Tang Kaijian: When will European telescopes be introduced to China

Whether the European telescope was introduced to China by Matteo Ricci in the Ming Dynasty is an open question in the academic world. Many scholars use the astronomical telescope created by Galileo in 1609 to deny Zheng Zhongkui's theory that "Ricci has a telescopic mirror", which leads to various misunderstandings in the understanding of telescope transmission. However, a large number of documents confirm that what Zheng Zhongkui wrote is a letter of history. First, according to the records of the early Japanese documents "Ouchi Yoshiyuki", "Nanban Temple Rise and Abolition", "Nagasaki Records Dacheng" and "Xiancheng Sulu", after the invention of the telescope in Europe in the mid-16th century, missionaries quickly became familiar with it. If it was brought to Japan, then, for Macau, which is on the same route, it is entirely possible that Matteo Ricci, a missionary who came to China in the ninth year of Wanli (1581), brought the telescope into China via Macau. Second, in the Chinese literature, Zheng Zhongkui said that Matteo Ricci brought a telescope into China is not a family statement, which can be obtained from a variety of literature records in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. For example, Lu Yingyang's "Guang Yu Ji", Liu Tong's "A Brief History of the Imperial Capital", Hua Village's "Talking to the Past", Shan Longzhou's "Xi Xing Su", Wang Fuzhi's "Thinking and Asking Records", etc. . Third, from the writings of Matteo Ricci, it can also be proved that he brought a telescope into China. For example, in his Chinese book "Summary of Dharma Instruments", he mentioned telescopes three times. In particular, the newly discovered transcript of the "Opening Minutes" signed "The Biography of Matteo Ricci of Taixi, Xu Guangqi School of Songjiang", which was recently discovered in the library of Zhejiang province, introduces the manufacturing method and process of the telescope in detail. Judging from the text and content of the book, it is a preliminary completed manuscript that has not been reviewed and approved, so it is preserved in the form of an unpublished transcript. Fourth, Matteo Ricci not only brought in telescopes, but also made them, and translated articles that introduced the technology of making telescopes.This is recorded in Sun Chengze's "Dream of the Spring and Brightness", Mao Qiling 's "Xihe Ji", Wu Sugong's "Ming Yulin", and Zhu Sheng's "Small Introduction to the History of Mirrors". Therefore, it can be said with certainty that in the history of scientific, cultural and technological exchanges between China and the West in the Ming Dynasty, Matteo Ricci was the first European who introduced the telescope manufacturing technology to China. He and his contemporary European missionaries not only brought telescopes into China, but also produced a batch of telescopes for the needs of the Ming court calendar under the guidance of the missionary policy of the Jesuit Chinese Missionary Group. Ming society has been widely spread.

△Ricci (1552–1610)

There have been many publications on the spread of European telescope manufacturing technology during the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China. There are differences on the China issue. In particular, most scholars used the creation of the astronomical telescope by Galileo (G. Galilei, 1564–1642) in 1609 to deny Zheng Zhongkui's theory that "the monk Matteo Ricci has a telescopic mirror", which has become a long-term phenomenon in the research of Matteo Ricci and even in the history of Chinese science and technology. existing errors. On the basis of comprehensive collection of Chinese documents, this article intends to use contemporary Portuguese and Japanese documents, especially a batch of new materials such as the newly discovered Matteo Ricci "Kaicheng Minutes", to prove that Matteo Ricci (M. Ricci, 1552) –1610) not only brought telescopes into China, but also made them. I hope that while correcting the history of science and technology in China, it can also give a boost to Matteo Ricci’s research.

One cannot use Galileo's invention of the astronomical telescope to deny "Ricci has a telescopic mirror". He said in "Jade Stag New Tan·Erxin":

Fan monk Matteo Ricci has a mirror that can see thousands of miles away, just like at present.If you look at the stars in the sky, they are all huge; if you look at the moon, they are unstoppable; if you look at the Tianhe River, the stars are clustered together, and you can no longer see them as usual. And according to hundreds of steps teeny words, can be recited aloud. When Matthew died, his disciple, a Taoist, took him to travel to Nanzhou, and all good deeds could see it.

In 1942, Fang Hao published an article in Chongqing Yi Shi Bao, denying the record of Zheng Zhongkui. The reason is:

However, Matthew died in the thirty-eighth year of Wanli (1610). One year ago, Galileo made his first telescope in Wunes, and Matthew could never see it. The people of Gaelic worshiped Matteo Ricci very much, so anyone who hears a different story or sees a strange tool must think it was created by Matteo Ricci. "Er Xin" is only one example.

In 1969, "Fang Hao's Sixty Self-Defined Draft" was published, including the article "The Relationship between Galileo and the Introduction of Science to my country", which reiterated the above point of view. Of course, before this, the Jesuit Shi Yang Mano (E. D. Junior, 1574-1659) had introduced Galileo's invention of the telescope when he published the book "Tianwen Lue" in China in 1615, and said that "after this device ( Telescope) to China, and then elaborate on its wonderful use.” He also believed that before 1615, Galileo’s astronomical telescope had not entered China. Therefore, Yu Sanle also held the same opinion as Fang Hao in his monograph on the telescope:

Because in 1608, when the Dutch glasses merchant applied for a patent to the government, Matteo Ricci had lived in China for 26 years, It has also been 30 years since I left Europe. Although it is possible for him even in China to learn about what happened in Europe after he came to China from his correspondence and from his companions who came to China later, and he may also indirectly get books and chimes from Europe, , but he is unlikely to Knowing a telescope, it is even less likely to get a telescope. Because it was just over a year before his death in May 1610.

It cannot be denied that Fang Hao and Yu Sanle's statements have their scientific logic and truth, but it must be pointed out that Zheng Zhongkui's "Er Xin" does not claim that the telescopic mirror carried by Matteo Ricci is an astronomical object made by Galileo. telescopes, and the manufacture of telescopes did not begin with Galileo. Therefore, the above criticism is not enough to deny Zheng Zhongkui's statement.

Science historian Jiang Xiaoyuan is an important scholar who supports the theory that Matteo Ricci brought a telescope into China. He believes that although in the Chinese writings of the Jesuits at that time, whether it is Yang Manuo's "Heaven's Questions" in 1615, Tang John in 1626 (J. A. S. v. Bell, 1592–1666)'s "Theory of Far Mirrors", or "Chongzhen Almanac·Five-Wei Lizhi" compiled by Tang Ruowang and other scholars in 1634, both attribute the invention of the telescope to Galileo, but in the Among the invention rights of telescopes, the academic circles mentioned that the earliest inventor of telescopes was British Gaskong, such as Wang Tao (1828–1897), a scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, and A. Wylie (1815–1887), a missionary. The co-translation of the book "The Origin of Western Astronomy" talks about the telescope in the 16th century:

When Galileo was not born, the Englishman Gascon used the telescope for the quadrant. More than 20 years after Gascon's death, no one knew who used it, but someone in France built it and boasted that it was a creation. .

Italian Bolta (G. B. D. Porta, 1532-1602) published in 1589 the "Magic of Nature", said:

uses a convex lens, the nearby things appear particularly large, but more blurred. If you know how to configure them together, you can see both near and far, and in both cases, see things big and clear. I'm talking about the Ptolemy lens, or spectacles, with which Ptolemy could see attacking enemy ships from 60 miles away.

The Englishman Leonard Diggses (1515–1559) was also the inventor of the 16th-century telescope, and his son Thomas Diggses (1546–1595) left a detailed Instructions for the use of the telescope, and in the preface to his father's book "The Universal Goniometer of Longitude and Latitude" in 1571: "The honor of the inventor of the telescope belongs to the father Leonard Diggs." "History of the Telescope" The book also wrote:

Porta wrote to Cardinal Esther in 1586, claiming that in his "Magic of Nature" he had clearly stated that he could make "glasses (occhiali)", through which he could also see numbers people outside.

The British scholar Needham (N.J.T.M. Needham, 1900–1995), who studies the history of Chinese science and technology, said:

It is certain that at least six people fiddled with the combination of double lenses in 1550–1610, using the combination of a double convex lens and a double lens. Concave lens, and obtain a surprising effect of magnifying distant objects. As soon as a certain idea spreads, many people put it into practice almost at the same time, a phenomenon, such as the invention of the telescope, which was almost impossible before modern times.

Later, on November 2, 1612, G. A. Rubino (1578–1643), an Italian Jesuit priest who often communicated with Chinese Jesuits, wrote in his letter:

Some people wrote from Italy The letter told me that a type of glasses was made that could see 15–20 miles away.

I.Beckman (1588–1637) mentioned in 1634:

Z. Jansen (1585–1632) built the first telescope in Holland in 1604, based on the prototype in 1590 Made in Italy. A variety of and western documents above

can illustrate that in the second half of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, someone had invented a telephoto tool using a double lens combination and applied it to practice.This telescopic tool already has the effect of zooming in on distant objects and can see invading enemy ships sixty miles away. This kind of telescopic tool is called "telescope", and the Chinese call it "telescope". That is to say, before Galileo invented the astronomical telescope, telescopic mirrors with telescopic functions had already appeared in the world.

Although according to the textbook, the telescope was invented in 1608 by the optician Lippershey (H. Lippershey, 1570–1619) of Middelburg, Netherlands, and later by the famous scholar Kepler (J. Kepler, 1571–1630) improved it and designed several new telescopes, especially astronomical telescopes with two convex lenses. In 1609, Galileo built another telescope that could magnify nine times, and began to observe the sky, creating a true astronomical telescope. "Chou Ren Zhuan IV" Volume 9 says:

Galileo, in the thirty-seventh year of Wanli (1609), went to Venice, at the time when Baier's book on Mars was first published, and he talked with people occasionally, and suddenly realized the root of the far mirror. Man-made instruments can measure distances, because thinking imitates this instrument to measure the sky, so it is created with fine thinking. Yan Cheng said that he saw objects a thousand times larger, nearly thirty times larger.

Galileo also said that he built this astronomical telescope after hearing about the Dutch man-made telescope. However, the astronomical telescope invented and made by Galileo has been nearly half a century since the earliest appearance of the telescope. During this time period, the telescope has been put into various practical activities. However, when Jesuit missionaries introduced the invention and creation of telescopes for their scientific mission, they generally only mentioned Galileo and nothing else. Therefore, people use the time when Galileo invented the astronomical telescope to define the time when the telescope was first introduced to China, which brings about errors in people's understanding of the transmission of the telescope to China.

Since the invention of the telescope in the mid-16th century, the telescope has spread eastward.According to the Japanese document "Ouchi Yoshiyuki" in the post-Nara era (1497–1557): When the Governor was alive, Silver Mountain was discovered in Ota County, Iwami Country. When foreign countries heard that Japan had discovered Baoshan, there were countless ships from Tangtu, Tianzhu, Korea and other countries. Among the various items presented by the Tianzhu people, there are things that control the twelve o'clock in the same length of day and night, can make bells, and can make five tones and ten tones without thirteen strings, which can make presbyopia . There are two sides of the mirror that can see clearly and the mirror that can see clearly in the distance.

The "Tianzhu people" referred to here should refer to the Portuguese or missionaries from , India Goa, and the "mirror that can see clearly in the distance" refers to the telescope. The 19th century Japanese church scholar Yamamoto Hideo's "History of Christianity in Japan" stated that foreigners from India presented "Letters from the Governor of Portugal and India, as well as violins, clocks, telescopic glasses and Beautifully Framed Books". French scholar Jacques Boulos said that when Xavier (F.Xavier, 1506–1552) arrived in Yamaguchi, Japan in 1549, he "presented a bell, some telescopes, and a Sphinx to the Japanese daimyo". In the Meiji period, the Japanese document "Supplementary Craftsmanship Chronicle" explained that the telescope was passed on to the sun. Appreciated. From this, the people of this country first became aware of the existence of glasses and telescopes.

can be reflected from the above, in the post-Nara era, when the Spanish missionary Xavier arrived in Japan, he brought the telescope into Japan. According to the "Nanman Temple Rise and Abandon Record":

After foreigners arrived at the city of Antu in Jiangzhou, they were ordered to rest for three days at Miaofa Temple. On September 3, he was summoned to the city to see Nobunaga.Bantianlian wears a priest's uniform, like a felt, with short sleeves and long sleeves, fastened on the left front, very similar to his body, like a bat spreading its wings. The low voice is like the chirping of pigeons, and the words are unclear. The most indecent thing is to hold the fragrance of the name and smoke it in the imperial palace. Salute to the nobility chief, stretched out his fingertips forward, crossed his hands in front of his chest, and raised his head. It is an incredible ritual. Seven kinds of offerings: binoculars that can see 75 miles from a distance, magnifying glass that can see mustard seeds like eggs, 50 tiger skins, about 5 square meters of felt, 100 catties of iron cannons, 8 layers of mosquito nets, 1 inch and 8 minutes The incense stick contains forty-two purple gold beads.

This matter is also seen in the "Nagasaki Records of the Great Completion":

Tensho Year 2 Jiaxu, the majesty Oda Nobunaga The old minister Sugatani Kuemon Nagairai was summoned, and his companion Tianlianwu and Kemo were summoned. Wu Er Ge Mo presented ten black guns, one near and far mirror, one shrinking tent, one gorilla scarlet, medicine and other treasures. Nobunaga personally asked the reason for sailing , Wu Erjimo said: There is no other. The way of God, the highest teaching in the world, I wish to spread it to your country. Outside the city of Xinchangguan, the food is very prosperous.

is very clear that the "near and near mirror" here should be the telescope. This time the telescope was presented in the second year of Tianzheng (1574). According to the "Synopsis of Xian Chengshu" written by Yuyoshi Hagihara, a scholar of the Meiji era in Japan, it is recorded:

In the second year of Tianzheng, in the second year of Jiaxu, Senator Oda Nobunaga appointed Sugatani Nagaray, and the presiding judge of the clean church who called Ba said: "Past's clean law disciple." It is called Weiman Changlai, which is the decree of General Jiao, which was sent to the capital of Longzuo Temple. Longxin sent people to escort him, and the chief of the letter asked him to travel to Antu. The quilt was dressed strangely, shaped like a bat with wings, and presented the treasures of crimson velvet, firearms, and telescopes.

It can be seen from this that in the second year of Tenzheng, European missionaries donated telescopes to the Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582).

According to the various early Japanese documents mentioned above, after the telescope was invented in Europe in the mid-16th century, missionaries soon spread it to Japan.Since the telescope was invented in the middle of the 16th century and spread to Japan shortly after it was invented, and Macau and Japan were on the same flight route, most missionaries entered China via Macau, then, were there any telescopes introduced into China during this period? According to the following two materials, we can also see that at about the same time that the telescope was introduced to Japan, this Western strange tool was also introduced to the mainland of China. Published in the 31st year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1603), Fan Hong's "Handbook of Classics" records:

Qianli Mirror: There is a mirror to estimate passengers and goods, and a thousand dollars is required. Wang Wenzheng said: What is the difference between mirrors? The guest said: It can illuminate thousands of miles. The duke said: My face is not as big as it looks, and the use of black light is a thousand miles. So it was.

It can be seen from this material that Telescope had entered the Chinese mainland before the 31st year of Wanli, and was sold by merchants at a price of thousands of dollars. In addition, the Qing Dynasty Shen Jiyou compiled the "Shi Li Poetry Series", which includes Zhao Shixian "Title of Ren's Chastity Volume" poem:

Self-suffering and frosty exercise, that knows how old it is. The dust is buried in the mirror, and the intestines are broken on the banjo.庹乹幹丸 bear meaning, desolate stone heart. The total ginger is over, and the roll is covered.

Zhao Shixian, "word Renfu, a native of Fujian, Jiashan learning at the beginning of Wanli". This piece of information tells us that in the early years of Wanli, Zhao Shixian, who served as an oracle in Jiashan County, Zhejiang Province, mentioned the "Thousand-mile Mirror" when he mourned the chastity of Ren's . Corresponding to the "string qin", it can be seen that this telescopic mirror should be a telescope, and it can also be proved that a telescope has been introduced to Zhejiang in the early years of Wanli. It is worth noting that the two telescopes were introduced into mainland China at about the same time as Matteo Ricci came to China. Therefore, Matteo Ricci, who came to China in the ninth year of Wanli (1581), may have brought the telescope into China. It is necessary to explain here that the above-mentioned telescopes refer to ordinary telescopes, not the astronomical telescopes invented by Galileo.Therefore, it is totally inadvisable to judge whether Matteo Ricci brought a telescope to China based on Galileo's invention of the astronomical telescope in 1609.

Second Zheng Zhongkui's record of "Ricci has a thousand miles of mirror" should be regarded as a historical history

Scholars who deny "Ricci has a thousand miles of mirror" all regard Zheng Zhongkui's records as anecdotal stories and folk legends, belonging to the category of novelists, and cannot be trusted . Therefore, it is necessary to introduce Zheng Zhongkui and his book "Jade Stag New Tan".

Zheng Zhongkui, courtesy name 胄帰, and also courtesy name Longru, was born in Xinzhou, Jiangxi Province. The date of his birth and death is unknown. Judging from the year of his writing, he should be a contemporary of Matteo Ricci. Although Zheng Zhongkui has never been an official, his academic reputation is very high. According to Cao Zhengyong's preface to "Jade Stag New Tan: Qingyan", the preface was written in "Wanli Dingsi", that is, the forty-fifth year of Wanli (1617). The book "Qing Yan" was highly praised by the academic circles at that time, and it was called "the core of "Qing Yan", which is expected to be displayed through the ages. The "Qing Yan" was completed in 1617, only seven years after Ricci's death. And Zheng Zhongkui is from , Jiangxi and . When he lived, he may have seen Matteo Ricci in Jiangxi, or at least heard rumors of Matteo Ricci. The book "Yu Sing Xin Tan Erxin" was completed in the Jiaxu year of Chongzhen (1634), which is a historical work that Zheng Zhongkui hailed as a faithful history.

According to Zheng Zhongkui's preface to "Er Xin":

Yu Shaojian, who is curious about the history of the north, the south, the east, the west, and what his colleagues and legal companions have said, and the misunderstanding of the messenger and the old merchant of Fu Xingji, and it is not a new story. , but could not bear to escape and annihilate. I wrote it as I heard it. The book has been in the works for a long time, and I have added it in detail, so I can quantify the present and make it accurate in the future. Shuji, stealing the righteousness of Yu Zijun, waiting for her husband to be Meng Jian and Yuan Mei in the future, is it a novel?

Chongzhen Jiaxu autumn day Xinzhou Zheng Zhongkui master's title

From Zheng Zhongkui's auto-preface, the following points can be seen:

(1) The time for the completion of the auto-preface is the Chongzhen Jiaxu year, but when the preface was written, the book has been "written for a long time" , indicating that the writing time of Erxin may have been between Wanli and Apocalypse. Moreover, he also clearly stated that the things recorded in "Erxin" were things he heard when he was young. Therefore, the "Fan monk Matteo Ricci has a thousand-mile mirror" recorded by him may have been when Matteo Ricci was alive or when he was still alive. Records of Dou Gang's death.

(2) The facts recorded in the book were all written by him personally, that is, what he heard at that time was recorded at that time; It shows that he is very serious about the things he has recorded, and he has tested and ordered everything.

(3) In the preface, Zheng Zhongkui compared the Han Dynasty Liu Xin (word Zijun, first 50–23), Ban Gu revision "Han Shu" mostly based on Liu Xin's book, so I hope to become Ban Gu (word Meng Meng) Jian, 32–92), and Wang Shizhen (Character Mei, 1526–1590). He also said that he wrote and revised the book "Erxin", hoping to become a handed down history of faith, and "can quantify the present and confirm the future."

In view of the above three points, if future generations do not have enough evidence, the historical facts recorded in such an excellent historical work cannot be easily denied.

Let's discuss the history of Matteo Ricci's introduction to the telescope recorded in Zheng Zhongkui's "Yu Sing Xin Tan·Exin". Among them, the term "Fan Seng" used by Zheng's family needs to be carefully examined and identified:

"Fan Seng" is a common name for the early Western missionaries who entered China, because they themselves call themselves "Western Preachers". "Monks" or "Tianzhu monks", both Chinese and missionaries regard Xi Shi as foreign monks.Although at the end of 1594, under the instruction of A. Valignano (1539–1606), the name changed, and the missionaries were no longer monks or monks, but appeared as scholars or Confucians. According to the record of Matteo Ricci:

We have considered giving up the name of the monk (bonzos), which is despised by the Chinese, and have adopted the title of the literati (letrados) approved by the priest who inspected it. The special clothes worn by literati when they visited each other, instead of the monks of the past.

Although Matteo Ricci has changed the image of monks and monks in the past after he left Shaozhou , and was called Confucian scholar and literati, but people did not change their names according to the change of their image. "The History of Jesuits and Catholicism Entering China" said:

As for the question of appellation, although our own family members and many friends call us by our new appellation, it is extremely difficult to promote this appellation in the whole province of Guangdong , because Chinese people, whether they are secular or religious, refer to all those who have left the secular world as "sangha". Likewise, they call all the priests in Macau by this title.

Therefore, when Matteo Ricci and others came to Nanchang in 1595, the locals still called them "fan monks". For example, Fei Yuanlu, a native of Qianshan, Jiangxi, who had been in contact with Matteo Ricci in Nanchang, is called:

Fanseng Li Matthew, who has a tall and magnificent appearance, entered Shaozhou, Guangdong from the voyage of the Kingdom of God, and lived in Wuyue, Yu Chapter , can be more than 50 years old, has a haircut, and is fluent in Chinese. The classics and images of God are extremely delicate.

Another example is the famous Jiangxi scholar who has a deep relationship with Matteo Ricci. Zhanghuang also called Matteo Ricci a monk:

For more than ten years ago, it was rumored that there was a monk who sailed into China. There is a picture of the sky, and the sky is painted with nine petals.

html checked the Chinese data of the Ming Dynasty twice, and there were only three people who called Matteo Ricci "Fan Seng", one was Zhang Huang, the second was Fei Yuanlu, and the third was Zheng Zhongkui. Interestingly, all three of them are from Jiangxi. This reflects that after Matteo Ricci arrived in Nanchang, Jiangxi people generally called Matteo Ricci by the name of "Fan Seng". And Zheng Zhongkui not only called Matteo Ricci "Fan Monk" in the book "Jade Stag New Tan · Erxin", but in another of his books, "Jade Stag Xin Tan · Jun District" still calls Matteo Ricci as "Fan Monk" It is called "fan monk":

people in the world make friends, so they don't ask whether their voices are compatible or not, and they pretend to know each other. Try to understand the meaning of each other, easier said than done. Fan monk Matteo Ricci regards friends as his second self, which is deeper than mutual understanding.

It is worth noting that the "Ricci takes friends as the second self" mentioned here refers to Matteo Ricci's book "On Friendship", which was published in 1595 by Matteo Ricci after he arrived in Nanchang. first work. The term "Fan Seng" was the customary name given to Matteo Ricci by the locals in Nanchang, and "On Friendship" was also a book by Matteo Ricci published in Nanchang in 1595. Based on this, it is estimated that "Fan Seng" should be the Wanli of the Ming Dynasty. A common name given to Matteo Ricci by people in Nanchang, Jiangxi during the period. Therefore, the theory that Zheng Zhongkui saw or heard that "Ricci has a thousand miles of mirror" still adopts the name of "Fan Seng" that people in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province called Ricci during the Wanli period, which can also prove that "Ricci has a thousand miles" recorded by Zheng Zhongkui. The historical text of "Mirror" should have been produced in the historical context of that time.

quoted Zheng Zhongkui's "Yu Sing Xin Tan · Er Xin" as saying: "When Matthew died, his disciple, a Taoist, took him to travel to Nanzhou, and all good deeds can see it." There are at least three nouns that need to be verified:

( a) "His Disciples". Most Chinese documents refer to the missionaries who came to China after Matteo Ricci as "Ricci's disciples", such as the Ming Chen Longzheng called Matteo Ricci: "He died of illness soon. , and Yinghui was not caught."Tan Qian also said: "Ricci sailed to the West Sea in Guangnan for two years, and now his disciples are incessant, do they all come from Ouluba?" According to this, it can be seen that the so-called "his disciples" refer to the Western missionaries who entered China after Matteo Ricci. It can be called Matteo Ricci as a "foreign Taoist", and Chen Longzheng also called Matteo Ricci as a "Ricci". "A certain Taoist of his disciple" means someone who was a missionary after Matteo Ricci entered China. It can be seen that, This "daoist" is not the Chinese Taoist priests that are generally referred to in Chinese literature, but refers to the monks of the Catholic missionary church from the West at that time.

(3) " Nanzhou ". State, even Henan Nanyang , Fujian's Zhangquan and the land of Shuzhong are also known as "Nanzhou", but usually what people call Nanzhou refers to the ancient Yuzhang County, namely Nanchang. Xu Ruzi , also known as Xu Ruzi , is a person from Yuzhang County. It is Nanzhou. For example, in the poem "Draft of Shicang Poems, Yuzhang Draft" by the Ming Dynasty Cao Xueqi , "the old Han Yuzhang guards Chen Gongfan", the poem says: "Xu Ruzi in Nanzhou, unknown sages in the village. Once the prefect of the county, get out of the car and ask for the door. The poem "Su Gongpu" says: "West Shu Su Gongpu, Nanzhou Ruzi Temple. Yingying two lakes, the bright moon thinks. "Nanzhou is the pronoun of Yuzhang County in the Ming Dynasty, and it can be found everywhere in the literature of the Ming Dynasty. Zheng Zhongkui was from Jiangxi, and most of the things he recorded were what he saw and heard in Jiangxi, so the "Nanzhou" here refers to It should be Yuzhang County or Nanchang.

Then, after Matteo Ricci's death in 1610, who was the missionary who "relyed on the mirror to travel to Nanzhou"? According to He Dahua's "Far Away Asia":

Due to the death of Father Matteo Ricci, Father Long Huamin took over as the head of the missionary group. Father Long Huamin has been in charge of the second largest settlement in China for many years in Shaozhou. After receiving a request, let him set off to capital , where the assistance of Father Long Huamin is needed. Father Gaspar Ferreira became the managing priest of the Shaozhou settlement, accompanied by Yang Manuo, who recently entered China with Felecianoda Silva and Jinnige. Accompanied by the two, Father Long Huamin took a boat to Nanxiong, where he disembarked to Nanchang, the provincial capital of Jiangxi. Father Long Huamin stayed here for eight days, handling the affairs of the local mission according to his orders.

Long Huamin (N. Longobardi, 1559–1654) stayed in Nanchang for eight days when he left Shaozhou for Beijing in 1611, and the “certain Taoist man” Zheng Zhongkui saw in Nanchang was wearing a telescope was Long Huamin. In Nanchang, Long Huamin not only showed people the telescope he carried, but also told Zheng Zhongkui the information that "Ricci has a thousand-li mirror", so Zheng Zhongkui wrote down the saying that "Ricci has a thousand-li mirror".

In the Chinese literature, it is not an isolated evidence that Matteo Ricci brought a telescope into China. This can be obtained from a variety of literature records in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Lu Yingyang's "Guangyu Ji" Volume 1 states:

Ricci of the West sailed 90,000 miles into China, and Shenzong ordered Lin to give the first place, and the church built the first left. The company has a Jianping instrument, whose real name is Fan Tiantu, which is the basis for testing. The hourglass is used to time the clock, and it strikes itself at the right time. Dragon tail car, the above can be used for launching. The telescopic mirror can be seen as small as big, as far as near, all of which are extremely ingenious.

Lu Yingyang was a native of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty. At the same time as Matteo Ricci, he also believed that Matteo Ricci had a telescope in his records.Liu Tong's "Scenery of the Imperial Capital·Xicheng·Catholic Church" is also known as:

telescopic lens, which is shaped like a bamboo shoot, and it is drawn out to five feet. Waiting for the clock, strike yourself at the right time.

Liu Tong was born in the 21st year of Wanli (1593) and died in the 11th year of Chongzhen (1638). He saw the telescope brought by Matteo Ricci in the Catholic Church in Beijing where Matteo Ricci once lived. Also, Nakamura Tesai, a Japanese scholar in the early Edo period (1702), who was born in the second year of Chongzhen (1629) and died in the forty-one year of Kangxi (1702), also said:

I have heard that the foreigners are very intelligent, and know the text and write There are a lot of them, and the maps of the sky and the earth, measuring instruments, telescopic mirrors, self-ringing bells, etc., are all used in this world.

Even the Japanese in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties knew that Matteo Ricci brought binoculars. The book "Talking to Western Guests", written by the self-proclaimed "Hua Village Watching Waiter", is also known as:

Atlantic The cross leader, Ricci also. In the 30th year of Wanli, Guangdong Dong'ao led his disciples Pang Di'e, Long Huamin and other five or six people to Wuyang City, and transferred to Bamin, and handed over to Jinling. Self-proclaimed from the Atlantic countries, the distance is 100,000, and it has been nine years of Oceanwide. The sea is sublime, rising above the sky, below, and below the abyss, and it is like the lowness of the earth. The first appearance of the telephoto mirror, the self-ringing bell, and the weight-lifting algorithm are ten thousand times more wise than the Ming Dynasty.

The book "Tan Past" mainly records events in the last years of the Ming Dynasty. The book claims that Matteo Ricci "became out of the mirror" when he came to China, which proves that his records are not copied from Zheng Zhongkui, but have their own source. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Shan Longzhou, a native of Xiaoshan, Zhejiang, also recorded: "Ricci, a monk, has a mirror of a thousand miles." Books show that this fact is widely spread among the people.In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Wang Fuzhi's "Si Wenlu·Outer Chapter" is also known as:

Matthew was in the middle of the earth, and his eyesight was the same as that of human beings.

Wang Fuzhi (1619–1692) was a famous historian in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. He also proposed that Matteo Ricci used a telescope to observe the astronomical earth, which is mutually confirmed with Zheng's theory that "Ricci has a mirror of a thousand miles".

To sum up, the various claims about Matteo Ricci entering China with a telescope confirms the authenticity of Zheng Zhongkui's claim that "Ricci has a thousand-mile mirror". Therefore, it can be seen that in the historical documents and historical evidence, the saying that "Ricci has a thousand-mile mirror" is not a statement of the same family.

Three from the writings of Matteo Ricci can also prove that he brought a telescope into China

In denying the theories that Matteo Ricci brought a telescope into China, Song Liming also conducted some textual research, saying:

"History of the Ming Dynasty" and other official Writings mention "square objects" that he brought to China or paid tribute to the emperor, but the telescope is nowhere to be found. In his letters and his memoirs in his later years, Matteo Ricci was very familiar with the items he brought to China, but he never mentioned the telescope. Ricci's contemporary Jesuits never connected Ricci with the telescope. On the contrary, Yang Manuo clearly stated in his "Tianwen Lue" published in 1615: "When this instrument reaches China, I will elaborate on its wonderful use." This means that there were no telescopes in China before 1615.

What Song Liming said that Matteo Ricci wrote in the Western language "did not mention telescopes in his letters and memoirs of his later years". But the telescope is mentioned three times. Its text says:

Celestial body: The celestial body is perfectly round, covering the outside world, and it has no reason to deal with it. Its shape is muddy, filled with vitality, surrounded by the center of the earth, and the earth must be suspended in the air without falling sideways.Xi Shi sailing, looking at it with a telescopic lens, you can see that the prisms of the celestial body are uneven, firm and light...

The size of the seven yao: the sun wheel is one hundred and sixty times larger than the earth and eighth three. I tasted it with a telescopic lens, and when I saw it appeared, its body was not very round, its shape was like an egg, its edges were like serrations, its surface had floating black spots, and its size was different...

Mars is half the size of Earth. Mercury is 21,951 times smaller than Earth. The shape of these two stars, when viewed through a far-lens mirror, is just the same, and nothing can be seen.

This not only shows that Matteo Ricci has a telescope, but also proves that Matteo Ricci used a telescope to observe celestial bodies.

"Summary of Li Zhizao" has three volumes, which is a summary work introducing European cosmology and astrometric methods. Zhi, Xu Zongze, Fang Hao, Rong Zhenhua and other Chinese and Western scholars of Matteo Ricci have written a bibliography about Matteo Ricci. At present, only one copy has been seen. It is titled "Biography of Matteo Ricci in Mingtai", and at the end is an article signed "Seeking from the Landlord". short postscript. In the test of "seeking from the landlord", he should be Jiang Ji, the leader of the Ministry of Punishment and Punishment during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. Jiang Ji, courtesy name Jichuan, No. Fangcha, was born in Suzhou, Jiangsu, and in the sixth year of Qianlong (1741), he donated to repair the school in Changzhou County, and in the fourteenth year of Qianlong (1749), he donated to build the imperial road in Wu County. During the Qianlong period, Jiang Ji purchased the old residence of Shen Shixing (1535–1614), a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, to build the "Huanxiu Villa", and built the "Qiu Zi Building" in the village, hence the name "Qiu Zi Building Master". In his postscript, he said that Qianlong "in the early summer of Wuyin (1758), borrowed Jigu Pavilion Mao's manuscript, and ordered Xu to copy it". "Jiguge Pavilion Mao's Manuscripts" should refer to the manuscripts in the late Ming Dynasty, because Mao's books were scattered after the Qing Dynasty. After the death of Mao Jin , his son Mao Yan said: "The first emperor's collection of books, after analysis, has been scattered into clouds within 20 years.It can be seen that the Mao's manuscript borrowed by Jiang Ji should be the manuscript of the late Ming Dynasty, but when Professor Zhu Weizheng published this work, he did not disclose the source of the manuscript. However, according to the content displayed in the manuscript, this book should not be beneficial. The original work of Matthew. Nowadays, some scholars call this book a fake book, and claim that the entire contents of Volume 2 of "Summary of Lifaqi" are copied from the relevant works of Mei Wending (1633-1721), so as a whole, this copy is obviously Completed after Mei Wending. These two articles are both conclusions drawn by the method of comparing the history of science. Although they are very convincing, according to the book "Summary of Li Dharma Instruments", there is a "seeking from the landlord's self-knowledge" that says:

There are three volumes of the right book, with precise annotations, clear interpretation, concise but not general, concise and clear, it is also a treasure that is not easy for astronomical mathematicians. Although the handwriting and painting skills are far inferior to the original manuscripts, the carelessness is not lost, and the face of Mount Lu can still be seen, and the number of words in the scriptures are hidden. I ask for the knowledge of the landlord. The manuscript was copied from the manuscript of Jiang Ji's and Mao's manuscript. Therefore, the author of this manuscript was Mao Jin or a literati in Jigu Pavilion; Mei Wending was only engaged in astronomy and mathematics after Kangxi. It is impossible for Mao Jin, who died in the sixteenth year of Shunzhi (1659), to transcribe the book of Mei Wending. Therefore, this manuscript should be Mao Jin or a scholar hired by Mao Jin in the late Ming Dynasty, according to Matteo Ricci and other scholars in the late Ming Dynasty. A compilation of the main points of writings on astronomy and astrometric methods, it is called "Summary".In particular, there are three paragraphs above that mention "looking at it with a telescopic lens", "measured with a telescopic lens", and "looking at it with a telescopic lens". The records of the telescopic lens in the late Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty have been found out. The three paragraphs are the same or similar. Therefore, these words should come from Matteo Ricci's writings, so I agree with Zhu Weizheng's judgment on this book: "We cannot deny that this manuscript contains Matteo Ricci's unpublished manuscripts." The three records of telescopic lenses in the book are probably from Matteo Ricci's unpublished manuscripts. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was indeed recorded that Matteo Ricci used a telescope to observe the stars. Born in the first year of Apocalypse (1621), Gongsheng in the late Ming Dynasty. At that time, I looked at it with a binocular telescope, and I saw fine stars like sand, just like the bubbles in water, and I saw foam in the sun.

Here is a clear record of Matteo Ricci's use of a glass telescope to observe the stars on the autumn night.

Coincidentally, in addition to the information about Matteo Ricci's use of telescopes in the book "Summary of Dharma Instruments", Gong Yingyan, a professor of Ningbo University's History Department, found a transcript of "The Minutes of Kaicheng" in the Zhejiang Provincial Library. The book is signed It is "The Biography of Matteo Ricci in Taixi, and Xu Guang's School in Songjiang". The manuscript introduces many technologies and techniques in the form of entries, and there are more than 60 entries in the whole book. In the book "The Minutes of Kaicheng", which is called "Biography of Matteo Ricci of Taixi", there is a special introduction to the telescope, which introduces its manufacturing method and process in detail, including "material", "system" and "modeling". "Mirror", "Tube", etc. This is an extremely important scientific work on craftsmanship completed by Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi .Judging from the text and content of the book, it should be a preliminary completed manuscript, which has not been reviewed and approved, so it has been preserved in the form of unpublished transcripts. The entire text about the telescope manufacturing process is transcribed below:

Telescope

One material, only transparent real glass with a thickness of 1 cent, can be used as a front mirror. If it is thin, it cannot be large. For its body to protrude. If the large glass mirror is broken, the crystal can be used to work hard, and it is incapable of hurting the eyes. In the

system, if the front mirror is to protrude, the object seen is larger than the body. If it is far away, it is infinite, and if it is far away, the front mirror goes a little farther. Therefore, when the rear mirror is closed, the rear mirror should be depressed, and the shape of the object it sees is smaller than the main body, and the front and rear are congruent. Also, if the two mirrors are separated according to the law, the distant body becomes close, and the small body becomes large.

Once the model is made, the copper plate is like a mirror with a diameter of seven inches up and down. Its depth is in the middle of the gauge, and the radius of the gauge, that is, the length of the telescopic barrel, is the degree of the difference between the front and rear mirrors. First make a radius ruler, take a circle and divide it into two curved back rulers, and then make copper and gold to match the curved back ruler, and rotate the mold to make the curved back ruler fit together, and that's it. This curved back ruler is reserved for common trial molds. Fear of long-term wear and mold damage, it is not. The mold of the low-pitched mirror tasted protruding, and the copper plate socket of the thin mirror was used to make a pot shape, which was no larger than one inch and five minutes. It was also like the previous method of making a medium-sized inward curved ruler. Order and ruler. Then use a concave sandstone to polish, and the ratio of the two grindings is the radius of the large mold and the radius of the small mold, if twenty to one.

When making a mirror, first make the front mirror, cut the glass into a circle, use wood to measure two or three inches long, glue the circle and the mirror, etc., glue it with glue, hold the wood and grind it against the copper plate, and use the treasure sand to grind it. It is fine to grind it with water, and it is not necessary to combine it with the mirror plate. If it is combined, the material is too thin, that is, Yibao mortar is the same as the former treasure sand and the water will fly out to the fine. Use it, and grind it until it is smooth and texture-free. But the light is not bright, and the sheep liver stone is used, and it is ground into a very fine fly-pole and water-milled. When I see the light, I look like a dim mirror.The second-use precious medicine Suzhou Wu Zhaofang grinds gemstones and sells them in the Shen family. Every two to three five cents is bought by a grinder. In the future, the water will fly. Take the very fine ones and grind them to extremely bright. The precious medicine should be grinded more often, and it is not suitable to use the hands. It is necessary to use a mirror with wood glue to rotate the shaft, use cowhide, and dip a little of the precious medicine on the outside. For the rear mirror, put the small mold glue on the rotating shaft, and the glass does not have to be the same size as the front mirror. Next, pour the yellow wax, stick it to the glass side, make the finger touch the mirror to the mold, and use the precious sand water to make it deep, so that the glass is not penetrated. That is, remove the mold, put the mirror glue on the rotating shaft, and cut the circle with cowhide. Dip the corner with the fine treasure and grind it as before, and it will be extremely bright. Only one side of the rear mirror should be dimpled, not two sides. If the front mirror is made two convex, it is nearly one-third of the one. If two front mirrors are used as glasses, how much is convex. Measured in person years, the older you are, the shorter the path.

If the glasses are medium to high, and the vitreous body is thin, it cannot be done according to the law. If myopia glasses , it is used as a hollow body, but it is different from the size of the front mirror, the radius must be slightly longer, the hollow is slightly shallower, using crystal, can be used as two sides, glass does not have such a thick body, but can be used as one ear.

Once a tube is made, either copper skin, or iron skin, soldering, or cloth surface is used, white stalk is used for pulp, and silk is used for the surface inside and outside, so that it can be pulled out. The number of tubes is two or three or more, the same as before and after. The degree to which the mirror phase is removed should be taken into consideration. It is the first time that

records the technological process and manufacturing method of making telescopes with glass in such detail. In 1615, Yang Manuo's "Tianwen Lue" was published. Although it introduced Galileo's invention of the telescope, it did not record the method of making the telescope. Although Tang Ruowang's "Tianjing Shuo" records the manufacture of telescopes, the text recorded in Matteo Ricci's "Records of Kaicheng" is completely different from that of Tang Ruowang.Tang Ruowang said:

a mirror, the method of making said: use glass to make a round mirror that seems to be flat but not flat, called a tube-mouth mirror, which is the so-called middle-high mirror before, and the so-called front mirror. Making a small depression mirror is called relying on glasses, that is, the front so-called middle depression mirror, and the so-called rear mirror. It is necessary to observe how the powers of the two mirrors are combined, how long and short, and what proportions, how to know their power, know how they fit together, how long and short are appropriate and the proportion to judge, only then can one image be gathered. Lost it. One tube, the mirror stops at two, the tube is more than two, the tube and tube are nested together, if you want to be long or short, it can be stretched and retracted.

Comparing the records on the manufacture of telescopes in the two books "The Story of Yuanjing" and "The Minutes of Kaicheng", it can be clearly seen that "The Minutes of Kaicheng" did not come from Tang Ruowang. The text about the manufacturing method and technological process of the telescope written by the entity. Because its collaborator is Xu Guangqi, it can also be concluded that this should be the first introduction to telescope manufacturing in Chinese science history works earlier than Yang Manuo and Tang Ruowang.

Matteo Ricci can make telescopes. Sun Chengze of the late Ming Dynasty has already pointed out in his "Dream of Spring and Brightness: Temples":

Western Matteo Ricci has sailed 90,000 miles into China since Europa , and worships God, and the God he paints is A child and a woman hugged him and called him "Heavenly Mother". His arms, ears and noses are raised, just like a stranger. The books he prints are all printed repeatedly on one side of white and red, and the characters are all next to each other. Network, the system includes Jianping instrument, dragon tail car, hourglass, telescopic lens, waiting clock, and lyre.

Sun Chengze was born in the 21st year of Wanli (1593), "Remaining Records of Dreams of Chunming" is a work that mainly records the local history of Beijing in the Ming Dynasty. In this book, Sun Chengze clearly called Matteo Ricci "making a telescope".This is the first person in the Ming Dynasty who claimed that Matteo Ricci could make a telescope, indicating that Matteo Ricci not only brought the telescope into China, but he could also manufacture it. This can also be proved by Mao Qiling, who was born in the third year of the Ming Dynasty (1623) and died in the fifty-second year of Kangxi (1713), "Xihe Ji·Western Education Entering China":

Matteo Ricci entered Guangdong during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. In China, gradually entering Liudu, the high talk was astonishing, and when the self-ringing bell and the Qianli mirror were produced and displayed to people, they were shocked and called the Western Confucianism.

Mao Qiling was a famous historian in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Most of the historical facts recorded have been carefully researched. In his writings, he further proposed that Matteo Ricci produced a self-made telescope in Nanjing . That is to say, when Matteo Ricci arrived in Nanjing, he could manufacture telescopes. There is also a similar record in "Ming Yulin·Qiaoyi" by Wu Sugong, who was born in the sixth year of Apocalypse (1626) and died in the thirty-eighth year of Kangxi (1699):

Westerner Matteo Ricci. , Pythagorean, Gui test technique. The glass is spectacles and candles far away, and you can see objects hundreds of miles away.

Here it is said that "the glass is called glasses and candles are far away, seeing objects hundreds of miles away", which is obviously a telescope made by Matteo Ricci. Therefore, in the understanding of many people in the late Ming Dynasty, Matteo Ricci could indeed make telescopes. However, judging from the detailed technological process and manufacturing method of the telescope recorded in the Minutes of Kaicheng, the manufacturing method is very simple, the technological process is not complicated, and the manufacturing materials are not particularly particular, mainly the grinding of glass. Therefore, the process of making the "telescope" recorded in this book is by no means the astronomical telescope created by Galileo after Galileo in 1609, but only an ordinary telescope used as a distance measuring tool in navigation or military. It can be seen from the records of Matteo Ricci's "The Minutes of Kaicheng" that Matteo Ricci not only has a telescope by his side, but Matteo Ricci is very familiar with how to make a telescope.This is in complete agreement with the records in Ming Dynasty documents about Matteo Ricci wearing a telescope to spread to China, and also with Zheng Zhongkui's record that "Fan monk Matteo Ricci has a thousand-li mirror", and Sun Chengze's statement that "there is a telescopic mirror made by him". The record of the telescope manufacturing method in Matteo Ricci's "Kaicheng Minutes" further confirms that Matteo Ricci not only brought the telescope into China, but also introduced the technology and method of making the telescope into China.

What needs to be explained here is that the contents recorded in the book "The Minutes of Kaicheng" are not necessarily all passed down by Matteo Ricci, and some of them are probably written by Xu Guangqi himself, but the manufacturing method of the telescope should be from Matteo Ricci. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, mirror-making expert Zhu Sheng's "Small Introduction to the History of Mirrors" called Sun Yunqiu :

Renzi (1672) in the spring, and obtained the book "Geometry of Mirrors" by Matteo Ricci and Tang Daowei, come and visit Wulin, visiting Yu Jingxue. Shi Yu is the trouble of paying for writing and ink, and I have no time to give it. The rain window pushed his knees and gave a brief instruction, and Sun Shengmiao understood it, and he gave it all the time. There was no doubt about it. After several years, Yu was called by Chongsha Liu Titai, and after passing through the Wu gate, Sun gave birth to the "Mirror History" and made Yu Yu, and the method was tame and perfect. On the moonlit night of the Mid-autumn Festival, the relative discussion, if you are tireless, I will also discuss it later. The mirrors made today are unparalleled. And humble and restrained, it is based on nature, five cars and two units, and there is no way to hide it. Up to now, I have been in contact with people, such as a good Jia living in a deep house, and hiding Yaocai. That is, making mirrors is an art, which can only benefit, and the secret of soup geometry. Inspiration is citing one and three, and adding merit is one-hundred by oneself. However, if you hear about someone who is good at this skill, you will ask for advice humbly. The saying goes: Virtuous virtue is like emptiness, great wisdom is like ignorance. The more it is enough to signify the beauty of its modesty and concealment, and the sincerity of giving up the family. Mirror maker, I have also experienced the number of sons, there are six or seven people who have their appearance, and there are six or seven people who can understand their spiritual principles. . Qiantang Zhu Shengri Ru's inscription in the fighting room of Sun Sheng An Su Zhai.

Zhu Sheng clearly stated that Sun Yunqiu had obtained Matteo Ricci's "Geometric Mind Method of Mirroring" in the eleventh year of Kangxi (1672), and mentioned twice that Sun Yunqiu's telescope manufacturing technology was obtained by Matteo Ricci and Tang Ruowang "The Secret of Geometry". This shows that Matteo Ricci did have an article on how to make a telescope, and Matteo Ricci's reputation for making telescopes had spread in the late Ming Dynasty. In addition, Zheng Xiangru, a person from the Kangxi period, is also known as: between

and Wanli, the Westerner Matteo Ricci came to Beijing, and there are books such as "Xijinglu" and "Tongwen Suanzhi" circulating in China. Bits from left to right.

The "Xi Jing Lu" by Matteo Ricci mentioned here should be the same book as Matteo Ricci's "Geometry of Building Mirrors". The content corroborates with the statements of Zhu Sheng and Zheng Xiangru, which in turn can prove that "The Minutes of Kaicheng" should be the unpublished manuscript completed by Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi. The discovery of the Kaicheng Minutes should arouse deep reflection on Eastern and Western scholars engaged in the study of Matteo Ricci. Matteo Ricci has lived in China for nearly 30 years, and it is impossible to estimate exactly how many works in Western and Chinese he left behind, so it is absolutely unacceptable. If Matteo Ricci himself did not record things, they should be denied. The presence.

The historical facts about Matteo Ricci's ability to manufacture telescopes can also be proved from the manufacture of telescopes by his contemporaries. In the 41st year of Wanli (1613), Li Zhizao, Shaoqing of Taipu Temple in Nanjing, said in his "Sparse History of the Western Oceans":

Taiwan's remonstrance was dereliction of duty in recent years. Ding Shuo and Qi, because of this, everything is wrong. Fu Jian, the naturalized accomplices of the Atlantic Kingdom, Pang Diwo, Long Huamin, Xiong Sanba, Yang Manuo and others, Mu Yi came from afar to read and talk about Taoism. There are many books in the country.After a long time, the voice was taught, Xiao Xihuayin. ...... Look at the instruments that he made to see the sky and the sun, all kinds of exquisite.

As can be seen from the introductory chapter above, Li Zhizao knew in 1613 that missionaries such as Pondy I, Long Huamin and others at that time could manufacture "devices for peeking at the sky and the sun". In addition, in May of the 44th year of Wanli (June 1616), Shen 㴶, the servant of the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, gave a famous memorial to Ming Ting - "Shen Yuan Yi Shu", which also mentioned:

speaker It is also said that the law of the Ming Dynasty has been lost for a long time; the Taijian reckoned that it gradually became poor. And the device made by Pi Yi to see the sky and the sun is quite good. Therefore, in the 319th year of Wanli, there was a title for this book, and I wanted to start the translation between people who usually study the truth and the same Biyi.

The so-called "made by the barbarians" here refers to those made by these missionaries; the so-called "device for peeking at the sky and the sun" should refer to the telescope. Ming Ren Jiexuan also said that Tang Daowei and Pang Diwa created "Yongyi for measuring solar and lunar eclipses, and telescopes for looking into the sky"; he even called the telescope directly "mirrors for the sky". Xu Guangqi's "New Law Arithmetic Book, New Law Shows Different" is also known as: "The telescopic lens made is more necessary to see the sky. It can be used to observe the solar eclipse in minutes and seconds, and it can observe the upper and lower strings of Taibai ." : "Telescopes, also known as peeping holes, cover the minutes and seconds of solar eclipses and lunar eclipses." It can be seen that the scientific instruments that can "peep the sky and the sun" at that time should refer to the telescope. Since Li Zhizao in 1613 and Shen Wei's memorial in 1616 clearly mentioned telescopes made by and western people, and in the thirty-ninth year of Wanli (1611), the Ministry of Rites had proposed to let these missionaries participate in the revision of the calendar, so, in order to When they went to Beijing to revise the calendar, the missionaries stepped up to manufacture these necessary scientific instruments for studying the calendar - telescopes for "peeping into the sky and seeing the sun".This also shows that before 1611, not only had telescopes been brought into China by missionaries, but also European missionaries headed by Matteo Ricci had mastered the manufacture of ordinary telescopes in order to meet the needs of the Ming court calendar. technology to accelerate the production of telescopes. This should also be one of the most important missionary strategies of the Jesuit mission in China at that time.

To sum up, Zheng Zhongkui of the Ming Dynasty said that "the monk Matteo Ricci has a mirror of a thousand miles", which records the truth of history. Matteo Ricci not only brought the telescope into China during his lifetime, but also taught Xu Guangqi the method of making the telescope; he also translated the article introducing the manufacturing method of the telescope, but it was not published. Therefore, in the history of scientific, cultural and technological exchanges between China and the West in the Ming Dynasty, Matteo Ricci was the first European who introduced the telescope manufacturing technology to China. He and his contemporary European missionaries not only brought telescopes into China, but also produced a batch of telescopes for the needs of the Ming court calendar under the guidance of the missionary policy of the Jesuit Chinese Missionary Group. Ming society has been widely spread.

Tang Kaijian, professor and doctoral supervisor of Department of History, University of Macau, concurrently professor of Beijing Foreign Studies University, visiting professor of Yuelu Academy of Hunan University, president of Macau Oral History Society, and vice president of Chinese Ethnic History Society; mainly engaged in the history of Ming and Qing Dynasties , Macao history, history of Sino-foreign relations, history of Western Xia and China's frontier ethnic history research, published academic books "Research on the History of Macao's Early Port Opening", "Ming and Qing Scholar and Macao", "Dang Xiang Xixia History", "Song and Jin Dynasties Anduo Tubo" Tribal History Research", "Macao Chronicle" (six volumes, co-authored), "The Corner of Alienation of the Celestial Dynasty - Western Civilization in Macao in the 16th-19th Century" and other fifteen books.

Source: "Southern Academic" 2019 Issue 1