In the late Ming period,Xu Guangqi and other Catholic literati were actively involved with military affairs because of the invasion of the Manchu forces and the threat of uprisings.The story of how they imported Europ...In the late Ming period,Xu Guangqi and other Catholic literati were actively involved with military affairs because of the invasion of the Manchu forces and the threat of uprisings.The story of how they imported European cannons and gunners from Macao is now quite famous.However,the introduction of European fortifications,mainly the trace Italienne,in the same period is still relatively unknown.Xu Guangqi and his student Sun Yuanhua exerted considerable efforts in advocating European-style bastions.Xu not only received help from Jesuits,but also support from some Fujianese who were familiar with Intramuros,the Spanish walled city of Manila.In addition to Xu and Sun,Han Lin and Han Yun(also Xu’s students)prepared a Chinese treatise on European fortification architecture based on Italian sources and tried to put the knowledge into practice.Another relevant figure is Ma Weicheng,who allegedly directed the building of 32 angled bastions in three cities around 1640.Although a few recorded writings and practices of constructing European-style fortification appeared in the first half of the seventeenth century,soon afterwards the art of trace Italienne met its end prematurely in China.To a great extent,the swift collapse of the Ming dynasty eliminated the possibility of spreading the new defense technology.Throughout the eighteenth century,the Qing dynasty enjoyed long-term peace,and the warfare at the frontiers brought few threats to the city walls.There was thus little urgency to develop innovative defensive works and European fortification sunk into oblivion until the mid-nineteenth century.展开更多
In 2015, a previously unknown manuscript was discovered in the Nanjing Library. It contained a Chinese mining and metallurgy handbook, and was identified as a copy of the Kunyu gezhi 坤輿格致, known as the lost Chines...In 2015, a previously unknown manuscript was discovered in the Nanjing Library. It contained a Chinese mining and metallurgy handbook, and was identified as a copy of the Kunyu gezhi 坤輿格致, known as the lost Chinese translation of Georgius Agricola’s(1494–1555) De re metallica(1556) by Jesuit Adam Schall von Bell(1592–1666). A closer look at the text, however, reveals that, besides parts of Agricola’s book, content by at least four other European authors was included: Vannoccio Biringuccio(1480–1539), Modestinus Fachs(?–before 1595), Lazarus Ercker(1528/30–1594), and José de Acosta(1539/40–1599/1600). This study demonstrates how their books became available in China, why they were selected as sources for the Kunyu gezhi, and how they were eventually used and incorporated. From this, it becomes apparent that Schall and his collaborators spared no effort to conduct this ambitious knowledge transfer project, and to present European technology at its best to the emperor.展开更多
The Ming dynasty （1368 - 1644） inherited the lens-standing culture in China, of course including the textile technology. Besides a large amount of sinsle color damask silk, many pattern woven silk including dragon r...The Ming dynasty （1368 - 1644） inherited the lens-standing culture in China, of course including the textile technology. Besides a large amount of sinsle color damask silk, many pattern woven silk including dragon robes, patterned costumes and luxurious silk textiles are found in complicated and colorful pattern woven brocade called zhuang hua. It was prevailed in Ming dynasty when compared with the frequency of the name chuang hua recorded in related historical documents. These pattern silk and brcrade were produced by the advanced pattern weavin8 technology, which was well developed in Ming dynasty. From historical documents of＂Tian gong kai wu＂, Exploitation of the works of nature, there is the detailed description of the draw loom （hua Io ji） which can weave normal patterned textiles. It also indicated that to produce dragon robes needed much more high technique, similar to the hua Io ）i but more complicated and difficult. A big draw loom is found to weave Nanjing Yen brocade today inherits the technolosy to weave zhuang hua brocade. After sorting the historical documents, it is found that some records are coincident with the existed materials, both the silk textiles and weaving technology. With these evidences research and exploration, this dissertatien tries to unravel the pattern weaving technolosy in the Ming dynasty.展开更多
文摘In the late Ming period,Xu Guangqi and other Catholic literati were actively involved with military affairs because of the invasion of the Manchu forces and the threat of uprisings.The story of how they imported European cannons and gunners from Macao is now quite famous.However,the introduction of European fortifications,mainly the trace Italienne,in the same period is still relatively unknown.Xu Guangqi and his student Sun Yuanhua exerted considerable efforts in advocating European-style bastions.Xu not only received help from Jesuits,but also support from some Fujianese who were familiar with Intramuros,the Spanish walled city of Manila.In addition to Xu and Sun,Han Lin and Han Yun(also Xu’s students)prepared a Chinese treatise on European fortification architecture based on Italian sources and tried to put the knowledge into practice.Another relevant figure is Ma Weicheng,who allegedly directed the building of 32 angled bastions in three cities around 1640.Although a few recorded writings and practices of constructing European-style fortification appeared in the first half of the seventeenth century,soon afterwards the art of trace Italienne met its end prematurely in China.To a great extent,the swift collapse of the Ming dynasty eliminated the possibility of spreading the new defense technology.Throughout the eighteenth century,the Qing dynasty enjoyed long-term peace,and the warfare at the frontiers brought few threats to the city walls.There was thus little urgency to develop innovative defensive works and European fortification sunk into oblivion until the mid-nineteenth century.
基金This research is part of“Translating Western Science,Technology and Medicine to Late Ming China:Convergences and Divergences in the Light of the Kunyu gezhi坤輿格致(Investigations of the Earth’s Interior1640)and the Taixi shuifa泰西水法(Hydromethods of the Great West1612),”a project supported by the German Research Foundation(DFG)from 2018 to 2021.
文摘In 2015, a previously unknown manuscript was discovered in the Nanjing Library. It contained a Chinese mining and metallurgy handbook, and was identified as a copy of the Kunyu gezhi 坤輿格致, known as the lost Chinese translation of Georgius Agricola’s(1494–1555) De re metallica(1556) by Jesuit Adam Schall von Bell(1592–1666). A closer look at the text, however, reveals that, besides parts of Agricola’s book, content by at least four other European authors was included: Vannoccio Biringuccio(1480–1539), Modestinus Fachs(?–before 1595), Lazarus Ercker(1528/30–1594), and José de Acosta(1539/40–1599/1600). This study demonstrates how their books became available in China, why they were selected as sources for the Kunyu gezhi, and how they were eventually used and incorporated. From this, it becomes apparent that Schall and his collaborators spared no effort to conduct this ambitious knowledge transfer project, and to present European technology at its best to the emperor.
文摘The Ming dynasty （1368 - 1644） inherited the lens-standing culture in China, of course including the textile technology. Besides a large amount of sinsle color damask silk, many pattern woven silk including dragon robes, patterned costumes and luxurious silk textiles are found in complicated and colorful pattern woven brocade called zhuang hua. It was prevailed in Ming dynasty when compared with the frequency of the name chuang hua recorded in related historical documents. These pattern silk and brcrade were produced by the advanced pattern weavin8 technology, which was well developed in Ming dynasty. From historical documents of＂Tian gong kai wu＂, Exploitation of the works of nature, there is the detailed description of the draw loom （hua Io ji） which can weave normal patterned textiles. It also indicated that to produce dragon robes needed much more high technique, similar to the hua Io ）i but more complicated and difficult. A big draw loom is found to weave Nanjing Yen brocade today inherits the technolosy to weave zhuang hua brocade. After sorting the historical documents, it is found that some records are coincident with the existed materials, both the silk textiles and weaving technology. With these evidences research and exploration, this dissertatien tries to unravel the pattern weaving technolosy in the Ming dynasty.
