翻译本《几何原本》与中西数理思想之会通

Euclid's Elements as Translated by Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi and the Convergence of Mathematical Thinking between China and the West

以利玛窦为代表的耶稣会传教士应用本地化的"适应"传教策略,把"学术传教"作为基本途径,除了传播天主教教义,他们所带来的西方科学,给中国传统学术带来了深刻变革。本文通过简要回顾中西数理思想产生期的不同文化、哲学背景,指出以古希腊为代表的西方数学思想以演绎性和抽象性为基本特征,而中国古代数学,由于受到儒学的影响,形成了实用性和具象性的特征。利玛窦、徐光启翻译《几何原本》,对中国人传统的世界观和思维方式产生了巨大冲击。以徐光启为代表的中国士人试图以西方数理思想来改造传统儒学,尽管由于种种历史原因,中西之间的文化交流隔绝,但西方数理思想对于中国传统思维的冲击和中国士人会通中西的努力对于明清以降的思想界影响深远。

In utilizing the missionary strategy of localized ＇ adaptation＇, the Jesuit missionaries, represented by Matteo Ricci, adopted ＇the academic teaching＇as a fundamental approach. Apart from spreading the Catholic doctrines, they also brought in Western sciences that led to profound changes to traditional Chinese scholarship. With a brief hack look at the different cultural and philosophical backgrounds in which mathematical thinking was generated in China and the West, this article presents a view that the basic characteristics of Western mathematical thinking, as represented in ancient Greece,＇ are deductive and abstract whereas ancient mathematics of China are practical and concrete as a result of being influenced by Confucianism. Euclid＇s Elements, as translated by Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi has had an enormous impact on the traditional Chinese worldview and ways of thinking. Chinese inteUectuals, represented by Xu, have tried to reform Confucianism of a traditional variety with Western mathematical thinking. Despite the cultural insulation between China and the West for various historical reasons, the impact on traditional Chinese thinking by Western mathematical thinking and on the intellectual world since the Ming and Qing dynasties by the combined efforts of Chinese and Western intellectuals is profound.