In terms of Chinese and Western cultural translation, the exchanges and cooperation between Xu Guangqi and European missionaries, in addition to the familiar "Geometric Origin", in the Ming Dynasty more than 400 years ago, he had already translated Aristotle's work "On the Soul", which is Xu Guangqi's "Lingyan Lishao". Li Tiangang, editor-in-chief of "The Complete Works of Xu Guangqi", said in his lecture that Xu Guangqi "used the sentences in "The Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean" to translate Aristotle, and used the terms of Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism to explain Aquinas theology." In addition, he also used the advanced European ideas to launch the "mathematical revolution", "calendar revolution", "agricultural revolution" and "military revolution" that have influenced to this day.
In terms of the "mathematical revolution", his greatest contribution was to translate the first six volumes of "The Origin of Geometry", which greatly influenced China's original mathematical learning and research habits and changed the direction of China's mathematical development; he also proposed the practical idea of "Study of Degrees", and discussed in detail the application of mathematics in astronomy, calendar, water conservancy engineering, music, weapons and military engineering, accounting and financial management, various construction projects, mechanical manufacturing, geography measurement, medicine, manufacturing clock leaks, etc., and even suggested conducting research in a sub-school.
In terms of the "Calendar Revolution", Xu Guangqi introduced the concept of circular earth and introduced the concept of longitude and latitude; based on the Tycho star table and the traditional Chinese star table, he launched the first all-natural star map , which became the basis of Qing Dynasty star table. In terms of calculation methods, accurate formulas for spherical and plane trigonometry were introduced, and parallax, cyst difference and time difference were first corrected. The 24 hours we use every day are from Xu Guangqi, who changed the "twelve hours" to "twenty-four hours".
In terms of the "agricultural revolution", Xu Guangqi is aware of agricultural science and has written "Complete Book of Agricultural Affairs", "Sweet Potato Speech", "Miscellaneous Speech of Agricultural Legacy", "Draft of Agricultural Books", "Taixi Water Method", etc., covering all aspects of agricultural production and people's lives in ancient China. In Li Tiangang's view, there are two aspects that play a revolutionary role in China's agriculture: one is that he actively promotes sweet potatoes, which greatly solved the problem of food and clothing for the ancient Chinese and promoted the rapid development of China's population; on the other hand, he actively experimented with rice planting in the north, trying to solve the problem of "south-grain transfer" and reduce the burden on southern .
In terms of the "military revolution", he once proposed military methods such as "seeking for the truth to be used for the sake of use", "making practical equipment to prepare for the defense of both China and foreign countries", and "selecting and training elite troops to protect victory" and "seeking for excellence" and "responsible for practicality". Xu Guangqi paid special attention to the manufacturing and use of artillery weapons and kept making comments, hoping to introduce artillery manufacturing technology, and he also constantly explored military ideas such as firearms and urban defense, firearms and sieges, firearms and infantry and cavalry. He even communicated with the Portuguese king and Archbishop of the Red, Bellamin, not only talking about religion, but also science and military; when the Qing Dynasty entered the pass, he hoped to introduce the "red cannon" from Macau. In the lecture, Li Tiangang said that after Dorgon entered the pass, he read "Xu Family Ba Yan", saying that if Xu Guangqi was still alive, if Chongzhen Emperor fully trusted Xu Guangqi, how could we still let enter the pass ?
At that time, Xu Guangqi's generation sent "Chinese knowledge" to Europe, promoting global ideological progress. He actively introduced and absorbed European science and technology, and made important contributions to the cultural exchanges between China and the West in the 17th century with his knowledgeable and pragmatic ideas and the cooperation between China and the West, and has thus been called the first person in my country's China-Western exchanges. Li Tiangang, editor-in-chief of "The Complete Works of Xu Guangqi" and professor of the Department of Religious Studies at the School of Philosophy, Fudan University, recently talked about "How Xu Guangqi completely changed the lives of Chinese people" in the lecture "The First Person in the Chinese and Western Culture: Xu Guangqi and Our Life".
Below is a compilation of the text of the lecture. The content of the lecture is abridged and published by Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House.
Xu Guangqi is the "first person in the cultural communication between Chinese and Western cultures". He has had luck and misfortunes in his life. He is the most outstanding Shanghainese and the most amazing Chinese in 400 years. But in terms of this title, he has the right time, place and harmony, and is worthy of being the "three talents" and is full of mist.Time refers to the era of "early globalization" 400 years ago; location refers to the time when Shanghai was at the forefront of the times; more importantly, it has "harmony between people".
The beginning of modern Chinese history Lin Zexu is "the first person to see the world with open eyes". There is another harsh saying after "open your eyes to see the world", "Learn from the barbarians' strengths to control the barbarians." "The teacher said" it was a life-and-death: if you can't eat me, I will steal the teacher and learn skills and eat you. This is not "people harmony", it is "people discord". This modern historical narrative method is a struggle mentality. Whether it is Ming, Qing, modern, modern, or modern history, if we talk more about Xu Guangqi, we will at least have a relaxed and gentle understanding of the history of the Chinese and Western countries since the 16th century (the history of the Ming and Qing Dynasties should be discussed separately). Xu Guangqi interacted with Europeans and learned " Renaissance " with a friendly attitude. Starting from his talk about modern history, it may have been inspired by the "integration" in the fields of Chinese and Western thoughts, religions and philosophy, and to achieve cultural "harmony" from the "harmony" of individual spirit.
In the Xu Guangqi Memorial Hall in Shanghai, Xu Guangqi's handwriting collection of inscriptions "Preface to the Engraving of "What Is Original""
1600, many interesting things that have happened in Shanghai have been related to Xu Guangqi. Nanjing and Beijing are also cities where Xu Guangqi has been, but many traces of him left in the imperial capital have been erased. In Shanghai, for 400 years, he has family inheritance, faith community expansion, academy replacement, book publication, and school lectures. Xu Guangqi's spirit has not been far away from this city, but has been carried forward. Xu Guangqi's affairs were not considered important at the time. For example, he and Italian Jesuit Bfarce translated "Lingyan Lishao", Huang Zongxi and have read it, and no one else knows Aristotle's "On the Soul". Some big names 400 years ago have long passed away; Xu Guangqi is different, he is becoming more and more modern, as if he just left yesterday.
According to Xu Guangqi's idea, modern history cannot be a history of "live-to-death" but a history of exchanges between China and the West and the connection between China and the West, and a history of mutual learning between China and the West. The "Original Geometry" translated by Xu Guangqi and Matteo Ricci was not important at all at the time, but now "geometry" is accompanied by everyone's student days. The right to invention or trademark of the word "geometry" must be Xu Guangqi. So, history is not far away, right around you. "History is alive", a period of history, a theory, some principles, and some lessons are not empty, they are full of spirituality in life.
"Complete Works of Xu Guangqi", written by Xu Guangqi [Ming Dynasty], edited by Zhu Weizheng and Li Tiangang, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House May 2020 edition
Xu Guangqi and Chinese and Western cultural exchanges
Xu Guangqi has three identities.
First of all, he is a politician. In 1633, Xu Guangqi passed away. Before his death, he was doing China's top priority - saving the Ming Dynasty, and Emperor Chongzhen placed his last hope on him. Why? Because Xu Guangqi promised to come up with a good calendar to solve the chaos in the world. In times of danger, the Chinese people especially admire and respect the world: From emperors, scholars and officials to ordinary people, they all believe that if they have compiled the imperial calendar, the celestial phenomena are correct, and the calendar is accurate, the world will gradually become peaceful. If man and heaven need to be compatible, if the king does not deserve virtue, and virtue does not deserve position, the world will be in chaos. In addition, Xu Guangqi also promised to resist the invasion of the Qing Dynasty. He stood up as a civil servant to train troops, and his magic weapon was to introduce the "red-clothed cannon" from Macau. He was indeed able to save the Ming Dynasty, but after his death in 1633, the Ming Dynasty was no longer saved. This judgment is not a speculation, it was said by Dorgon. After Dorgon entered the pass, he read "Xu Family Ba Yan", saying that if Xu Guangqi was still alive and if Emperor Chongzhen completely trusted Xu Guangqi, how could he let us enter the pass? Xu Guangqi's outstanding politician status was the first in the late Ming Dynasty.
Secondly, Xu Guangqi is a scientist. He translated "The Original Geometry", also compiled "Complete Book of Agricultural Affairs", and presided over the compilation of "Chongzhen Calendar". However, the other half of the translation career is foreigner Matteo Ricci.
Missionary Ricci (left) and Xu Guangqi in Chinese costumes.
Another identity of Xu Guangqi, namely Catholic. Therefore, Xu Guangqi has three identities: politician, scientist, and religious. These three identities are a whole that cannot be separated. In 2003, Xu Guangqi's tomb was restored and restored to its appearance in 1903 (Xu Guangqi was buried in 1644), and the cross was erected. There was no objection, only an anonymous letter asking Xu Guangqi, who was a scientist, how could he believe in superstition? This is the three identities that have separated him. It is the combined force of the three identities that made Xu Guangqi taller. Xu Guangqi's later promotion was successful, mainly because of the unique abilities produced by his compound identity, which were unattainable. He ranked second and was also a Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion.
Xu Guangqi's greatness also lies in his tinyness. Recently, I am editing the "Complete Works of Ma Xiangbo" and rereading "Xu Wending Gong and Chinese Science". More than a hundred years ago, Ma Xiangbo met the ruins related to Xu Guangqi in Xishan, Beijing, and was in the scene of discussion. In the first year of the Republic of China, Ma Xiangbo served as a senior political adviser to the Presidential Office. That year, the old calendar was used to use the Gregorian calendar, and January 1 was changed to New Year's Day, and the country's first New Year's holiday was held. Ma Xiangbo went to Xiangshan to visit Yinglian . Ying Lianzhi was also a Catholic, and the two participated in the establishment of Fu Jen University in Xiangshan. That day, the French minister of the Beijing Mission, as well as several professors and priests from the Jesuits, gave lectures together. Ma Xiangbo said, do you know? Xu Guangqi studied his career in that year and sent Chinese information to Europe through the Accademia dei Lincei and the Université de Montpellier in France. After obtaining these materials, Europeans were very excited and did the latest research to help Xu Guangqi and Johnson Tang complete the "Chongzhen New Calendar". Ma Xiangbo wanted to say that this calendar is not simply translated into the European "Julian Calendar", but the latest achievement of cooperative research in Europe, Beijing and Jiangnan. "It is not a Western teaching, but a sexual invention." It is the same as today's international cooperative research. Europeans absorb China's latitude, longitude, animals, plants, mountains and rivers, geography, humanities, history, and ethics, politics and laws in ", Four Books, Five Classics, ". On the other hand, in China, no one did well after Xu Guangqi, so he fell behind. Johann Schreck, an academician of the Roman Lingcai Academy, came to China. His main job was to collect and study Chinese knowledge. He wrote a lot of books and sent them back to Europe. It was the second to spread "Western learning" in China. Deng Yuhan is a colleague and friend of Galileo , and is also an academician of Lingcai Academy. Compared with the enthusiasm of European scientists, how terrible the indifference of the literati and officials of the Ming and Qing dynasties to science was, Xu Guangqi's academic anxiety was easy to understand.
Xu Guangqi and Matteo Ricci
Ma Xiangbo said that the discovery of Sino-European "cooperative research" cases in the history of science 300 years ago was verified by Pei Huaxing (P. H. Bernard), a French professor at Shanghai Zhendan University. Ma Xiangbo told everyone this conclusion. Xu Guangqi's most famous saying in "The New Calendar of Chongzhen" "If you want to win, you must first understand it; before understanding it, you must first translate it", and it was implemented all of a sudden. We seem to see the situation where scholars from Paris, Rome, and Jiangnan translated and understood it together, and compiled a latest calendar. Translation, understanding and winning are a golden rule of cultural interaction. Xu Guangqi said that the integration of Chinese and Western knowledge will lead to a newer knowledge. "Super victory" is a win-win situation, a victory for mankind, not the people hidden in some dark corners, the single family wins.
Ma Xiangbo also told the second story in Xishan , which is even more interesting. Father P. Licent of Tianjin Northern Xinjiang Museum once told Ma Xiangbo that he found four important plants that Deng Yuhan had not found in Xishan, Beijing. This time when Ma Xiangbo arrived in Xishan, he found these plants again in Ying Lianzhi's " Jingyiyuan ". Deng Yuhan's Latin works study China's nature, biology, race, history, language, religion and culture. At that time, the "Renassin" in Europe studied everything, and the "Renassin" was the man who knew everything. Leonardo da Vinci , Deng Yuhan and Kischer were "Renaventurers", and Xu Guangqi can also be considered one, Zhu Kezhen Mr. Xu Guangqi was "Francis Bacon of China", but the "Chinese Renaissance Movement" has not been carried out.In 1933, Hu Shizhi said at the University of Chicago that their "New Culture Movement" was "China's Renaissance Movement", but it was actually too far apart. Today we are still calling for the "Chinese Renaissance", which is one of the reasons why Xu Guangqi is so close to us. What Xu Guangqi said and did was exactly the same as the concerns of modern people, unlike an ancient man 400 years ago. Xu Guangqi was able to get close to us because he had a lot of vivid things; it can even be said that Xu Guangqi was the first modern person in China.
This is the story told in "Duke Xu Wending and Chinese Science". Ma Xiangbo said: "Deng Yuhan and others discovered four herbs in Xishan, Beijing! Yi Jin also got it in Jingyi Garden." In 2019, I happened to pass by Lingcai Academy, just opposite the , Tiber River, in the Vatican, Rome. These academic institutions are all dependent on the Roman Church of the Vatican, the former Institute of Spiritual Education, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and today they are also the highest institution of learning in Italy. More than 400 years ago, Belamine, Galileo, Deng Yuhan, Matteo Ricci and others gathered here to study "The Origin of Geometry", discussing scientific and theological problems, including things from faraway China. Xu Guangqi yearned for Rome. According to records in Western languages, he had been to Macau and also contacted the Portuguese king and Archbishop Bellamin. They not only talk about science, but also about religion and military. Xu Guangqi and Archbishop Bellaming wrote a letter asking him to help the Chinese Catholic Church. Bellamin was a judge of the Inquisition during his lifetime. After his death, he was named a saint and his sacred bones were placed in the church of Royola, Rome.
Letter from Xu Guangqi to the King of Portugal (Latin)
Deng Yuhan and Galileo are close friends, both of whom are academicians of Lingcai Academy. In 1619, Deng Yuhan also brought Galileo's telescope to China, so we concluded that Xu Guangqi used astronomical telescope in the Imperial Academy. Galileo observed the moon with a telescope in 1609. The Pope advised him not to do it, and he tried hard to prove that there were no angels on it. Later, the Inquisition pursued him. At that time, a friend could come out to plead with mercy and explained to Justice Belamin that this was Deng Yuhan, but others were in China and could not contribute.
During the Kangxi period of the early Qing Dynasty, there was also a Changshu painter Wu Li ( Wu Yushan ), who was as famous as Dong Qichang . His paintings were at the highest level in Palace Museum and Shanghai Museum . After his wife died, Wu Li studied Latin and went to Macau like Xu Guangqi, and was preparing to go to Rome. After returning to Jiangnan, he lived in the Catholic Church in Loutang Town, Jiading. After his death, he was buried in the Nan Tomb in Nan City, Shanghai. We found rubbings of Wu Li’s tombstone at the Jesuit Archives in Paris. The great painter Wu Li was also a priest.
Xu Guangqi is really a modern person. He reads the "Four Books" and also reads the works of Aristotle. The Ming Dynasty people 400 years ago read Aristotle's works. This was not very noticeable at the time, but it is hard to imagine today. "The Complete Works of Aristotle" was translated by Professor Wang Xiaochao of Tsinghua University a few years ago. He asked: "Tiangang, how is this possible? 400 years ago!" I was also surprised that Xu Guangqi engraved this book in 1624 during his lifetime! Even though it was mainly translated by Bill Francis, at least he has polished, proofreaded and approved. Xu Guangqi used the sentences from "The Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean" to translate Aristotle, and used the terms of Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism to explain Aquinas theology.
Xu Guangqi’s title of Lu Wanyan’s title of “The Book of Poems of the High Wind of the Qin and the Heroes” Handwriting
Xu Guangqi and our daily life
How does Xu Guangqi’s contribution in science, culture, education and religion reflect it in daily life?
First talk about Xu Guangqi’s scientific contributions. He and Matteo Ricci translated "The Origin of Geometric", which is the work of Clavius, the teacher of Matteo Ricci, Galileo, and Deng Yuhan. He is the organizer and commentator of "The Origin of Geometric", and the founder of modern mathematics. Xu Guangqi called him "Mr. Ding", because Clavius means nails. In this way, Xu Guangqi also became Cravius's re-transmission disciple. However, Xu Guangqi also inherited the Han Dynasty's "9 Chapter Arithmetic " to study Pythagorean art.
Joseph Needham said that in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, China's science and technology began to lag behind, and before it was the leading one in the world; in the Han and Tang Dynasties, and even in the Yuan Dynasty , China's mathematics was still very leading one. By the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, European science emerged and China lagged behind. European science was born in the 17th and 18th centuries, and Matteo Ricci was in its infancy when he arrived in China. Xu Guangqi brought a group of Chinese students to join in, and the opportunity was very good. If this history is not interrupted, Chinese science may not be as leading as the United Kingdom, France and Germany, but at least it can develop slowly like Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, , Denmark, Russia, and Hungary.
China once lost an opportunity, and Xu Guangqi translated another book, "Thaixi Water Method". The Complete Book of Agricultural Affairs is basically an excerpt from ancient Chinese books, but the book "Taixi Water Method" is translated. Xu Guangqi and Xiong Sanba jointly translated it from Aristotle's material origin, talking about the formation of the solar system, talking about planets, the formation of the earth, and then talking about the atmosphere of the earth, then talking about geology, mountains, rivers, and finally talking about water transportation and water methods, how to carry out water conservancy projects, manufacturing and using equipment, tools, etc. At that time, science was not separated from theology, so it would start from the origin of God's creation and celestial bodies, which is similar to "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and " List of Gods " about the vast universe and the mysterious yellow world.
Secondly, Xu Guangqi also launched an "agricultural revolution", which is also connected with Europe. Xu Guangqi's "Sweet Potato Sauce" promotes sweet potatoes in China, and the origin of sweet potatoes is not China, but South America. Sweet potatoes are called "sweet potato" in Shanghai, not foreign sweet potatoes, but sweet potato). This is a new thing from outside. In the 16th century, the Spanish brought it from Mexican to the Philippines, and the Fujianese brought it from the Philippines to Taiwan, and then from Taiwan to Minnan . Xu Guangqi did not follow this route. After he entered the church, he was familiar with the Macao Jesuits and introduced the seeds from the Portuguese. At that time, tobacco , corn and other crops were also introduced from Macau. Among them, sweet potato has the greatest effect and has brought about a green revolution. This crop is very suitable for planting in the hilly area of southeast of . It does not require a lot of water and soil. It can be planted with a little soil in the middle of the cracks of the rocks, and the yield is still very high. The places such as southern Fujian and , southern Zhejiang were the first to master it. As a result, a reverse immigration movement occurred in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Fujianese, Guangdong and Zhejiangese actually took sweet potatoes to the north. In the past, they were all , Hakkas and to immigrate to the south. In the late Ming Dynasty, wars were in chaos. After the war ended, the population of the Qing Dynasty exploded. Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng slaughtered many places. The population was 50 million in the early Qing Dynasty. A hundred years later, the population became 250 million, an increase of 4 times. This is what professors He Bingdi and other talked about the "agricultural revolution". Its origin was Xu Guangqi's "Sweet Potato Sauce". If Xu Guangqi's introduction of artillery was a military revolution, the introduction of sweet potatoes could be called an "agricultural revolution."
Xu Guangqi collected the great work of ancient Chinese agronomy, "Complete Book of Agricultural Affairs" (Exhibition of the Confucian Temple in Jiading, Shanghai)
Xu Guangqi also launched a relatively small agricultural revolution, which is also related to our daily life, that is, transplanting southern rice to Tianjin. 400 years ago, the north was much colder than today, and Tianjin was the northernmost latitude that rice could reach. The Japanese later planted rice in Yingkou , and today they also planted it in Wuchang County, Heilongjiang, but it was difficult for rice to cross the Huai River at that time. Xu Guangqi successfully introduced the seeds in the Xiaozhan area of Tianjin and reclaimed a large area of low-lying wasteland. Manchu originally ate noodles, but after entering the pass, I envy life in the south, and also eat rice. It is very expensive to transport it to Beijing. Xu Guangqi is an official in Beijing and knows that Songjiang, Suzhou, Huzhou , Jiaxing is under too much pressure. If rice is grown in the north, although the yield is not high, the water temperature is low and the growth period is long, the rice tastes good. Therefore, he cultivated a large area in Tianjin and sold it nearby in Beijing and Tianjin, saving the transportation costs from the southern canal transport. Later, the famous Xiaozhandao was created by Xu Guangqi. Xu Guangqi tried to solve the problem of "South-to-North Diversion" and reduce the burden on the south.Xu Guangqi also found Zhang Jingqiao, a Beijing Catholic who was baptized by Matteo Ricci, to come to Tianjin to be a housekeeper. The butler surnamed Zhang was later taken to Shanghai by Xu Guangqi. There was a wasteland in Pudong, so Xu Guangqi spent some money to develop for him.
The "calendar revolution" completed by Xu Guangqi and his group is even more amazing. Xu Guangqi had already done the new calendar, but Emperor Chongzhen did not dare to use it: What should I do if I am wrong again? By the time he made up his mind, it was already 1644. After the Chongzhen New Calendar was announced, the Qing army entered the pass within a few days. The first thing the Qing army did when entering the pass was to find the calendar - the version could not be destroyed, we had to use it - and then remove the cover and carve it again, called "The New Western Calendar". The Qing Dynasty used this calendar, from 1644 to 1911, a total of 267 years. This calendar affects our daily lives until today.
Before the Qing Dynasty, there were two timing systems. One is to use the hour and Jiazi to calculate it, that is, Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai, and twelve hours. Matteo Ricci, Deng Yuhan, and Johnson Tom said that we have 24 equal parts per day. Xu Guangqi said that this is easy. We divide it into two parts and create a "hour" that is "hour". Another timing system is "Hundred Memorials", which is 100 equal points per day. The new calendar is one hour and four minutes, and the whole day is 96 minutes. 24 divided by 100 cannot be divided, and the dial cannot be made. Xu Guangqi decided to abandon hundreds of cartons and change them to 96 cartons. Xu Guangqi also matched the lunar calendar calculated according to the trajectory of the moon since the Zhou Dynasty with the calendar calculated according to the sun in Rome, which is the lunar calendar we are still using. The lunar calendar is not a lunar calendar, nor is it a solar calendar, it is a calendar that matches yin and yang. Baike is the hourglass system of the Han Dynasty, the Jiazi timing was stipulated in the Zhou Dynasty, and the lunar calendar is stipulated in " Book of Rites·Monthly Order ". Xu Guangqi is so "deviant" and it is really a revolution.
Li Zhizao compiled it, and published the series "Tianxue Chuhan" in the first year of Chongzhen (1628), which contains a large number of translated works by Xu Guangqi.
In terms of customs, today's memorial service was worn with black veils, which started from Shanghainese at Xu Guangqi's father's funeral. In the past, I wore mourning clothes and white gauze. In 1607, Xu Guangqi held a new funeral. His father Xu Sicheng was baptized by Matteo Ricci in Beijing. After his death, his coffin was transported back to Shanghai to serve as a funeral with a Catholic ritual. They did it very seriously because they wanted to take the opportunity to preach. At that time, Buddhism, , Taoism, , held funerals, knocking, and beating, which was not solemn enough. Do it seriously and do it carefully, and there are touching features in different rituals. Xu Guangqi took care of himself carefully, Italian priest Guo Jujing worked hard, and the funeral was very successful. He was not allowed to wear mourning clothes and mourning clothes. After the funeral, 200 people entered the church, which was the first group of Catholics in Shanghai.
Xu Guangqi's translation also appears in our daily lives. Our translation today is more influenced by Japanese. Cai Yuanpei and Liang Qichao use Japanese as Chinese. "Philosophy", "Economics" and "Politics" are all translated by Japanese people. Almost all the names of departments in the university today come from Japanese. For example, "physics", Xu Guangqi and his group translated it into " study of matter ", and then "philosophy" is "awareness learning" or "love wisdom", which is philosophy, which is more appropriate! At that time, it was translated according to the Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism, using the "Great Learning" system of "correcting the mind and sincerity, pursuing things to learn, cultivating one's own character, cultivating one's own family, governing the country and pacifying the world". Some things are still left now, such as "geo". There are also "points, lines, surfaces, and bodies" in "Geometry Original", which are still used today.
Xu Guangqi has designated two most important words, which we are still using, namely "God" and "God". The Chinese church uses words translated from Deus, and Xu Guangqi and others discussed the translation into "God" and "God", because these words are found in " Book of Songs ", "Book of Book of Songs" and " Book of Changes ", which is consistent with Deus' meaning. "Heaven" is the master and the creation, and then it will lose its temper, reward and punish. Isn't it Deus? Deus means "God", and it also has the meaning of "Heaven" in its etymology. In other words, in Greek and Roman languages, the heavens of nature and the heavens of creation have the same nature. Xu Guangqi said, right! The same is true in Chinese! Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi must have discussed this etymology theory.Etymology after the 19th century has been understood that the "day" and "deus" of various ethnic groups in the Indo-European language department have the same meanings. Chinese is in the Chinese-Tibetan language family, and "Heaven" has a divine meaning, which should have happened to happen. However, if Xu Guangqi and Matteo Ricci "gets together" these two, it will be of great significance. Today’s Catholic Church is still talking about “God”. We do not call this church “Divine Church”, but Catholicism, which is why. Some people say that "God" is a foreign word, and they completely forgot that the word "God" comes from the Book of Songs and is originally in Chinese.
Illustrations in the Chinese version of "The Original Geometric": Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi
Finally, Xu Guangqi read Aristotle's works. He translated "On the Soul" (Di Anima), the Chinese book is "Lingyan Lishao". "Lingyan Lishao" talks about the problem of the soul. Xu Guangqi found the "soul" in Chinese to match Anima. Anima is Latin, equivalent to the soul in English; or wash away the superstitious colors, called spirit, or "spirit" and "god". Then, Xu Guangqi began to try to correspond to Chinese. Aristotle talks about the three souls - life soul (plant), awakened soul (animal), and soul (human), while the Chinese talk about the two souls - soul and soul. There are two types of human spirit, spirit, soul, soul: one is the soul, which flies upwards; the other is the soul, which scatters to the ground. "God is the rise, and ghost is the return." Soul, ghost, soul, now everyone no longer understands it. In daily language, it also says "soul is scattered". When visiting the grave, pour a glass of wine to attract the spirit; when burning a handful of incense, it will bring the soul to follow. When the soul and spirit are hedged, it will be communicated. In Western language, it is called communicate, and soul and gods will be communicated. This involves many Aristotle and ancient Chinese concepts of soul. These things are still entangled with us today. Xu Guangqi actually discussed these transcendence issues with us in the way of Chinese and Western translation, human and gods, and beliefs that are superior. He is a living existence.
Note: Li Tiangang is a professor at the School of Philosophy of Fudan University. He is mainly engaged in Chinese Christianity, Chinese religion , Chinese and Western cultural exchanges, and Shanghai cultural research. He has written "The Battle of Chinese Liturgy: History, Documents and Meaning", "Intercultural Interpretation: The Encounter of Confucianism and Theology", etc. Editor-in-chief of "The Complete Works of Xu Guangqi", "Revised Xu Guangqi's Chronicle", "H,000 Communiqués Selected ", "Middle Chinese Modern Thinker Library·Ma Xiangbo Volume", etc.
Lecture | Li Tiangang
Organized | Yan Bugeng
Edit | Shen Chan
Proofreading | Li Ming
