Western Impact on China's Scientific Culture in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
著者 Hashimoto Keizo
journal or
publication title
関西大学社会学部紀要
volume 22
number 2
page range 21‑36
year 1991‑01‑30
URL http://hdl.handle.net/10112/00022598
Western Impact on China's Scientific Culture in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Keizo Hashimoto
Abstract
We discuss the Western impact on China's scientific culture in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As we have repeatedly made clear, the Chinese acceptance of European science was not neccessarily so passive as Chinese scholars and astronomers played only minor part at the scientific transfer. It was particularly the case under the Leadership of Xu Guang-qi in the Late Ming period. In the Ging period, however, the situation changed greatly from the Ming period. The missionaries played crucial part at the selection of the introduction of scientific and mathematical knowledge in the early Ging period, although they were obliged faithful to the new rulers of China. We discuss the subject -matter, focussing on the introduction of Kepler's 1st and 2nd Laws. In.
addition to Chinese introduction of Kepler's Laws, we also briefly describe Japanese astronmical activity concerning the 3rd Law of kepler in the end of the eighteenth century.
Key words: China, late Ming period, early Qing, Japan, Edo period, Mathematical astronomy, Western influence, Tychonic system, RudolPhine Tables, Kepler's laws, Matthew Ricci, Xu Guang-qi, Adam Schall von Bell, I. Kogler, Asada school
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- 21 -
Introduction
What we are going to discuss here is the W estem impact on Chinese scientific culture in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when China had to receive astronomical knowledge from Europe through the Roman Catholic, particularly Jesuit, missionaries, so as to improve its mathematical astronomy, which had been used for the calculation of calendar and for the prediction of heavenly phenomena, including eclipses. If we have to argue all about the Chinese action and reaction to such an introduction, it ought to be a long story. Therefore, we should rather like to restrict our discussion mainly to astronomical studies.
Through their astronomical activities, Chinese scholars and astronomers had gradually become aware that the accuracy of theories and constants had been improved throughout its history0l. If some eminent figures prepared a new astronom- ical system, they always asserted that the proposed one would exceed the accuracy of the former and/or current systems, so as to justify the proposal of the reform.
Indeed, the conviction of the improvement of accuracy was crucial for the reform to be realised. We can even say that the conviction of the gradual development of accuracy had always provided a kind of psychological drive for the endeavour for improving the precision of astronomical theories and numerical constants well before the Ming period. And we can assume that this conviction eventually made easier to receive, first new and then more precise, scientific knowledge from Europe in the seventeenth century.
As Dr J Needham has shown throughout his voluminous work1>, Chinese scientific culture flourished and kept the the level much higher than the Western counterpart at least before the 15th or 16th century. But, we observe that the balance of Eastern and Western science was broken off at last during the time-period of the beginning of intellectual contact through the Roman Catholic missionaries from the very end of the 16th century.
Even in one of the strongest fields of Chinese science, calendrical astronomy, the introduced knowledge from time to time, was able to find itself feasible to be made use of from the Tang period onwards. We can easily mention some examples : Hindu astronomy in the early Tang period; Islamic astronomy in the Yuan periods, parti- cularly for the prediction of eclipses.
We have been working on the problem of Chinese acceptance of European science in the 17th century, when China desperately needed foreign astronomical knowledge for the reform of the system of mathematical astronomy. It so happened just after the introduction of the Renaissance cartography and the translation of the textbook of geometry, i.e., the Elements. And since the Ming dynasty was to be overthrown soon, the technology of cannon was eventually required to be introduced for the campaign against the invaders for the time being and, soon afterwards, for the Qing court house of the new rulers as well.
But, here, we will not be talking about military technology. We would rather like to concentrate on the peaceful aspect of the cultural influence of European science on the Chinese scholarships as well as some civil technological prospect of the introduced knowledge.
1. Matthew Ricci and Chinese Scholars
The true founder of the Chinese mission, Matthew Ricci (1552-1610), an Italian Jesuit who was called in Chinese Li Ma-tou fl]$~, with the courtesy name Xi-tai, as a matter of fact, initiated the intellectual contact between China and the West.
What made him possible to go inland of China and eventually up to both of the Capital cities, Nanjing and Beijing, was his capability of manufacturing the world atlas,
Fig. 1
entitled the Kun Yu Wan Guo Quan Tu (:l:$~~1m111t~, Fig. 1), and his gift of the mechanical clock, named "Zi Ming Zhong" Cl3
n,~~.
Self-Ringing Bell), to the local high-officials. His serious endeavour continued after the introduction of the worldaltas. His acquiaintance with Xu Guang-qi (f~J't@:, 1562-1633), who later was to be the Prime Minister of the Ming House, further accelerated their endeavour to translate mathematical and astronomical works into Chinese (Xu, in the right, with Ricci, in Fig. 2).
Fig. 2
They finished the translation of the first 6 volumes of the Elements in 1607 (Fig.
3). The Chinese version was entitled the Ji He Yuan Ben ~f,iJ}w:;,!s:, the title of which we still use for the book in China and Japan. The term, Ji He ~f,iJ, still stands for geometry in the modern languages. In the preface of the Chinese version, M. Ricci emphasized the crucial meaning of geometry as the basis of all learnings in the West.
The position of geometry was very well understood by his co-worker, Xu Guang-qi, who also repeated the same implication of geometry in his own preface at the publi- cation of the book. The result of the translation, on the other hand, increased the Chinese respect for him, because he was regarded as the master of mathematics, which had long occupied the basis of the traditional learning in China as well.
In the same year, the Astrolabium, the original version of which had also been written by Ricci's teacher, Christopher Clavius, was translated by Li Zhi-zao C:$z.~, 1565-1630) under the Chinese title of the Hun Cai Tong Xian Tu Shuo iiiliml!~m, which gained the great, positive reputation for European astronomy. This eventually became one of the most influential books in the scholarly sphere throughout the 17th century. Some influential scholars like Fang Yi-zhi Jj .12.l. =& discussed the problems of
natural philosophy by making use of the astronomical knowledge mentioned in the translated version of it.
Fig. 3
It is also very interesting to know that Galileo's discoveries travelled very fast for those days and were published in Emmanuel Diaz's book, named the Tian Wen Lue (J;;:r,,,~~. Brief of Heavenly Learning), as early as in 1615. In the technological field, Xu Guang-qi introduced the Archimedean screw by helping de Ursis publish the Western Hydraulic Engineering (Tai Xi Shui Fa, ~Tmlkt!) in 1612. In this connection, another attempt was made during the astronomical reform. It was to introduce Georgius Agricola's [Georg Bauer (1494-1555)] De re metallica (1556) into China. The Chinese version was titled as the Kun Yu Ge Zhi (i:ljl!iij~!fc. Inquiry into Geography and the Earth), which was finally completed as four volumes in 164Q2l.
Chinese astronomy was in such a state that it desperately needed more accurate knowledge for the reform than what had been brought to by the first generation of missionaries representated by Ricci in the decade of 1610, when he died. To meet such a desperate requirement, Nicolaus Trigault, a Belgium Jesuit, had to come back to Europe to collect new scientific materials and able missionaries. It was in 1616 when he again set sail to China from Lisbon with several eminent scientific mission- aries, including John Schreck, a Swiss Jesuit, who used to have been made the member of the Accademia dei Lincei following Galileo Galilei. He also brought with him some important missionaries like Adam Schall von Bell (Tang Ruo-wang, ~5Ef~) and Jacobus Rho (Luo Ya-gu, it*:G). When the astronomical reform was inaugura-
ted in 1629, both Schall von Bell and Rho took part as the Western consultants in the state scientific enterprise and helped the director in charge, Xu Guang-qi.
John Schreck, or Terrentius in Latin, who was named Deng Yu-ban fflEEIIEi in Chinese, played the crucial part as the first Western consultant, when the Tychonic world system was adopted for the astronomical reform. Actually, Xu had to consult with him for the decision-making concerning innovated astronomical knowledge in the West. In the next year of the inauguration, however, Schreck died prematurely at the age of 54. Xu filled up the two positions for the Western consultant with Schreck's disciples-]. Rho and A. Schall von Bell, the latter of who later was to be made the acting Astronomer Imperial under the new rulers of the Qing house.
2. Xu Guang-qi and Jesuit Scientists
During the astronomical reform in late Ming China, several star atlases were manufactured for the purposes of demonstrating the successful progress of it as well as incorporating the Western knowledge in the traditional frame-work, so as to establish the solid basis of the current scientific enterprise of the state. The most remarkable star atlas was the Mounted Screen of Fixed Stars (Heng Xing Bing Zhang
't.i1
.mm~)
completed in 1634 (Fig. 4)3>, which measures about 170 cm (height) x 446 cm (width). On the screen, we observe the northern and southern hemispheres of the sky region in the central part, and because of this it has been called the "Chi DaoFig. 4
Nan Bei Liang Zong Xing Tu t1r-:mm~tiilu~,i§.!£~". which means the General Star Atlas consisted of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres divided by the Equator. But, three years before in 1631, several star-maps had already been prepared. The most important of them seemed to be the planisphere named "General Star-Map of the Visible Sky Region" (Jian Jie Zong Xing Tu ~W.tt£~1). the original version of which we discovered at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris in 1983.
Why was this planisphere so important at the early stage of the astronomical reform? At the beginning of the enterprise, Xu had clearly stated that he aimed to make use of Western knowledge to reinforce the traditional frame-work. Perhaps, as we show here, the planisphere was the first visible evidence of the materialization of his aim. Four kinds of star-maps, including the planisphere, were prepared at the same time. They are all explained in the Heng Xing Jing Wei Tu Shuo ffi£~~~&.
which seems to have originally been meant to be the part four of the Treatise on Fixed Stars (Heng Xing Li Zhi ffi£)1t§') completed in 1631. The first one is the planisphere, the "Jian Jie Zong Xing Tu", the second the "Chi Dao Nan Bei Liang Zong Tu (General Star Atlas of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres divided by the Equator)", the third the "Huang Dao Nan Bei Liang Zong Xing Tu j{:mm~tiilu~,t
£~ (General Star Atlas of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres divided by the Ecliptic)", and the fourth "Huang Dao Er Shi Fen Xing Tu j{:m=+:5t£~ (Star Atlas of 20 Parts of Sky Regions along the Ecliptic)". The second one was to be
Fig. 5
- 27 -
modified to be manufactured as the large size atlas in 1634, to which we have just alluded above.
Now we should like to look at the first planisphere (Fig. 5). We have collected this at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. At first sight it just looks like the traditional planisphere such as the Suzhou Tian- Wen Tu
;RX~
of the Southern Sung period, dated from 1247 (Fig. 6). I-xing -fr of the Tang dynasty had called thisFig. 6
kind of planisphere the Cai-Tian Tu ~;/(l~l. In the planisphere under discussion, the sky region of visible stars from China is extended as far as 54 ° in south beyond the equator. Such a representation of sky region was quite traditional in Chinese star-mappings. The north pole is the centre of the circular sky region. The ecliptic circle is also drawn as is the case in the Suzhou planisphere. Stars are represented in the six ranks of apparent magnitude as well as the marks for nebulae (qi m) and newly added stars (zeng ~). It is just in the same way as we find in European star-mappings in the seventeenth century (see Fig 7, cited from the Catalogue by Christopher Grienberger in 1612)4>. This method was quite novel to Chinese astronomers. The method of the representation of magnitude and such stars is more or less the same for the other three atlases.
The constellation system of the "Jian Jie Zong Xing Tu" was fundamentally based upon the Chinese one. The Western constellations were not able to take over the traditional system. Even the equatorial coordinate system, based upon the 28 xiu
W
asterism system is observed to have been preserved and is seen together with 360 degree system in the planisphere. At the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris as well as the Vatican Library, another independent planishpere has been preserved. It is slightlyFig. 7
different from the original one, but, is basically the same except minor changes such as the placement of the 28 asterisms. We have concluded that, as a matter of fact, the independent planisphere is the so-called Heng Xing Zang Tu '[iiJlH~~' which means the General Star Atlas, manufactured at almost the same time as the astronomical books of the second presentation for the imperial inspection were prepared.
According to the planisphere attached to the original version of the Heng Xing Jing Wei Tu Shuo, preserved at the Bibliotheque Nationale, the whole diameter of the atlas is 57. 4 cm, and the width of the marginal ring, carrying various longitudal coordinate systems, measures 2. 4 cm. And, thus the inner diameter of the sky region, in which stars have been dotted, is as much as 55 cm. The sheet of the planisphere has been folded with the last two pages of the main text of the explana- tion of the four kinds of star atlases, whose size is 27. 7 cm x 34 cm.
The boundary of the Milky Way is limited with the single line in the case of the original planisphere, while we observe that it has been replaced with the double dotted lines for another, independent star-map. As to the longitudal coordinate scales, we read the twelve equal division and 360° Western systems together with 365 ¼ Chinese degree system in the marginal ring. It is also interesting to find the Old Man Star (Lao Ren Xing ~A~, Canopus; a Arg: RA=93. 096, o=-52. 051 for the epoch 1628, which was adopted at the reform) just inside of the peripheral limit of the visible sky region from China. Such a remarkable star should have been marked in the same way as in any atlas belonged to the traditional astronomical culture.
The author of the planisphere was Adam Schall von Bell and the Chinese
colleague, Wu Ming-zhu .~~l!Jl:\'!f, whose name has been omitted from the Qing version of the independent planisphere preserved at the Vatican Library. This means that von Bell must have reproduced the Qing version in his charge later in the beginning of the next dynasty.
Although Chinese astronomers had long been accustomed to such representation of the visible sky region in the planisphere, it was no easy task to plot the position of various stars in the circular plane region in exact geometrical terms. As we have already discussed above, however, Xu's friend, Li Zhi-zao had published the Chinese version of the Astrolabium, and there existed no geometrical difficulty at the time of the reform. Nevertheless, they needed a special device for the projection of the sphere onto the plane circle.
In order to cover the whole sky region visible from the territory of China, they had to choose the projection point, called the Zhao-ben !\fl*, so as to satisfy the following conditions: (a) it is located on the tangent line drawn at the point of 20°
from the south pole on the heavenly sphere ; (b) it is the crossing point with the tangent line on the extension of the polar axis (Fig. 8). By locating the projection
Fig. 8
point up outside the south pole in such a way, it can be avoided to enlarge too much the southern sky region. The centre of the planisphere of course corresponds to the north pole. The northern sky region is projected inside the circle of the equator, while the southern sky region extends outside it.
The ecliptic circle, which is represented by the ellipse, is drawn as well. Since the scale of latitude cannot be represented uniformly, the method of geometrical determination has been made use of in the planisphere. Otherwise, the trigonome- trical tables were needed for scaling the latitude line. They also used this method.
At the beginning of the astronomical reform under discussion, they had, as a matter of fact, prepared such tables under the title of the Ba Xian Biao ;\~~. together with the introduction of the knowledge of spherical trigonometry itself.
The planisphere, "Jian Jie Zong Xing Tu", had a symbolical meaning, because it was manufactured by jointing astronomical knowledge contributed from both China and Europe.
3. Further Contributions from the West and Chinese Responses
In the second year of the Qing period (1645), Adam Schall von Bell became an official of the new court, and succeeded in the calendrical reform based on the astronomical knowledge introduced from the West in the last decades of the previous dynasty. In 1670, the Belgian Jesuit, Ferdinand Verviest (1623-1688), known in Chinese as Nan Huai-ren
1¥.iffit:,
was appointed as Schall's successor as the head of the Department of Astronomy. He succeeded in the reconstruction of the Observatory furnished with astronomical instruments, originaly designed under Xu's leadership(Fig. 9).
Fig. 9
Here, however, we should like to discuss the further contributions from the West, focussing mainly on Kepler's achievements introduced into China. As is well known, Kepler's first and second laws of elliptic orbit of the planetary motions were introduced into China by the German Jesuit, Ignatius Kogler (Dai Jin-xian, itji:git), with his Portuguese colleague, Andreas Pereira (Xu Mao-de, ~~fi), in the middle of the eighteenth century. The result, with the help of the Chinese scholars, was the successful compilation of the 10 volumes (juan, ~) astronomical treatise, Li Xiang Kao Cheng Hou Bian CM*~nl<:f&~). completed in 1742. It was, as a matter of fact, the inverted Keplerian laws, because it had to take more than another two decades before the heliocentric idea was finally introduced into China. It was done so by the French Jesuit, Michel Benoist (Jiang Yu-ren, fijiif.t), in 1767 when he alluded to the Copernican theory in the World Atlas, entitled the Kun Yu Quan Tu (!$'-l:i:11)5>.
What, first of all, we should like to make clear of here, however, is that the penetration of some of Kepler's astronomical and mathematical achievements had been observed well before the introduction of the first and second laws into China, which we have discussed just above. It happened during the astronomical reform in the Chong-zhen reign-period (1628-44) in the Ming dynasty. We have already discussed the failure of their introduction and have made clear that, instead, his optical astronomy was rather fully introduced during the compilation of the Chong- zhen Li Shu
(,\JHL11M'i=)
astronomical encyclopaedia and was incorporated in it, includ- ing his principle of the telescope6l. The telescope, as a matter of fact, was the very crucial gift to the East so as to verify the superiority of the astronomical system, which was newly brought over from the West.In the Treatise on the Motion of the Five Planets ( Wu Wei Li Zhi, :EiJ$M1~), we can read the reason why they declined to adopt Kepler's system and, instead of it, chose the Tychonic system. As far as the superficial interpretation there goes, Kepler was not ready to prepare astronomical tables, but, Tycho's system had been available. For, as we have already made clear of, in 1622 Longomontanus had published the Astronomia Danica with many tables for calculation satisfactory enough to the astronomers in Beijing. And Kepler's tables were not ready for their use. If we take it into consideration that the Roman College was able to permit the Tychonic system instead of the heliocentric idea, the explanation in the Treatise does not contradict with the theological standpoint of the Church. Not more than that, of course. But, this is not the place for us to discuss the more serious philosophical
problem. We should just like to demonstrate how far Kepler's works were able to penetrate into Chinese astronomical tradition in the time-period under discussion.
Now we can show another concrete evidence which eventually contributed to the reform as early as in 1634. In this year the Tables of Eclipses (Jiao Shi Biao,
3btlD
was finally compiled and was presented as the fourth group of astronomical books for the imperial observation. The Tables was eventually edited as nine volumes (juan). In the Tables we can find a table which carries the title, the "Quick Method and Table of Parallax on Longitude and Latitude" (Shi qi cha jian fa biao, 11'/j~~Mi!lD.It was compiled by the German Jesuit,
J.
Adam Schall von Bell (Tang Ruo-wang, rD.;:6~) and the Italian Jesuit, Jacobus Rho (Luo Ya -gu , iUl~). In the part of the explanation of the table, we can observe the Chinese transcription of the name of
J.
Kepler, i.e., Ke Bai-er (tUBffl), as the original author of it. Furthermore, we can show that, when the Tables of Eclipses was compiled, the Rudolphine Tables must partially have been referred to, because it seems that the astronomers in Beijing well knew about it through the Jesuit connection.As is well known, Kepler published the Rudolphine Tables in 1627. The problem is which year it was introduced into China. Was it possible for the astronomers in Beijing to refer to it? The text of the "Quick Table" says as follows:
' ... Kepler, a friend of Tycho Brahe (Di-Gu, ~~). repeatedly pondered on the causes of parallax, and united the three corrections (geocentric effect, and that on longitude and latitude), so as to bring together them in one table.
As a result, he succeeded in the compilation of the table of parallax. Thanks to him, the labour of calculation has turned out to be able to be much saved and the efficiency has been doubled. We have therefore named it the
"Quick Method (Jian fa, fftii!)".'
The sentences quoted shows that it was quite possible for them to refer to the Rudolphine Tables although there is no direct correspondence between them as we have examined both Kepler's and Chinese tables separately. For, in the Pars Tertia of the Rudolphine Tables, we ca.n find the "Tabella Parallaxium et Semidiametri Lunae, cum Horario eius vero in Copulis, a puncto fixo numerato", which must have influ- enced the astronomers in Beijing to prepare the "Quick Table".
Here we have to show the evidence which suggests the fact that some part of the contents of the Rudolphine Tables was sent to Beijing before the beginning of the astronomical reform. As P. d'Elia has revealed, Kepler wrote a letter in response to
Schreck's requirement dispatched from China, and he replied his questions concerning something useful for the prediction of eclipses. Kepler also sent two parts (quaderni) of the Rudolphine Tables, which were just in print7). It must have been this parts which were used for the compilation of the Tables of Eclipses of 1634. Since it was John Schreck with whom the head of the imperial enterprise of the astronomical reform, Xu Guang-qi (~j{:;ig:), consulted concerning astronomical knowledge brought from the West, we should not overlook the important fact just mentioned.
Next we have to examine the later introduction of the Rudolphine Tables into China.
As B. Szczesniak has made clear, the copy of Kepler's Tables has been preserved in the old Library of Bei-tang in Beijing8l. It is very difficult to determine when it was sent there. According to Szczesniak, there is a munuscript inscription on the title page of the Beijing copy of the Rudolphine Tables, which was written by the Polish Jesuit, Michael Petrus Boym (1612-59 ; Bu Mi-ge,
rfi~).
The date of this inscription is read as December, 1646. And the copy was sent from Macao to Beijing observatory. In the inscription Boym also mentions the name of another Polish Jesuit,J.
Nicolaus Smogolenski (1611-56; Mu Ni-ge, ~Je.M). At that time he was staying in Nanjing.Smogolenski had a Chinese disciple, named Xue Feng-zuo (~,11,fF). In about 1645, Xue wrote a treatise on the calculation of eclipses. The title is the Tian Xue Hui Tong (;R~fljffi). As far as the published materials are concerned, this was the first Chinese book in which the method of logarithms was introduced into China.
Smogolenski also prepared the Chinese version of the Table of Logarithms from 1 to 10,000. The title was the Bi Li Shu Biao (.ltf71JlfclD. Later, in 1662, this table was edited and published by Xue as the part of the Li Xue Hui Tong CM~fljffi)9).
Both Boym and Smogolenski are said to have been Copernicans. And it is very interesting to know that Smogolenski stayed just in Nanjing and that he did not go up to Beijing. It is partly because the new Astronomer Imperial in charge, Adam Schall was taking care of astronomical and caledrical matters on the basis of the Tychonic system, which made possible the astronomical reform under the scheme founded by Xu Guang-qi and which was not to be abandoned until the middle of the eighteenth century.
Appendix:
About half a century later after its completion at the imperial observatory in
China, the Li Xiang Kao Cheng Hou Bian was imported into Japan, where it was to be studied by an astronomical school led by Asada Goryu (~ffi Wilm:.) in Osaka.
Through his studies of this material, he is said to have independently discovered the third law, because the original Chinese version had failed to introduce it. As a matter of fact, both solar and lunar motions have only been explained in it by making use of the first and second laws. Later, two of his disciples, Hazama Shigetomi
Crdl:mfO
and Takahashi Yoshitoki (i@Jffl~~) went down to the Shogonate capital, Edo, and led governmental astronomers to the reform of calendar then used in Japan, based mainly on European astronomical principles.It was Hazama who actually contributed to Asada's formulation of third law equivalent to Kepler's one10J. It has been described in Hazama's book, entitled the Suikyu Seigi,
Cr:!!ii:BJ<ffiiU.
the Detailed Treatise on the Principle of Pendulum) in 1805.And the law is expressed as the Extraordinary Method to determine the Distances of the Five Planets from the Earth (Gosei Kyochi no Kihou, lig}_/1e:fmz.
-i!l'iri)
of his master's book in ca. 1798, which carries the title of Asada-ou (~ffi~) Gosei Kyochi no Kihou.It has been suggested that Asada school might have been informed of the content of Japanese version of Dutch translation of John Keill's commentary of Newton's Principia. It had already been translated by Shizuki Tadao (~$t,'t1$) in 1782. The final version was entitled the Rekisho Shinsho (M~!lfi'i=, the New Treatise on Astronomical Phenomena) and was finished in three volumes between 1798 and 1802. The first version was published well before the discovery of the Extraordinary Method by Asada. (The title of original Dutch version was the Inleidinge tot de waare Natuuren Sterrekunde of 1741). Asada completed the Gosei Kyochi no Kihou after having heard of the explanation of the third law from Hazama. It is, however, not clear how long beforehand the latter had made clear of the law.
John Keill was the professor of astronomy at Oxford University. His lectures delivered there were published first in Latin as the Introductio ad veram physicam, 1705, and the Introductio ad veram astronomiam, 1718. Both of these Latin versions were translated into English and published as the Introduction to the natural philosophy in 1720 and the Introduction to the true astronomy in 1721, respectively. The latter of them corresponds to the Dutch version. On the other hand, the former includes the demonstrations of Huygens's theory on the pendulum as the appendix.
Furthermore, Takahashi succeded in the translation of de Lalande's astronomical
- 35 -
book, imported through Dutch route. It was eventually made use of for the succeed- ing reform of the astronomical system for the compilation of calendar.
J. -.
le F. de Lalande published the Astronomie, which was to be translated into Japanese, in 2 volumes in 1764 and in 4 volumes between 1771 and 81. His book of this is well in accord to Cassini II's interpretation and explanation of his father at the Royal Observatory in Paris, published as the Elemens d'astronomie in 1740, the content of which was basically the same with the Li Xiang Kao Cheng Hou Bian in 1742, on which we have just discussed above.So much for the pre-modern Japanese connection with
J.
Kepler through its, first, indirect Chinese and, then, direct European relationships in the later half of the Edo period.Reference
0) Hashimoto, Keizo, "The thought of accuracy during the development of Chinese astronomy", Bulletin of the Faculty of Sociology, Kansai University, Vol. 11, Nr. 1, 1979 ; 93-114 (in Japanese).
1) Needham, Joseph, Science and Civilisation in China, Vol. 1- , Cambridge Univ. Press. 1954- . 2 ) Cf., for example, Xin Fa Suan Shu, ch. 7 ; 24b-26b.
3 ) See Hashimoto, Keizo, " 'Chi Dao Nan Bei Liang Zong Xing Tu' and the Heng Xing Ping Zhang", Yamada, K. (ed.), Studies on the Newly Found Materials concerning the History of Science in China, Essays Part, Kyoto, 1985 ; 581-604 (in Japanese).
4 ) Grienberger, Christoph, Catalogue veteres ajfi:x:arum Longitudes, ac Latitudines conferens cum novis, ... , Rome, 1612.
5) Yabuuchi, Kiyoshi (jffkJij!f), Chuugoku no Temmonrekihou Cr~®(7)::RJ'CM~J), Tokyo, 1969;
pp. 148-174 (in Japanese).
6) Hashimoto, Keizo, Hsu Kuang-ch'i and Astronomical Reform, Kansai Univ. Press, 1988.
7) D'Elia, Pasquale M., Galileo in China, Harvard Univ. Press, 1960; pp. 32-33.
8) Szczeniak, Boleslaw, "Note on Kepler's Tabulae Rudolphinae in the Library of Pei-t'ang in Pekin", Isis, 40 (1949) ; pp. 344-347.
9) The copy of this collection has been preserved at the Library of Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
10) Watanabe, Toshio (ilftfilfii:l(:x), Kinsei Nippon Kagakushi to Asada Goryu (rifttu:E*fV¥=.5t!.c!::J#l:El
~i]ftJ), Tokyo, 1983 ; pp. 90-93 (In Japanese).
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