The Introduction of the Idea of the Hypothetical Magellanica Continent into China during the Seventeenth Century

The idea of the hypothetical Magellanica Continent(Terra Australis Incognita)was introduced into China by the Jesuit missionaries during the seventeenth century.While not accepted by the Chinese government,it was affirmed and transmitted to the public by a few Chinese scholars,including Feng Yingjing,Cheng Bai'er,Zhang Huang,Xiong Mingyu,Xiong Renlin,You Yi,Zhou Yuqi,Jie Xuan,Wang Honghan,and Ye Zipei.Most of them communicated closely with the Jesuit missionaries,and several even helped the missionaries compose the maps.The concept was updated progressively by Matteo Ricci,Giulio Aleni,Johann Adam Schall von Bell,Francesco Sambiasi,and Ferdinand Verbiest.Chinese scholars copied the missionaries'relevant maps and textual introductions without much modification.However,they paid little attention to advancements in the idea,and many of them circulated outdated knowledge.It was not until the middle-and late-nineteenth century that Chinese scholars reexamined the correctness of this hypothetical continent.

Traces and echoes of De Architectura by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio in the work of Xu Guangqi in 17th century China

This study aims to investigate the role played by Xu Guangqi （1562-1633）, minister of the Ming Dynasty, in the development of European scientific and technical knowledge in China between the 16th and 17th centuries by analyzing a book of Western technology that he wrote, namely, Taixi Shuifa （On Western Hydraulics）. Several Western books related to machine knowledge are searched to trace the source of the illustrations in Taixi Shuifa. We found that Archimedes＇ screw and Ctesibius＇ machine, which are included in Vitruvius＇ De Architectura volumes, also appear in the work of Xu Guangqi.

Restituting Church Buildings and Negotiating Church Factions： Missionary Mapmakers and the Making of Local Networks （1712-1716）

At the turn of the 18th century, the Kangxi emperor initiated a large project to map the vast territories of the Qing. The land surveys that ensued were executed by teams of Qing officials and European missionaries, most of them French Jesuits first sent to China in 1685 and actively supported by the French crown. Early 18th century Jesuit publications foster a much-heralded claim that these missionary-mapmakers drew on their status of imperial envoys during the surveys to locally advance the position of the Catholic church. This article strives to explore the format/on of such local networks by these missionaries as they passed through the cities and towns of the Chinese provinces. On the basis of archival material, details emerge of contacts with local Qing administrators and Chinese Christians, and of attempts to purchase and recover local churches. This is then discussed against the background of the Rites Controversy, in an attempt to evaluate how such local networks relate to the rivalry between missionaries of different orders. The article emphasizes that there was （and perhaps is） no such thing as ＂pure science＂ by underscoring that important technical achievements such as the Qing mapping project are often shaped by complex networks and historical contingencies.

The Encounter of Christianity and Daoism in Philippe Couplet＇s Confucius Sinarum Philosophus

The book Confucius Sinarum Philosophus1, published by the Jesuit Philippe Couplet in 1687, aimed at spreading Confucian thought and the Confucian classics in EuroPe. Its publication caused an enormous sensation and was highly valued by the King of France, Louis XIV. The description of Chinese geography, history, and religions, including three important Latin translations of Confucian works （namely, Ta hio-Liber Primus： Scientiae Sinicae [Daxue], Liber Secundus： Chum yum [Zhongyong], and Liber Tertius： Lun Yu [Lunyu]）, in addition to some missionary works of the Jesuits, was of great value for Europe at the time. Through the publication of this work, Confucianism was successfully introduced into Europe and treated as an eastern counterpart of the European Renaissance. The book became a fundamental source for Europeans trying to understand Chinese culture in the 17^th century. In order to evangelize in China, the Jesuits made an effort to accommodate Confucian thought within Catholicism. As part of this strategy, Daoism and Buddhism were marginalized and treated as false philosophies. In spite of this, Philippe Couplet described Daoism in his Brevis Notitia Sectae： Li lao kiun Philosophi. Although his understanding of Daoism was not far from that of Matteo Ricci, Couplet, however, did recognize Lao Zi as a philosopher, something which Ricci never did. This paper focuses on Couplet＇s description of Daoism as Daoism transmitted to Europe in the a means of investigating the first image of 17^th century.