媒介事件、摄影观测与科学启蒙——晚清报刊中的“金星凌日”

Media Events,Photographic Observation and Scientific Enlightenment--The“Transit of Venus”in the Newspapers of the Late Qing Dynasty

19世纪的两次金星凌日观测,是世界范围内的重要天文事件,也是各国新闻报刊竞相报道的媒介事件,晚清社会因而得以分享了这一全球性的科学普及的机会。对金星凌日的关注和报道成为近代天文科普和科学启蒙的重要契机,与之相关的摄影知识的介绍也在一定程度上增加了人们对摄影应用维度的认识。西方近代科学在中国的传播并非没有阻力。除了少数精英能真正理解并掌握西方科学话语,深入对现代视觉设备工作原理和天体运行规律的认识,其他一些传统士大夫仍徘徊于天人感应学说和传统占星术之中不能自拔。经由金星凌日事件所折射出来的西方科技思想与中国传统文化相遭遇时所展开的尖锐的观念冲突和复杂的文化选择,深刻表明早期现代性在中国的展开绝不是一帆风顺的。

The two transit observations of Venus in the 19th century were important astronomical events in the world,and also media events reported by various the press and newspapers.Therefore,the late Qing Dynasty was able to share this opportunity of global scientific popularization.Attention to and reporting on the transit of Venus has become an important opportunity for modern astronomical science popularization and scientific enlightenment,and the introduction of related photography knowledge also increases people's understanding of the dimension of photography application to a certain extent.The spread of modern western science in China is not without resistance.In addition to a few elites who can really understand and master the western scientific discourse,and go deep into the understanding of the working principle of modern visual equipment and the operation law of celestial bodies,some other traditional scholar officials are still stuck in the theory of heaven human Induction and traditional astrology.The sharp conceptual conflict and complex cultural choice between western scientific and technological thoughts and Chinese traditional culture reflected by the transit of Venus profoundly show that the development of early modernity in China is by no means plain sailing.