Why didn't Xu Guangqi continue to translate the last nine volumes of the Original Geometrics?

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Author: Yang Zezhong

I. Introduction

　　In 1607, Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) wrote in the preface to the first six volumes of the Geometric Primitives, which he had translated in collaboration with Xu Guangqi (1562-1633): "Taishi (Xu Guangqi) meant Fang Rui and wanted to do it. [1] It can be seen that Xu Guangqi was very enthusiastic about the translation of the Geometric Primitives, and originally intended to translate it completely. However, in the summer of 1611, when he was working with Diego de Pantoja (1571-1618) and Sabbathin de Ursis (1575-1620), he wrote the following words: "The great cause of continuation, the unknown day, the unknown who, the book is in order to be written." [2] It was clear that Xu Guangqi was determined to stop translating the next nine volumes. Why? Was he unwell at the time? Check xu guang's tracks, and there is no record of him being ill or bedridden around 1611. [3] Is it busy writing? However, just after the above-mentioned order, Xu Guangqi also wrote four books: "Jian Pingyi Theory", "Pinghun Tu theory", "Sundial Illustration Theory" and "Night Dial Illustration Theory". [4] What is the reason? This is a meaningful and interesting question that has not been discussed before, and this article intends to analyze this issue.

Second, Xu Guangqi's suspension of the continuation of the translation was not due to the promulgation of the first six volumes of the Geometric Primitives

Xu Guangqi

　　In 1607, Matteo Ricci rejected Xu Guangqi's wish to completely translate the fifteen volumes of the Geometric Primitives, but did not put the words to death. In the preface to the Primitive Geometry, Matteo Ricci says: "Yu (Matteo Ricci) knows, please pass this on first, so that the comrades can learn it, and if they think it is used, then Xu Ji is the rest, and Taishi (Xu Guangqi) knows it." [5] Was it true that after the promulgation of the first six volumes of the Geometric Primitives, they were "useless", which led Xu Guangqi to decide to stop translating them? We looked through the literature of the time and found that this was not the case. In August 1607, Xu Guangqi returned to Shanghai. While in Shanghai, in 1608, he wrote a book based on Matteo Ricci's account of the "Geometric Primitives", and then compared the contents of this book with the measurement method in traditional Chinese literature, and wrote the book "Measurement Similarities and Differences". Later, he used the Western axiomatic methods introduced in the "Geometric Primitives" to sort out the Pythagorean knowledge in traditional Chinese literature, and wrote the book "Pythagorean Righteousness" in 1609. In general, in the process of writing this book, he also wrote the article "Miscellaneous Discussion on the Original Geometry". In this article, Xu Guangqi said that the "Geometric Primitives" had "four unnecessary", "four unobtainable", "three to", and "three abilities", which were "golden needles to be used by the king, and the Mandarin duck was not embroidered to people", thus giving high praise to the "Geometric Original". [6] Sun Yuanhua (1582-1632), a native of Jiading, Shanghai, probably met Xu Guangqi at this time. He came into contact with the "Geometric Origins" from Xu Guangqi, and then studied and studied them seriously, and wrote two books in succession around 1608, "Geometric Theory" and "Geometric Essentials". Li Zhizao (1565-1630), a native of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, was a good friend of Xu Guangqi, who listened to Matteo Ricci's lectures on the Geometric Primitives with Xu Guangqi. In 1608, Li Zhizao wrote the book "Comparison of Harmony and Righteousness" with reference to the "Geometric Original". Also, according to the "Travairs of Mr. Great Western Terry" by julio Aleni (1582-1649), an Italian missionary who came to China at that time, after Matteo Ricci's death, western missionaries asked Emperor Shenzong to give land for burial, and Emperor Shenzong was trapped in the absence of precedent to ask Shoufu Ye Xianggao (1559-1627), Ye said yes, but some people objected, so Ye Xianggao retorted: "From the ancient guests, their moral learning is like that of Lizi. Gu regardless of the others, that is, his translation of the book "Geometric Origins", that is, Yiqin gave the burial ground. [7] In the end, Matteo Ricci was buried. From this, we can see that the influence and role of the "Geometric Primitives" at that time could not be great. Xu Guangqi could not have decided to stop the continuation of the next nine volumes. On the contrary, based on the above situation, it may be possible to say that Xu Guangqi's intention to continue translating the last nine volumes of the Geometric Primitives is stronger.

Third, changes in the environment should be the primary reason

　　In 1611, Xu Guangqi said something against his wishes, decided to stop continuing the translation, and we think that one of the first reasons was that the atmosphere at that time changed, and it was the environment that restricted his ideals and actions. Before 1610, the head of the Chinese Jesuits was Matteo Ricci. Matteo Ricci has gone through many twists and turns in China and is well aware of the special state of our country's culture, so he has always pursued a curved missionary strategy, that is, taking the advanced science and technology of the West as the vanguard, widely attracting intellectuals from the scholar-doctor class, and then trying to spread the teachings. This strategy, while clumsy, clearly works. This can be seen from the gradual expansion of the Jesuits at that time, and many intellectuals were friendly with them. But after 1610 it was different. Matteo Ricci was later the Jesuit in China as the superintendent of Father Nicolas Longobardi (1559-1654). Long Huamin has always been at odds with Matteo Ricci in his missionary strategy. Long Huamin hopes to spend more time on missionary work than on explaining Western technology to his countrymen. Compared with Matteo Ricci's sergeant-doctor, Long Huamin preferred the broad masses of people working at the bottom of society, believing that it would be faster to spread the teachings. Not only that, Matteo Ricci has always been gentle and elegant, generous to others, an elderly demeanor, but Long Huamin is not, he is extremely strict with his subordinates, and there are many taboos. [8] As a result, Xu Guangqi was intimidated by authority, and it is quite possible to abandon the continuation of the Geometric Primitives. You know, Xu Guangqi joined the Jesuit Society in 1603, and by 1610 he had been in the society for 8 years- he was an old member, and he could no longer act arbitrarily at this time. Especially when new and distinct norms of the Church have just been promulgated.

　　Taking a step back, even if Xu Guangqi, as a Chinese scholar, could disregard the Constraints of the Jesuits if necessary, such as Father Ding's worries about returning to Shanghai. But no one else, especially foreign priests who come to China. They must obey Long Huamin's command and cannot casually violate the canon. Because according to the dzogical rules of the time, the work, promotions, and reputations of foreign priests were almost all subject to the arrangements and evaluations of the Church Director. In this way, Xu Guangqi lost foreign aid when translating Western scientific and technological literature. Without foreign aid, Xu Guangqi did not understand Latin, so what else could he do? Thus, in the summer of 1611, after asking Pondy and Xiong Sanba to help revise the first six volumes of the Geometric Primitives, Xu Guangqi probably realized this clearly, so he released a brilliant statement.

　　In 1611, after revising the first six volumes of the Geometric Primitives, Xu Guangqi consulted Xiong Sanba's "Jian PingYi Sayings", and then in the preface he said: "Yi was created by The Hand of Mr. Yougang Xiong... Xiongzi thought that it was small, but refused to pass it on, and Yu Gu asked him to do it, for the sake of words. [9] In 1612, Xu Guangqi consulted Xiong Sanba on the Taixi Water Law, and later said in the preface: "Until now, Yu Yu has served the Dynasty, and mr. Yu has long passed away." Occasionally please Mr. Xiong, only for a long time, examine his heart, and there is no stinginess, and Gu has a pity. Yu Yin's selfish speculation: Those who are not stingy, those who are sought by gentlemen to preach and discuss the Tao, those who die are not blessed in the country and shelter the people, and those who think that they are people, do not look at jude! Those who have the color of the color, deeply afraid that this fa is spread, the world's future generations see that the public to lose Mo Zhai, that is, not his tens of thousands of miles to the east, donate the top heel, risk danger, and the meaning of the world and goodness? [10] From this, we can see more clearly the problem mentioned above, that is, if it were not for Xiong Sanba's selfishness, it must be the reason why Long Huamin forbade his subordinates to spread Western technology to the Chinese people. And to say that Xiong Sanba is selfish can also help Xu Guangqi to write two books, "Jian Pingyi Theory" and "Taixi Water Law"—especially the "Taixi Water Law" has as many as six volumes, and can also help the five facial features Of Zhou Ziyu to write "The Expression Of Theory", etc., I am afraid that it is difficult to justify it. Therefore, the latter is extremely likely to be the cause.

Fourth, no one is familiar with the content behind the "Geometric Primitives" may be the main reason

　　At the time of Matteo Ricci's death, there were four priests in Beijing, Nameng Huamin, Pandy I, Xiong Sanba and Emmanuel Diaz Junior (1574-1659). Long Huamin, an Italian, came to China in 1592, went to Beijing in 1609, and took charge of the Chinese Jesuits in 1610 until his death in 1654. Yang Mano, a Portuguese, came to China in 1601, went to China in 1610, and was later elected vice president of the Chinese Jesuit Society. The two of them probably did not have a very good relationship with Xu Guangqi, at least in 1612 when they and Xu Guangqi were very familiar. Because there is almost no record of interaction between them in the past two years, there are few names of the two of them in the literature left by Xu Guangqi. Even in the future, their exchanges and cooperation with Xu Guangqi were also very rare, so the two did not discuss much.

　　I, a Spaniard, came to China in 1599, met with Matteo Ricci in Nanjing in 1600, and then followed Matteo Ricci as an assistant for a long time as a missionary in China. Xiong Sanba, a German, came to China in 1606 and went to Beijing in the same year to assist Matteo Ricci. Both Pang Di and Xiong Sanba are strong supporters of Matteo Ricci's "science and technology to open the way, curve mission". In 1606, when Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi were translating the first six volumes of the Geometric Primitives, both were present and participated in the discussion of some of these issues—which may be why Xu Guangqi chose the two of them in 1611 to write the translation. Therefore, they should be very familiar with Xu Guangqi and have a good relationship. This can also be seen from the fact that Xu Guangqi later recruited the two of them to work with Li Zhizao to revise the calendar, and they jointly wrote the book "Debate" in 1616. But are they familiar with the contents of the last nine volumes of the Primitive Geometry? No one mentioned it.

　　We examine The Life of Pondy and find that he entered the Convent of Toledo in April 1589 at the age of 18 and practiced for almost 6 years. During this period, he studied grammar, rhetoric, Latin, Greek, art, theology, canon, architecture and natural sciences. There is no mention of mathematics and the Primitive Geometry. [11] In addition, In addition, In my nearly 20 years as a missionary missionary in China, I left behind eight books, namely the Seven Grams, The Primitive Mankind, The Theory of the Devil of Heaven, The Beginning and End of the Crucifixion, The Testament of Pang Zi, The Continuation of True Righteousness, The Debate, and the Opinion book of Chinese Christianity, as well as a world map depicting four continents. None of the nine documents were analyzed directly related to mathematics. Not only that, but even the literature related to the natural sciences is only that map of the world. Some sources say that In December 1610, under the leadership of Xu Guangqi, Pang Di and Xiong Sanba revised the Chinese calendar and wrote it into a book, but his handwriting was never seen in later generations. [12] Recently, there have been rumors that he and Sun Yuanhua's "Sundial Diagram Method" was found in Hubei, but I don't know what the content is. But judging from the title of the book and the book "Sun, Moon and Star Dial" at that time, even if it is true, the content will never be too profound. [13]

　　Examining the life of Xiong Sanba, it is found that he only entered the Society of Jesus in 1597, then entered the Roman Academy to study, and soon left Rome. Xiong Sanba preached in China for about 15 years, leaving behind five books, namely the Taixi Water Law, the Jian Pingyi Saying, the Expression Of Theory, the Brief Commentary on Chinese Customs and Etiquette, and the Commentary on the Writings of Father Lu Ruohan, as well as a number of letters on doctrine and missionary experience. [14] Of Xiong Sanpa's books, only the first three books are related to the natural sciences, and none of them are complicated and profound. None of the knowledge of geometry used in it comes from the last nine volumes of the Primitive Geometry. The Original Geometry, originally thirteen volumes, reached Father C. C. Clavius, 1538-1612) period, revised to fifteen volumes. Of these fifteen volumes, the first one remains basically as it is, and the next two volumes are the research, supplementation, and revision of the previous contents by later generations. [15] Of the thirteen volumes, the first six volumes are planar geometry, volumes seven through nine are knowledge of number theory, volumes 10 are knowledge of irrational numbers, volume 11 is knowledge of three-dimensional geometry, volume 12 is exhaustion application and knowledge of circular areas, and volume 13 is knowledge of the five regular polyhedra. When we compare Xiong Sanba's book and the Geometric Primitives, we find that the mathematical knowledge used in the former is only related to the first six volumes of the latter, and we have not found any use or reference by Xiong Sanba to the contents of the last nine volumes of the Geometric Primitives. At the same time, in the other literature left by Xiong Sanba, he did not mention the contents of the last nine volumes of the Geometric Primitives.

　　From this, we speculate that Fathers Pondy and I, Xiong Sanba, are actually not familiar with the contents of the last nine volumes of the Primitive Geometry, and may not even understand them. Even more, it is possible that they are not even familiar with the contents of the first six volumes. When Matteo Ricci was there, whether it was translating the Geometric Primitives or using the knowledge of the Geometric Primitives to carry out scientific activities, because the main force of Matteo ricci could not show their clumsiness. But after Matteo Ricci's death, when it was time for them to go to the front desk to take the lead, their shortcomings in this regard were exposed. Perhaps it is precisely this reason that makes Xu Guangqi throw his pen. Think about it, in 1611, Xu Guangqi asked them to help, originally it was only to translate things from others, a very simple thing, but met two people who did not know much mathematics, their level may even be inferior to their own, and they do not understand Latin, what else can they do? At this time, it may be the best choice to put aside the pen and wait for the next day and wait for the tall man. Therefore, we believe that the two priests' lack of understanding of the contents of the Geometric Primitives is the direct cause of Xu Guangqi's suspension of translation, and may also be the main reason.

5. Concluding remarks

　　In the summer of 1611, Xu Guangqi wrote a statement in the summer of 1611 when revising the manuscript of the first six volumes of the Geometric Primitives left by Matteo Ricci that clearly contained the meaning of the contents of the last nine volumes of the Geometric Primitives, and from the previous analysis, we believe that it was not because the first six volumes of the Geometric Primitives were not noticed or useful at that time, but because the environment at that time was very different from before. After Long Huamin took charge of the Jesuits, he forbade missionaries to teach Western technology to the Chinese people, which greatly restricted the contact and exchange between Western missionaries and the Chinese people. In addition, the two priests who are more familiar with Xu Guangqi, Pandi and Xiong Sanba, are not familiar with the content of the "Geometric Origins", and their mathematical level is far from Matteo Ricci, and the combination of these two factors is the fundamental reason why Xu Guangqi sighed too much and decided to stop continuing the translation.

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