Kangxi was able to succeed to the throne as emperor, and the Western missionary John Tang can be said to have contributed to it. Why did Kangxi, after he ascended the throne, issue an edict to the execution of Tang Ruowang Lingchi? What was john tang's final outcome?
John Tang was a German aristocrat who studied astronomy, mathematics, physics and other disciplines. But his job was that of a preacher of the gospel. When John Tang was studying at the seminary, he greatly admired Matteo Ricci, who had promoted Catholicism in China. Therefore, after becoming a priest, John Tang crossed the ocean to China, hoping to become a missionary like Matteo Ricci.
It was the chaotic era at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and the missionaries in China at that time were very radical, and they did not allow Chinese believers to worship their ancestors and worship Confucius... As a result, the people were disgusted, the Nanjing Teaching Case occurred, and catholicism became the target of public criticism.
It was at this time that John Tang came to the city of Beijing. In order to open the deadlock, John Tang first presented books on astronomy to the Ming court. At the same time, he filled the residence with various scientific instruments and invited officials to visit. Subsequently, Tang John was appreciated by the Ming Court with his two budget lunar eclipses, introducing achievements such as telescopes and actuarial Beijing meridians.
After Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, Tang Ruowang was given the opportunity to serve in qin tianjian for helping the Ming court revise the calendar. At that time, the Ming Dynasty was in its twilight years, wars were frequent, and the Ming court was in danger. John Tang was ordered by the imperial court to supervise the construction of cannons. John Tang did not fail in his mission, set up a factory to cast cannons, and built 20 cannons in two years. Unfortunately, no amount of cannons could stop the demise of the Ming Dynasty. Soon Li Zicheng entered the city of Beijing. Then, the Qing army entered the customs and occupied the city of Beijing again.
John Tang then presented the revised Shi constitutional calendar to Dorgon and the Shunzhi Emperor and stated to them the advantages of the new calendar. In addition, he accurately budgeted out the eclipse of the year, so he received preferential treatment from the Qing court and continued to stay as the Qin Heavenly Prisoner. The "Chronicle of the Times" compiled by him was ordered by the Qing court and implemented throughout the country.
Earlier, Dorgon intended to build a mansion outside Beijing and wanted to move Shunzhi and Empress Xiaozhuang out of the palace. John Tang used the "warning of heaven" as an excuse to dissuade Dorgon and protect Shunzhi and Empress Xiaozhuang. Later, Tang saw that Dorgon was in charge of the dictatorship and reminded Shunzhi several times.
For various reasons, coupled with Tang Ruowang's erudition and excellent work, the Shunzhi Emperor was very important to him, so that the auspicious day of pro-government made him decide. The Shunzhi Emperor also called John Tang "Marfa" (Manchu for grandfather) and approved that he could enter the palace at any time, without summons from eunuchs or performing a great ceremony.
Not only that, but the Shunzhi Emperor also lowered the dignity of the Son of Heaven many times and visited John Tang at his home. John Tang's official position rose to prominence, and he was constantly promoted, and finally he was promoted to zhengyipin official. In 1661, Shunzhi Emperor, who was infected with smallpox, became critically ill. Before his death, he summoned John Tang again, hoping to get his advice on the matter of establishing the prince.
John Tang believes that only the prince who has had smallpox is the crown prince, which is the foundation of the stability of the country. Therefore, he recommended to the Shunzhi Emperor the 8-year-old third son of the emperor, Xuan Ye, who later became the Kangxi Emperor. After Kangxi succeeded to the throne, some conservative scholars and doctors who had long been dissatisfied with John Tang began to impeach John Tang and his scientific team.
Among them, the most energetic impeachment of Tang John was a man named Yang Guangxian. Yang Guangxian was very dissatisfied that a Westerner was actually highly valued by the emperor and enjoyed a lofty position in the imperial court. At the same time, he was extremely disgusted with John Tang's spread of Catholicism, believing that he was propagating perversion. Therefore, he pointed out that the calendar formulated by John Tang was wrong, and the reason why it was wrong was because John Tang wanted to "plot against him." In addition, he completely rejected John Tong's Western science and the Catholicism he preached everywhere.
At that time, it was the time of the dictatorship of Aobai, and in addition to the fact that John Tang had developed more than 150,000 believers at that time, Aobai, who believed in shamanism, was also very dissatisfied with John Tang. Therefore, after receiving the impeachment, Kangxi arrested John Tang and his entourage and imprisoned them. After the trial, the Kangxi Emperor issued an edict to put Tang Ruowang Lingchi to death, while all those who followed him were executed. At the same time, the Constitutional Calendar of Time was abolished and the old calendar was reused.
However, at this time, there was a major earthquake in Beijing for 5 consecutive days, and Empress Xiaozhuang tried her best to excuse John Tang, and John Tang was spared death. At this time, John Tang was seriously ill, his feet could not walk, and he was old enough to not be able to withstand the disaster of imprisonment, so he died of illness soon after.
At the same time, the Qing court also found that the errors of the old calendar were even greater. Therefore, the Qing court dismissed Yang Guangxian, abolished the old calendar, and used the "Shi Constitutional Calendar" again. In 1669, Kangxi rehabilitated John Tang and restored him to his post and honor. Unfortunately, at this time, John Tang had already died, and he could not enjoy this blessing.
(Reference historical materials: "Kiyoshi's manuscript"))