Our country has a vast land and a long history. In the ancient period, many Western talents and strangers came to China from thousands of miles and contributed to the development of China's literature, science and technology, and military affairs. In addition to the well-known Matteo Ricci and Lang Shining, there is another foreigner who has also contributed to the development of many fields in our country, he is John Tang. During the reign of Emperor Myeongshin, John Tang came to China and later became an official, living in China for 47 years before dying at the age of 75.
John Was born in 1591 to an aristocratic family from the Electorate of Cologne in the Holy Roman Empire, which is today Cologne, Germany. John Tang grew up in a large manor house and received a good education. Because of his parents' deep Catholicism, John Tong was taken to church for baptism at birth. When John Tang was 16 years old, he left home to study in Rome, where he studied theology, astronomy and mathematics. Later, John Tang set sail for the East With dozens of other missionaries.
John Tang's journey to China was very arduous, and after arriving in Macau, John Tang and his party learned Chinese language and culture there. At that time, the Ming Dynasty had already shown a decline, and some Jesuits in the Ming Dynasty played the Ming Shen Sect, saying that they could invite missionaries to Beijing to help the imperial court. In this regard, John Tang and his party were not satisfied, believing that they did not understand military and weapons knowledge, and that this move was inconsistent with faith.
At this time, Matteo Ricci's good friend Li Zhizao advised them: "You use this name, just like a tailor uses a needle, and after the needle is sewn into the clothes, is it not put aside?" In the same way, when you are allowed to stay, you can put the 'sword' aside and pick up the pen. After hearing this, John Tang felt that it made sense, and he arrived in Beijing in 1623.
Not long after, Wei Zhongxian had monopoly and John Tang was sent to a chapel in Xi'an, where he used Chinese to write a book about the Galileo telescope, which later became the foundational work on optics and telescopes in the history of Chinese science and technology.
Later, under the auspices of Xu Guangqi and John Tang, the elaborate Chongzhen Almanac was completed, which was a major reform of the traditional Chinese calendar. In order to reward the work of Tang Ruowang and others, the Chongzhen Emperor personally gave a plaque with the inscription "Qin Praise Tianxue". A few years later, John Tang collaborated with several Chinese scholars to translate the Famous German book "On Mining and Metallurgy", which described the mining and metallurgical techniques in Europe in the 16th century, and the Chinese translation was called "Kun Yougezhi". Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the times, the Ming Dynasty, which collapsed rapidly at that time, had no time to take care of the release of the book.
At that time, the situation inside and outside the Ming Dynasty was tense, and Tang Ruowang was ordered to set up a factory to cast cannons in 1642 (the fifteenth year of Chongzhen). But he kept making excuses that he could not comply with his fate because the manufacture of weapons for war was incompatible with his identity and he had no practical experience at all. However, John Tang's appeal was not accepted by the emperor, and in desperation, John Tang had to accept the emperor's appointment. Relying on what he calls "a little book knowledge," he built 20 bronze cannons in two years, during which time he also collaborated with Chinese scholars to write The Essentials of Fire Attack.
After the Qing army entered the customs, Tang Ruowang was appointed as the first Qin Tianjian supervisor of the Qing Dynasty, and was trusted by the Shunzhi Emperor and the regent Dolgun, and did a lot of research, because of his remarkable research results, he was later named a general envoy, the official Zhi Yipin.
After Kangxi ascended the throne, the auxiliary chancellor Ao Bai opposed Western doctrine, and Tang Ruowang was sentenced to death. Later, John Tang was specially released by Empress Xiaozhuang. Another year later, John Tang died of illness, and 3 years later, Kangxi personally rehabilitated John Tang.
John Tang's residence in the Catholic South Church in Beijing and his cemetery have been preserved to this day for visitors to visit. Later, in honor of John Tang, Beijing and Cologne became sister cities.
Resources:
"Tang John Wang's New Calendar Dawn" or "Commentary on the Minli Pavement"
John The Jesuit at Vaughan Rongkao
"John Tang and the Orthodoxy of the Western Calendar in the Early Qing Dynasty"
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Author: Alice
Editor-in-charge: Master Liu