明清之际西方“三际说”在中国的流传和影响

The Dissemination and Influence of Three Regions Theory in Late Ming and Early Qing China

三际说是西方近代以前用以解释各种大气现象最为重要的理论,明清之际经传教士输入中国,对当时中国的气象知识产生了很大的影响。文章梳理了利玛窦等人所译介的三际说,分析士人面对这一学说的新奇,他们多以传统的元气说或阴阳理论加以理解,产生了三际范围扩大、"三际无定"等认知。揭暄在此背景下绘制的"日火下降旸气上升图",是当时中西科学交流中新知产生的一个范例,亦是我国古代气象理论的一项重要成就。

The three regions theory, which divided the air into warm, cold, and hot strata frombottom to top, was the most important dogma used to explain meteorological phenomena in MedievalEurope. It was introduced in China during the late Ming and early Qing, and had significant influenceon Chinese meteorological knowledge. This paper surveys the three regions theory introduced by Mat-teo Ricci, Francisco Furtado, Alfonso Vagnone, and others, and analyses Chinese literati＇s responsesto this new knowledge. Chinese scholars tried to understand and assimilate this theory based on tradi-tional yuanqi （元气） or yinyang （阴阳 ） theory, so that they either broadened the range of the threeregions, or indicated there were no determinate boundaries between them. In this context, Jie Xuandrew a meteorological illustration entitled rihuo xiajiang yangqi shangsheng tu （ illustration of the de-scent of the sun＇s warmth and the rise of warmed air）, which was not only a perfect example of howthe Sino-Westem scientific encounter inspired new ideas, but also a significant meteorologicalachievement at the time.