Historicum 4.2. The Mechanica 5. The Use of Compendium Historicum and Mechanica in the Printed Astronomia Europaea (Dillingen, 1687) 5.1. The C(ompendium) H(istoricum) and its Incorporation in Astronomia Europaea 5.2. The Incorporation of M(echanica) into Astronomia Europaea Acknowledgments Manchu manuscripts on mathematics in the Tôyô Bunko, the State Library of Inner Mongolia and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France Junsei Watanabe 1. Introduction 2. A Brief Sketch of the Tokyo Manuscript of the SFYBB 3. The Contents of the First Half of the BAOAUHB 3.1. The Table of Contents of the BAOAUHB 3.2. Structure of Chapters and of Exercises of the BAOAUHB 4. Information Obtained only from Manchu Versions 4.1. Linguistic Nationalism of Manchus in Theoretical Sciences 4.2. Unstable Expressions for Division 4.2.1. Changes in verbs 4.2.2. Changes in case suffices 4.3. Unstable Expressions for Multiplication 4.4. Pursuit of Appropriate and Elegant Manchu Expressions 4.4.1. ‘to measure numbers’ in the SFYBB 4.4.2. ‘a denominator’ and ‘a numerator’ in the BAOAUHB 4.4.3. Manchu equivalents for the word ‘ratio’ 4.5. Inconsistency Caused by the Existence of Different Authors 4.6. The Date of Translation or Edition of the BAOAUHB? 4.7. Limited Distribution of the Manchu Books on Mathematics 5. Comparison with the Manchu Anatomy 5.1. Chinese Rearrangement of Western Materials 5.1.1. The SFYBB and “Suan fa Yuan ben” in the SLJY 5.1.2. The BAOAUHB and the SLJY 5.2. Different Attitudes to Confucianism 6. Final Remarks Acknowledgments References The new thermometer and a slice of experimental philosophy in the early Qing court Shi Yunli 1. Introduction 2. Old Thermometer and Old Physics 3. New Developments in Europe and Their First Influences in China 4. The Manuscript Yanqi Hanshubiao Shuo 4.1. New Equipments for the Research of the Air 4.2. Two Types of Thermometers 4.3. New Physics for the Thermometer 4.4. The Utilities and Benefits of the Thermometer 4.5. Connection with Verbiest’s Work 5. Concluding Remarks Acknowledgments V. Missionaries in Beijing during the reigns of Kangxi and Yongzheng Karel Slavícek and his scientific works in China Liu Dun 1. Karel Slavícek’s Life and Works: Brief Introduction 2. Slavícek’s Activities at the Imperial Court 2.1. Rites Controversy and Power Struggle 2.2. Slavícek as a Musician and His Relations with Pedrini 2.3. Slavícek as a Clockmaker 3. Slavícek’s Scientific Works in China 3.1. Drawing a Map of Beijing 3.2. Measurement of the Geographical Latitude 3.3. Observation of the Libration of the Moon 3.4. Study of Chinese Calendar and Chronology 4. Method of the Western Scholar Yan Jia-le 5. Conclusion and Questions Acknowledgments References Guillaume Bonjour (1670–1714): chronologist, linguist, and “casual” scientist Ugo Baldini 1. A Premise 2. 1670–1695 3. 1695–1707 4. 1708–1710 5. 1711–1712 6. 1712–1714 7. The Controversy about the Spolia 8. Conclusion APPENDIX — Bonjour’s Correspondence “Western astronomy vs. Korean geography”: intellectual exchanges between a Korean and the Jesuits as seen from Yi Kiji’s 1720 Beijing Travelogue Lim Jongtae 1. Introduction 2. Yi Kiji’s Beijing Travel and the Iram yongi 3. “In Another World”: Tianzhu tang and the Westerners Seen by Yi Kiji 4. Astronomy vs. Geography: Discrepancies of Interests 5. Epilogue Acknowledgments References