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2016/2017 School of Chinese Research Student Seminar

 

 

 

January 20, 2017 (Friday); 5:30-6:45pm

Room 730, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus

Language: Cantonese

 

明朝末年，耶穌會傳教士掀起「科學傳教」的活動，向中國傳播歐洲科技知識，希望建立名譽與地位，讓中國社會接納天主教。由於欽天監日月食預報不確，徐光啟與傳教士合作，編纂《崇禎曆書》，全面引進歐洲天文學知識作曆算推步。《崇禎曆書》廣納各種歐洲天文學著作，但無完善的徵引規範，因此底本研究工作面對不少困難。適逢世界各大圖書館進行典藏數位化，為相關研究提供大量原始文獻。今通過比對圖文，陸續發現傳教士譯撰《崇禎曆書》時所據之底本。清初學者早已發現《崇禎曆書》的內容有含糊和矛盾之處。從事《崇禎曆書》的史源研究時，復須探析傳教士對原著內容作出何種刪改，如此才可對傳教士在西學傳播方面有一公允的評價。

 

In late Ming Dynasty, Jesuit missionaries initiated a movement to transmit European scientific knowledge to China. By establishing fame and social status, the Jesuits hoped that Christianity would be better received by Chinese society. As the solar and lunar eclipse prediction made by Qin Tian Jian (The Astronomical Bureau) were found to be inaccurate, Xu Guangqi worked with the Jesuits to compile Chongzhen Lishu (Chongzhen Reign Treatises on Calendrical Astronomy), which adopted European astronomical methods for planetary position computation. Chongzhen Lishu incorporates the content of various European astronomical publications with scanty citation, therefore causing a lot of difficulty in identifying its European sources. Now the digital archives in major libraries of the world are offering substantial primary literature to this field of research. By cross-examining text and figures, discoveries have been made regarding what kinds of European astronomical publications were consulted when Chongzhen Lishu was compiled. Scholars in early Qing dynasty had identified ambiguities and even contradictions in the content of Chongzhen Lishu. The extent to which Jesuits altered the original text should also be investigated, thereby making a fair assessment to Jesuits’ contribution in the transmission of European knowledge to China.