After the geographical discovery of Columbus, Magellan, vasco da Gama and other navigators, the countries represented by Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Netherlands in Europe also quickly entered the colonial era, and with the rise of the Renaissance and the bourgeoisie, European missionaries also began to go further to the world, and in 1619, John Thomas, a Jesuit missionary from Germany, came to China.
In China at that time, it was the forty-seventh year of the Ming Dynasty, an era of internal and external troubles. The internal bureaucracy was corrupt and the discipline was weak; Nurhaci in the outer northeast had just won a great victory in the Battle of Salhu, and the presence of the Ming Dynasty in the Liaodong region was declining. At this time, John Tang, who was a missionary, naturally came to China for a very clear purpose, hoping to spread Catholic doctrine. However, in China at that time, Confucianism was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and buddhism and Taoism coexisted, and this missionary with a radical way of preaching, prohibiting people from worshipping traditional gods such as Confucius, Heaven, and Zu, also led to the Nanjing Teaching Plan, and the spread of Catholicism also encountered unprecedented setbacks.
And John Tang's seeming prospects for staying in China have also begun to bleak. However, in the third year of Chongzhen (1630), due to the repeated errors of the scholars who calculated the sun and lunar eclipses at that time, under the recommendation of Xu Guangqi, the rebbe Shangshu, Tang Ruowang served as the Qin Heavenly Supervisor. As a scholar who was proficient in astronomy and calendar, he also exerted his own strengths during his tenure, and spent several years compiling the most advanced "Chongzhen Almanac" at that time with the assistance of Long Huamin and others who were also missionaries. However, under the social environment at that time, the Ming Dynasty was already in danger. The peasant revolt of Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and others was like a fire in the plains, and the Manchurian Eight Banners of Emperor Taiji and Dolgun bravely marched into Gyeonggi, and such a calendar did not even wait for the promulgation, and the Ming Dynasty was destroyed by Li Zicheng under internal and external troubles.
After Dorgon entered the Central Plains with the help of Wu Sangui, the Shunzhi Emperor ascended the throne in Beijing. The history of China also began to enter the Qing Dynasty. John Tang had a pragmatic attitude, and there was no traditional loyalty constraint, naturally visited Dolgun, and was also officially appointed as the Qin Tianjian of the Qing Dynasty, and for the backward Qing Dynasty at that time, his knowledge, the achievement of the astronomical calendar, was undoubtedly the most needed by the Qing court, so he was also favored by the Shunzhi Emperor.
The Kangxi Emperor's favor for him is even more legendary.
When the Shunzhi Emperor decided to appoint a successor, one of the important reasons why the Kangxi Emperor was able to stand out was because he had smallpox when he was young. Now that we all know that after the birth of the Heavenly Peanut, a person will certainly not be reborn in the future, but for the Qing Dynasty at that time, it has already touched my intellectual blind spot. In this matter, when smallpox was raging, Tang John wang informed the Qing dynasty royal family of this knowledge point when choosing an heir, so the Kangxi Emperor was designated as the heir. As a result, John Tang was also able to be favored and relied upon after the Kangxi Emperor ascended the throne, and was also named guanglu doctor, ranking first in one pin.
But also behind these pampering, he has been sentenced to lingchi in his career, why is this?
In the third year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Yang Guangxian, who was a party of Aobai, took advantage of Aobai's power to write a letter to impeach Tang Ruowang's "Shi Xian Calendar" (also the "Chongzhen New Calendar" during the Chongzhen Dynasty), which was later compressed into the "Western New Law Almanac", and Dorgon named it the "Shi Xian Calendar") as the "Demon Law", and tang Ruowang preached Catholicism as "heresy to confuse the public" and requested the Kangxi Emperor to rule.
At that time, the Kangxi Emperor was young and had just ascended the throne, and there were Sonny, Suksaha, Aobai, and Shubilong to assist him. And Ao Bai was the most powerful, and the other three had to resign themselves to it. Moreover, advocating Manchurian worship, preaching the circle of the earth to foreigners, and propagating the Western calendar, the Catholic John Tang naturally regarded it as an enemy.
Therefore, with his support, another minister, Yang Guangxian, who did not understand the calendar and astronomy and hated foreigners, wrote to the Kangxi Emperor.
At this time, the Kangxi Emperor was not yet pro-government, and the government was controlled by Aobai, so under the discussion of the Council of The Council of Kings, Tang Ruowang, who was the overseer of Qin Tian, was sentenced to lingchi' punishment. This also reflects the backwardness and ignorance of the Qing court from the astronomical and calendar. Fortunately, before the execution, an earthquake occurred in the Jingshi area, and the Kangxi Emperor announced a general amnesty for the world in order to atone for his sins. John Tang was also fortunate to be pardoned. In 1666, John Tang, who had lived in China for 47 years, died of illness.
References: History of the Ming Dynasty, Draft History of the Qing Dynasty