Christ and Confucius

WHY DID THEY BECOME CHRISTIANS?
YANG TINGJUN, LI JIZAO AND XU GUANGQI

William Peterson*

§1. INTRODUCTION

POSING the question of why they became Christians is not intended to imply that a comprehensive answer is possible, anymore than would analogous questions of why, for example, Gu Xiancheng (°1550-†1612) and Gao Panlong (° 1562-† 1626) became involved in the revival of the Dongling Academy during the same years that some of their contemporaries became Christians. The minds and hearts of Yang Tingjun (°1557-†1627), Li Zhizao (°1565-†1630), and Xu Guangqi (°1562-†1633) would not be fully accessible even if one could subject them to all sorts of prying interrogations. Available sources do not provide sufficient evidence to analyze any profound religious experience they may have undergone. This essay also leaves aside the theological and sociological problems of whether they were adherents rather than converts. The question is taken here in the context of Chinese intellectual history.

The "why" of the question is an appeal for an answer that is explanatory, an answer that makes historical sense of the conduct of certain men nearly four-hundred years ago. The pronoun in the question is straight forward. "They"-Yang Tingjun, Li Zhizao and Xu Guangqi - are well-known in the secondary literature as the "Jidujiaode sa da zushi" ("Three Pillars of Christianity"), in China. 1' There are many reasons for treating them together. They were born within eight years of each other and died within six. Their homes were on the edge of Jiangnan, the region that was economically most advanced and intellectually most active in late Ming China. They were well-educated men who achieved the highest Civil Examination degree status of jinshi in their thirties or early forties. They each served more than ten years in Government positions and advanced to relatively high posts. They were financially secure. They wrote books on their own and were also involved in the translation and publication of books in Chinese by Jesuit missionaries.

In taking these three as examples, we are at the center of the literati's experience of Christian teachings in the early seventeenth century. It might be superfluous to clarify what is meant here by to "become Christians" except that Prof. Jacques Gernet in his stimulating book, Chine et Christianisme, argues that the Chinese in the seventeenth century did not have a sufficient comprehension of Christianity and were only apparently Christians. Gernet's point is not under dispute here. The question can be restated: Why did they become involved in Christianity to the extent they did? For our purposes here, it is sufficient to follow the judgment of the missionaries in late Ming times, and they mainly accepted that Yang, Li and Xu were Christians. 2

ALTHOUGH there does not seem to be any direct, unambiguous evidence that shows Yang, Li or Xu themselves testifying that they had been baptized, which is accepted as a minimal definition of "becoming a Christian" in that context, missionaries reported they had been. They used the new names they were given at the time of baptism. They, and their critics, said they "followed" the sheng jiao ("Holy Religion") and the Tianzhu zhi dao ("Way of the Lord of Heaven"). They devoted effort to living by the precepts they learned from the missionaries and to influencing others to accept those precepts. They induced close members of their families to receive baptism. More generally, the public manifestations of their continuing commitment to the missionaries and to what was being taught in China by the missionaries warrant calling them "Christians" here.

§2. HOW YANG TINGJUN BECAME A CHRISTIAN

THE stages by which Yang "became a Christian" are detailed in the well-known account of his life, the full title of which is usually given as Yang Tingjun xiansheng zaoxing shi (Manifestations of the Surpassing Character of Yang Tingjun). 3 The account was written down by Ding Qilin after the death of Yang, in 1627. Ding says in a postscript that he had heard many times about Yang from Giulio Aleni (°1582-†1649)4, and Aleni knew Yang, of course. He stayed with him in Hangchow, and they worked together on the Ching fang wai ji (Account of Countries Not Listed in the Records Office), which was printed in 1623. Because their friendship began a few years after Yang had been baptized, in 1611, Aleni was not giving Ding a first-hand description of affairs leading up to that event. Moreover, the account obviously is intended for a public audience. It portrays how Yang became a Christian - with the hope, which Ding expressed in his postscript, that he might be taken as a model by others. The following is primarily a paraphrase of the stages of Yang's progress as recorded by Aleni and ding. Also, direct comments of the present writer are interspersed parenthetically.

The account begins conventionally with information on Yang's names, his place of origin (Hangzhou), and his illustrious character, fondness for learning, and desire to be known as good. In 1592, Yang becomes a jinshi and then holds a succession of provincial and capital appointments. ( Yang is thus established for the readers of the account as a successful man in late sixteenth and early seventeenth-century terms).

Yang resigns in 1609 (in his fifty-third year) from the office of Education Intendant at Nanjing and returns to Hangzhou where he devotes his energies to reading books. He is admired by the Provincial Governor, who arranges for him to give lectures on Daoxue (Neo-Confucianism) at a scenic place on West Lake. Like many of his contemporaries who were also interested in reviving the intellectual vigor of Chengzhu teachings, Yang organizes a study group called the Zhen Shishe (Truth Society ). At the same time that he is becoming well known for his efforts on behalf of Neo-Confucianism, he is supportive of local Buddhist clerics who press Zhan doctrine on him, and he contributes to the reestablishment of local Buddhist Temples. Yang has already learned something about the "Way of the Lord of Heaven" which Matteo Ricci had been expounding in Beijing, but he "did not understand it". ( Here we have a summary of Yang's intellectual and religious involvements, in 1610 and 1611. Out of office for the first time in years, he was actively and publicly promoting the moral self-cultivation side of Neo-Confucianism. He also was supportive of Buddhists, not just generally interested in Buddhist doctrine, at the time when the monk Zhuhong (°1535-†1615) was enjoying great success in promoting lay Buddhist societies and reinvigorating the monastic rule at the Yün-ch'i Temple complex, near Hangzhou. 5 At this stage, Yang was serious about moral and religious values, and he was aware of Christian teachings.)

(In the next stage, Yang made a sudden turn toward Christian teachings.) In the fourth month of 1611, Yang's friend Li Zhizao (who had been baptized by Ricci, in Beijing, in the spring of the previous year) resigns from office, in Nanjing, to attend his ailing father. Li invites the two Jesuits Lazzaro Cattaneo (°1560-†1640) and Nicolas Trigault (°1577-†1628) to accompany him back to Hangzhou.

When Yang goes to offer his condolences on the death of Li's father, he meets Cattaneo and Trigault and is pleased to find out more about their religion. When he sees an image of the Zhu (Lord), he is reverential toward it and feels as if he were in the presence of a da Zhu (great Lord) who gives him a command. He then invites Cattaneo and Trigault to visit him at his own home. (Although there is no clear indication here as to why he was so attracted to them, he was now deeply interested in what the missionaries had to teach.)

(Ready to learn more,) Yang cuts himself off from all other concerns to concentrate on fathoming the fundamentals of the Learning from the Tianxue (Heaven). Cattaneo and Trigault teach him about the Lord's grace and other precepts of their religion. He understands that the ten thousand things in heaven and earth are created and sustained by the Tianzhu (Lord of Heaven). He acknowledges to the missionaries that the Lord of Heaven is to be served as the Lord of the ten-thousand things in Heaven and Earth but wonders what harm there might be in also serving the Buddha. He assents to the missionaries' answer to this question. In further discussions with them, he wonders why the omnipotent Lord of Heaven would endure such sufferings when He descended to live as a man, and he expresses his view that it is disrespectful to the Lord of Heaven to speak of these sufferings. Again, the missionaries explain the reasons for all of this and he applauds their answer.

ONE day, Trigault and a Chinese convert from Guangdong named Zhon Mingren (also given as Zhong Nianliang), whom the Jesuits called Br. Sebastian (° 1562-†1622), are expounding the meaning of Christian rituals to Yang, and they think that he does not quite believe that the Lord of Heaven is actually present in the consecrated communion bread. With some agitation, Yang says: "How is this something for me to cogitate over? My Lord's love for the World is boundless. [The notion of] His grace in descending to atone for the World's [sins] does not derive from an unconsidered doctrine, so how would I revert to doubt about this?" He then makes a commitment to be a servitor of the Lord. (In short, he was now willing to believe.)

WHEN Yang expresses his desire to receive baptism, Trigault does not permit it. The reason is that in addition to a wife, Yang has a concubine who is the mother of his two sons. He hesitates over what to do and discusses the matter with his friend Li (who, as we shall see shortly, had experienced the same difficulty). Yang says that the missionaries' attitude bewilders him. Here he, a former high official, is willing to serve them, but they do not allow it because he must not have a single concubine. Buddhist monks, Yang answers, certainly would not act like this. And that, Li explains, is precisely why the missionaries from the Far West and the monks are not comparable. The xijiao (Western religion) has its rules, which were received from the Lord of Heaven. Following them is virtuous, neglecting them is punishable; the distinction is clear. How could the missionaries assent to what you like, Li asks, when the rules prohibit it? The missionaries want to save others, but they are unwilling to compromise on this to receive you. They want to reform this degenerate World, but they do not dare dishonor the rules of their religion. If you know you are wrong and do not change, Li asks Yang, what point is there in following them? Yang is "suddenly awakened. He changes from his former wrong ways, sends away his concubine, and puts into practice the rules of the religion. The missionaries witness his sin cerity and he is baptized, in the sixth month of 1611, with the new name of Michele. 6

(Yang has become a Christian and the account written down by Ding Qilin makes it clear that he lived the remaining years of his life (°1611-†1627) doing Christian works in close association with Jesuit missionaries. Here are a few examples of his works, as described by Ding.) Yang has a hall, which held a statue of a Bodhisattva; this hall is turned into a chapel for the missionaries. His mother is a pious Buddhist and does not listen to him about the Western religion. For years he worries and prays and when he is about sixty (and his mother is eighty) he eats sparingly and becomes noticeably haggard.

Under his mother's persistent questioning, he tearfully says he feels he is culpable because she is deluded by xieshuo (false teachings) and rejects the zheng jiao (true religion). Should his mother fall into eternal suffering, her son could not be redeemed. Through her son's suffering, she understands, says she believes and receives the rite of baptism.

Yang builds a Church and supports missionaries (whom he also harbored at his own risk during the anti-Christian prohibitions, beginning in 1616).

As an alternative to the Buddhist lay societies that concentrate on releasing the live fish and birds purchased from the market place, Yang organizes a Charitable Society to help the needy. The Fangsheng hui (Societies for the Release of Life) were popular in Hangzhou at the time owing largely to the inspiration of the monk Zhuhong. 7 When Aleni tells him it is good that he succours the poor and the sick of body, but he should also have pity on those who are sick of heart, Yang begins to spend money and effort on the printing of books about the Learning from Heaven. He personally writes Dai yipian (In Place of Doubt) and other short books "to make clear Way of the Lord of Heaven." He becomes, in short, "a pillar of the Church", in China.

§3. WHY YANG TINGJUN BECAME A CHRISTIAN

YANG is not presented as experiencing any great personal stress or crisis during his approach to Christianity. What can be inferred from the account of his life is that he was troubled about what he, and many of his concerned contemporaries, perceived as a pervasive moral decay. Perhaps this was associated with his resignation from Government office, in 1609, when the Emperor's willfulness and the factional disarray at Court and throughout the bureaucracy were undermining confidence. His efforts on behalf of Neo-Confucianism are evidence of a deep concern with values and a desire to restore a sense of 'right' to a society adrift. What seems clear from the account of Yang's life is that he sought to identify what is 'right', as when he organized the Truth Society. The opportunity was present for him to find it in Neo-Confucianism; this was presumably the subject of the books he read so assiduously when he returned to Hangchow. He also sought in Buddhist teachings, provided by the clerics to whom he gave contributions. They both failed him. Yang's turning away from Neo-Confucianism and Buddhism came when he visited his friend Li, in the fourth or fifth month of 1611. The account does not say so, but Western sources8tell us Li encouraged his friend Yang to embrace Catholicism. What can be inferred from the account is that Yang became interested when he perceived how Li, back in Hangchow with Cattaneo and Trigault after his baptism in Beijing the previous year, had entrusted so much to the missionaries. This is the only context we are given for Yang' s reaction to the sight of an image of the Lord. If it is correct to suppose that he was seeking a moral certainly, then it seems to follow that when he discovered his friend Li had it, he was then willing to find out more about the source of the certainty. There are five main points in the account of Yang's growing understanding of Christianity. First, as he read and discussed with Cattaneo and Trigault, Yang understood that the Lord, whose image affected him so, was the Lord of Heaven who is behind all the ten-thousand phenomena in the realm of Heaven and Earth; this Lord is not "of the Far West" but stands external to any particular time and place. Second, they explained to him that the Lord of Heaven was the one and only Lord. Any talk of the Buddha "supporting the Heaven and enveloping the Earth" was dismissed as stupid for not recognizing the omnipotence of the Lord of Heaven. The missionaries said the Buddhists were guilty of something akin to the lèse majesté of a person wanting to be his own Emperor or his own King. According to the account, Cattaneo and Trigault told him that "The Buddhists want to venerate their own hearts and natures [as the source of 'knowing'] and deny the omnipotence of the Shangzhu (Lord on High)." The missionaries' accusation that the Buddhists rely on their own hearts and natures as the source of their values (and this is certainly an implication of the dominant Zhan teachings at the time) can be extended to much of late Ming Neo-Confucianism, particularly the followers of the Wang Yang-ming School, in which there was a similar tendency to tsun te hsing ("venerate the moral nature"). The issue was whether one's own heart or nature, was to be the source on which one's values were grounded or whether there was an external source. The missionaries insisted exclusively on the latter. Third, in response to Yang's view that it is disrespectful to speak of the sufferings of the Lord of Heaven, the missionaries explained that among the attributes of their Lord is "extreme good" and a concern for all human beings. This was manifested by his taking a body "to atone for the sins of all peoples and all times." The point for Yang and the readers of the account, is that this external source of knowing is a moral source and one accessible to humans. Fourth, once Yang understood this, then he had no need to go on generating doubts; he could immediately grasp the significance of the consecrated bread. Not accidentally, ten years later when he produced his own book on doctrinal questions, he called it In Place of Doubt. Doubt, of course, is the opposite of certainty or Truth, which it seems is what he thought he was embracing. Fifth, Yang learned from the obstinacy of the missionaries about his concubine that the moral rules were not susceptible of compromise; one had to submit to them. They were not made up by humans and thus subject to a situational interpretation relative to the particular time or place of their origin. They came from the Lord of Heaven. If Yang is seen as searching in effect for an externally determined source of moral values as an alternative to the relativism and introspection which prevailed among many of his contemporaries, then it is explicable why he grasped at the complex ambiguities of the "Heaven" and "Lord of Heaven" depicted by the missionaries. It was precisely when he moved the step beyond understanding to submission to this "higher authority" that he could be baptized, that he "became a Christian." The whole process was accomplished in the space of about two months. 9 ^^§4. LI ZHIZAO'S PROGRESS TO CHRISTIANITY ie: Li Zhizao] is from the City of Hangzhou, in the Province of Zhejiang. At the time I first arrived in Beijing, he was a High Official in the Tribunal of Works and was a Doctor of great intelligence. [Highly placed in the jinshi examination of 1598, Li was called a "Doctor" by the Jesuits, as were other jinshi ] In his youth he made a Description of All China with the fifteen Provinces shown in great detail; he thought it was the whole World. When he saw our "Universal World Map," he realized how small China was compared to the whole World. With his great intelligence he easily grasped the truths we taught about the extent and sphericity of the Earth, its poles, the ten [concentric] Heavens, the vastness of the sun and stars compared to the Earth, and other things which others found so difficult to believe. From this a close friendship developed between us, and when the duties of his office allowed it, he liked to learn more of this knowledge (questa scientia)."11 Years later, Li recalled: "In 1601, when Ricci had come [to Beijing], I went with several associates to call on him. Hanging on his wall was a map of the World with finely drawn lines of degrees [longitude and latitude]. Ricci said: "This was my route from the West."12 In a sense, the map pointed to Li's route to the West. It initiated his involvement with Ricci. His interest in the map grew to the point that Ricci gave him credit for his assistance, which resulted in an enlarged version of the map being printed, in 1602. 13 In return, Li's appreciation of Ricci and the new ideas from the West only increased. They worked together on arithmetical and astronomical books and instruments, 14 and, in 1607, Li wrote a preface to a revised printing of Ricci's Tianxue shiyi (True Meaning of the Learning from Heaven) under the new title of Tianzhu shiyi(True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven). Critical of both Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism, Li was explicitly sympathetic to the religion of the Tianzhujiao (Lord of Heaven) which he found had much that was in accord with the Classics. 15 The progress of Li's admiration for Ricci is summarized most neatly in his preface, of 1608, to Ricci's Lüeren shipian (Ten Essays on the Extraordinary Man). Herein, Ricci recorded his discussions on religious and moral questions with eight Chinese interviewers, including Li and Xu Guangqi. Li wrote in the preface that when he first met this person who had braved all sorts of hazards in making the tremendously long journey to China and who was friendly and generous to others seeking nothing in return, he thought Ricci was a "yiren" ("strange man"). Observing that he did not marry or hold office, that he only sought to be virtuous and to serve the Shangdi (Divinity on High), Li considered Ricci to be a man of duxing ren (independent conduct). 4 vols., Haye,Chez Henri Scheurleer, 1736, vol. 3, p. 6 -- detail.

Next, he thought Ricci was a "bowen yu taoshu zhi ren" ("broadly learned man who had special arts") because he venerated what was right and opposed false teachings, was assiduous in learning, memorized texts so facilely, and knew so much about metaphysics, astronomy, geography, geometry and arithmetic - subjects about which ru (Confucian) in earlier generations had not been clear. Now, in 1608, after knowing Ricci familiarly for nearly ten years, Li realizes that when he is about to do something and it accords with Ricci's words, then he knows he should do it, and if he does not, then he knows he should reject it, and thus Li recognizes Ricci as the "zhi ren" ("perfected man").

"The perfected man," Li wrote, "is compatible with Heaven, but not "yi" ("foreign") to other men."16

THE reader of Li's preface might well infer that, with this degree of identification with Ricci, he was ready to be baptized, in 1608. He probably would have been, but as Ricci said in a letter written in the spring of that year, he could not yet be a Christian because of a "certain impediment."17 In his journals at about this time, Ricci wrote of Li, "He is very well instructed in matters of our Holy Faith and stood ready to be baptized if the Fathers had not discovered the impediment of polygamy, which he promises to rid from his house."18 When this same impediment of having a concubine as well as a wife confronted Yang, in 1611, he consulted Li and, as noted above, received the direct advice that he should abandon the concubine. Li, on the other hand, had still not been baptized at the beginning of 1610, whatever the fate of his concubines. Our source for what then happened is, again, Aleni. 19He said that when Li became severely ill, in Beijing, with no relatives at hand, he was attended to day and night by Ricci for weeks. When the illness was at a critical point, Li made a will and asked Ricci to execute it. Ricci urged him to accept the Faith at this life-and-death moment. In contrast to Yang, Li was experiencing a great personal crisis when he was baptized. Given the name Leone, he donated a hundred taels of silver for the Church's use, and with the aid of the Great Lord, Li recovered. Ricci died in May of that year. 20 With Ricci gone, Li maintained his commitment to Christianity. In the Spring of 1611, he invited Trigault and Cattaneo to go with him to his home in Hangzhou. There, as we have seen, he probably stimulated Yang's interest in Christianity; he certainly encouraged him to follow the faith. 21 The account of Yang's life says of Li at this time: "When his father's illness was so severe, he [Li] thenceforth entrusted matters relating to the rites of death to them [the Church in general and the missionaries in particular]."22It was apparently this trust that inspired Yang. In 1613, when the mourning period was over, Li resumed his official career and accepted appointments for the next seven years. He simultaneously continued his involvement in the translation and publication of books on the Heavens and mathematics. His efforts culminated, in 1628, with his publication of the Tianzhu chuhan (First Collection of Writings on Learning from Heaven). It included nearly all of the important books by the missionaries printed in China up to that time, nineteen titles in all, plus two of his own. In the years just before his death, Li was also instrumental in having Jesuit missionaries officially involved in imperially sponsored calendrical reforms based on the newly introduced Western theories of the Heavens. ^^§5. THE ATTRACTION FOR LI ZHIZAO literati at the time were attracted to the 'science' (a term not closely defined in these contexts) brought to China by the missionaries. 23Trigault gave one of the earliest expressions of this interpretation when he observed that all of the study and publication by Li and Ricci on mathematics and astronomy "was not Father Matthew's interest, though it did serve as an allurement, as it were, to attract Leo [Li Zhizao] into the fisherman's net."24 The second inference is that Li, like many others, was attracted to Christianity by Ricci's strengths of character. D'Elia drew on both of these inferences when he observed of three friends of Li, who also wrote notes which were printed on the 1602 version of the Map of the World, that they each praised "the science and the virtue of Ricci."25 The three had attained higher degrees before or at the same time as Li, and as officials at the capital they had called on Ricci and been interested in the Map. They did not, however, become Christians. Thus, it does not contradict the two inferences to notice that they simply push the question of 'why' back one step: Why was Li so attracted to Western science and to Ricci that he moved beyond that attraction and became a Christian? According to both Li and Ricci, when Li first met the missionary in Beijing, in 1601, what struck him was the Map of the World. Ricci credited him with a youthful interest in geography, with the implication that such an interest accounts for his response to the Map. But Li does not seem to refer to it, even in his 1623 preface to the Account of Countries Not Listed in the Records Office, and it is noteworthy that this most significant contribution to the expansion of Chinese knowledge of World geography was the result of a collaboration between Aleni and the non-numerical Yang rather than Li. 26 On the 1602 Map, Ricci recorded that Li held it was a "wanshi bu ke yi zhi fa" ("everlasting, immutable law") that the degrees of latitude and longitude should correspond to orbital paths in the Heavens and he devoted a year to making calculations to fathom this li (pattern or principle). 27 In his own note printed on the 1602 Map, Li related the material on the Map to Chinese precedents for the idea of a round Earth divided into degrees and he expressed his acceptance of both the concept of a spherical Earth larger than previously known and also the associated model of the Heavens. 28 Perhaps at his instigation, the Map printed in 1602 was supplemented not only with small maps of the Northern and Southern hemispheres with the poles at the center but also with small figures showing the nine concentric Heavens, orbital paths on the Celestial Sphere, and the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, and Earth for eclipse-produced shadows. Of course, the material in which Li was interested fits under the general rubric of 'science' and Ricci recorded in his journals that, in 1601, Li sought to learn more of questa scientia, which was translated above as "this knowledge." "This knowledge," with which Li was occupied for years afterwards, can be labeled more precisely as the "Learning from Heaven." If it is called 'science', then an important ambiguity is lost, for learning from Heaven was also an alternative means of referring to the religious ideas being introduced by the missionaries. That there need be no demarcation is implicity still recognized, in 1628, when Li published 'scientific' as well as religious writings together under the title Learning from Heaven. 29 30 to a willingness to accept the eternal, universal "Lord of Heaven." Li's appreciation of Ricci proceeds in steps almost exactly comparable to his broadening understanding of Heaven and culminates in seeing Ricci as "compatible with Heaven." As Li testifies, Ricci manifested morality and confidence. If his personal strengths were to be accessible to others, such as Li, they had to be portrayed as derived from the discipline of submitting to Heaven. Li may not have let go of his concubines and submitted to the moral rules until he faced death; but however much he and Yang contrasted in personality and intellectual orientation, they found in the ambiguous "Heaven" a source of knowledge and a source of discipline that was external and universal. Li was indicating this when he drew the term "zhi ren" ("perfected man") for Ricci out of the Zhuang zi. The term occurs throughout the text of the Zhuang zi, and most of the contexts are apt, but two are especially appropriate for Li's perception of Ricci in association with Heaven. In the first chapter of the Zhuang zi, one reads: "Zhiren wuji ("The perfected man has no self"). This contrasts with the late sixteenth-century preoccupation with self-centered 'inner' realms. And in the final chapter of the Zhuang zi, there is this definition: "Pu ru yi fo" ("He who does not depart from what is true is called the perfected man")31Li appreciated that Ricci's virtue as well as his 'science' was based outside of his own 'self' and also outside of his own society. ^^§6. XU GUANGQI'S BAPTISM 32 33 In 1581, when Xu passed the Prefectural Examination at the age of twenty, a marriage was immediately arranged for him. 34 He failed in four successive attempts at the triennial Provincial Examination and, in 1592, his mother died. In 1594, after mourning her, he failed again.

In great despair, according to Ricci, Xu went south to Guangdong, where he supported himself by teaching in Shaozhou. There he visited the newly established Catholic chapel and was shown a painting of the Saviour. His host was Cattaneo. In 1597, the following year, he sat again for the Provincial Examination. The chief examiner this time was the famous literatus Zhao Heng (°1541-†1620), who was deeply involved in Buddhism. 35 Hsü was ranked first, but the next Spring he failed in the Metropolitan Examination. Ricci wrote that years later Xu attributed his first failure in the jinshi Examination to Divine intervention, for if he had passed, in 1598, he probably would not have had the opportunity to spend time with the Fathers. He also probably would have taken a concubine, as was common practice among new jinshi, and he would have been loath to part with her because at the time he had only one young son. 36 Thus, the "Divine intervention" of his failure saved him from the "impediment" which later troubled both Yang and Li.

In 1600, on his way from Shanghai to Beijing, Xu stopped in Nanjing and met Ricci for the first time. They spoke of the Faith, about which Xu already knew something, but because Xu was in a hurry, Ricci said, he learned only a little about serving "the Creator of Heaven and Earth and author of all things." Ricci recorded that a short while after their meeting, Xu dreamed he was in a Temple with three chapels. In one he saw a statue, which, a voice said, was God the Father (Iddio Padre); in another chapel was a crowned statue, which was said to be God the Son (Iddio Figliuolo); the third chapel was empty. Xu did obeisance to the two statues and then woke up. He did not understand his dream until a few years later when he was instructed in the mysteries of the Holy Trinity. Because the Fathers had cautioned against believing in dreams, he did not say anything about his, until 1605, when Ricci happened to mention that God sometimes revealed things in dreams. At that point he recounted his experience. 37

Xu Guangqi (Paul)

In: DU HALDE, Jean-Baptiste, S. J. Description Geographique, Historique, Chronologique, Politique, Et Physique, De L ' Empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie Chinoise, [...], 4 vols., Haye, Chez Henri Scheurleer, 1736, vol. 3, p. 21 -- detail.

IN the spring of 1601, Xu failed the jinshi Examination, in Beijing, a second time. 38 In the winter of 1603, he went from Shanghai to Nanjing. Ricci was still in Beijing and Xu called on João da Rocha, S. J. (°1565-†1623), who showed him the mission's chapel. There he paid reverence to a painting of the Madonna and Child and then stood talking with da Rocha about the religion until night fell. He went back to his lodging with manuscript copies of Dottrina cristiana (Christian Doctrine) and the Catechismo (Catechism), which he read through the night. The next day he returned to da Rocha with some parts memorized and asked for further explanation. Because he had to return to Shanghai for the New Year, he pressed da Rocha to start the process of baptism immediately. Da Rocha told him that he would have to receive instruction once a day for each of the remaining eight days he had in Nanjing. Xu went not once but twice a day and if da Rocha was not available, he received explanations of doctrine from the Chinese students who were there. On the eighth day he was baptized with the name Paolo and left, the same day, for his family, in Shanghai. 39

In the Spring of 1604, on his way to Beijing, Xu again made a detour to stop in Nanjing, where he lodged with da Rocha and heard Mass every day. 40 When he arrived in Beijing, he made contact with Ricci and received communion. He then passed the jinshi Examination and embarked on an official career in which he rose from Hanlin compiler to Grand Secretary. 41 He simultaneously started working closely with Ricci on translating and publishing books on mathematics and astronomy. 42 In ways large and small, Xu supported and promoted the Church in China for the next thirty years with his wealth, political influence, and intellect. He became, as Ricci stated, a "great pillar" for Christianity in China. 43

The preceding incidents, mostly drawn from Ricci's journals, tell us several things about Xu's becoming a Christian. First, the juxtaposition of his fortunes in the examinations with stages of his interest in Christianity suggesting that an uncertain Xu found he derived some confidence from the missionaries' teachings. Second, it appears that he was persuading himself more than he was being persuaded. Third, before his baptism in 1604, the attractive force for him does not seem to have been either science or Ricci's character, although clearly he became inextricably connected with both. Why, then, did Xu take the initiative in seeking baptism?

Candida, Xu Guangqi's grand-daughter.

In: DU HALDE, Jean-Baptiste, S. J. Description Geographique Historique, Chronologique, Politique, Et Physique, De L'Empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie Chinoise, [...], 4 vols., Haye, Chez Henri Scheurleer,1736, vol. 3, p.21--detail.

§7. WHAT XU GUANGQI FOUND

IN the summer of 1604, after he was baptized in Nanjing and had become a jinshi in Beijing, Xu wrote a postscript for a booklet by Ricci entitled Ershiwu yan (Twenty-Five Discourses). Xu began by recalling that when he was travelling in the South, he respectfully looked up to an image of the Lord of Heaven which had been brought by ship from Europe. Next, he recalled that he had already seen a printed map of the World and thus knew of the existence of Ricci. He happened to meet him in Nanjing and, generally sympathetic to his ideas, considered him to be a gentleman with a comprehensive understanding of a wide range of things. (Note that here is some basis for the two inferences about the attractiveness of science and Ricci's character.) Shortly after this, Ricci went to offer gifts to the Emperor, in Beijing, and was himself treated as a guest of the State. Thus, many people knew about the missionary and important members of society were eager to meet him. When they became acquainted with his ideas, they found them both pleasing and original. When Xu himself learned about Ricci's more important ideas, he realized that the ones which had first attracted readers were merely dregs or ashes. And this booklet, Xu wrote, was only a small fraction of these dregs and ashes. Xu told the readers of his postscript that Ricci's learning touched on every subject, but the main precept was to serve continuously and openly the Divinity on High. All emotions and desires, as well as extraneous words and actions, are to be cleansed away as one seeks what is called "a body which has received the whole." Xu combed through everything the missionaries said and searched for even one word that was not in accord with the great teaching of being loyal to one's ruler and filial to one's father or even one word not beneficial to the minds of individuals or the good of society. He could not find any. Moreover, their books contained no such thing either, and the rules of their religion prohibited it. He wrote that during his entire life he had tended toward scepticism, but this was like a cloud lifting. There could be no doubting. When he himself was able to provide explanations based on their theories, it was like roaming in profound depths. Thus he took it to heart and asked to serve. 44 In this postscript, he summarized the process of his deciding to become a Christian.

A few years later, in his preface to Ricci's and his translation of a geometry textbook, Xu told his readers what his hope for them was:

"My urging [Ricci] to transmit the lesser aspect [of his teaching in this translation] is out of a desire to put first what is easy to believe, thereby causing others to become involved in these texts, perceive the pattern of these ideas and understand that this learning can be believed and not be doubted."45

He stressed that only the less important aspect of Ricci's learning involved "investigating things and fathoming principles," while the more important aspect involved "cultivating one's self and serving Heaven."46

He expected readers of the geometry book to move from the lesser aspect of Ricci's "Learning from Heaven" to its greater moral and religious aspects. We may infer that Xu himself had been similarly moved.

Xu's professed quest for certainly is congruent with the three points extracted from the incidents leading to his baptism. He was searching for something, and he found it somewhere else rather than in 'science' or Ricci's character. A phrase of Xu's has been made into a slogan which appears in much of the secondary literature on him. 47 It is usually given a "pu ru yi fo" ("supplements Confucianism and displaces Buddhism"), with the implied subject either Christianity or Western learning in general. It is worthwhile to quote the phrase in the context in which Xu used it in a preface he wrote, in 1612. After praising Ricci and his teachings, more or less in the fashion of the 1604 postscript, he wrote:

"I have often said that his [or our] religion certainly can "supplement Confucianism and displace Buddhism" and the remainder [of the teachings] also have a type of learning involving "investigating things and fathoming principles" [- a phrase central to Chengzhu Neo-Confucianism -], 48so that whether it is a question about within or outside of the realm of human society, whether about a principle of the ten-thousand affairs [in man's social World] or of the ten-thousand thing[in the realm of Heaven and Earth], they can endlessly respond with extremely detailed explanations and when one thinks them over, whether for months or for years, he increasingly sees the necessity and immutability of their theories. 49

What Xu found was a model of learning, the Learning from Heaven, which, as exemplified by the missionaries, added an earnest quality and a discipline to the moral values he inherited from his tradition. The Learning from Heaven was a corpus of certain knowledge based not on one's own mind but on the external world epitomized in the word "tian" ("Heaven"). At the same time, the knowledge was subject not to the sanctions of authority but one's own investigatory confirmation.

§8. WHY DID THEY BECOME CHRISTIANS?

Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao, and Yang Tingjun approached Christianity in different ways, with different needs and questions, but they each found in it a moral discipline based upon an external, universal source. Like many of their contemporaries, they can be understood to have been looking for new intellectual bases to fortify traditional values which were widely perceived to have been eroded. Unlike most of their contemporaries who did not become Christians, Xu, Li, and Yang had the Learning from Heaven come into their purview and found its answers persuasive. As Xu implicitly acknowledged, however, there was nothing inevitable about their choice. **

**Revised Reprint from: Ed. RONAN, Charles E., S. J. -OH, Bonnie, B. C., East meets West, 1582-1773, Chicago, Loyola University Press, 1988, pp. 129-152.

CHINESE GLOSSARY

Ba ershiwu yan 跋二十五言

bowen yu taoshu zhi ren 博聞與韜術之人

Bu 補

bu li yu zhen, wei zhi ren 不離於眞、謂之智人

buru ifo 補儒解佛

Chen zhu 程朱

Chih fang wai ji 方外紀

Dai Yipian 代疑編

Daoxue 道學

Da Xi Li Xitai xiansheng xing zhi 大西利西泰先生行誌

Da Zhu 大主

Ding Qilin 丁起霖

Dongling Xuequan [Academy] 東林學院

duxing ren 獨性人

Ershiwu yan 二十五言

fang wai ji 方外紀

fangsheng hui 放生會

Fang Hao 方豪

Fo 佛

Gao Panlong 高攀龍

Gu Xiancheng 顧憲成

iren 異人

Jiangnan 江南

Jidujiaode san da zhushi 基督敎的三大柱石

Jie 解

Jihe yuanben xü 幾何原本序

jinshi 進士

li 理

Liang Jiamin 梁加民

Li bian 理編

Li Madou shi yu wanguo quantu 利瑪竇坤輿萬國全圖明清間耶穌會主譯著提要

Li Wocun 李我存

Li yanjiu 李研究

Li Zhizao 李之藻

Li Zhizao yanjiu 李之藻研究

Luo Guang 羅光

Lüe ren shi pian 略人十篇

Ming Qing jian Yesu huizhu yizhu tiyao 明清間耶穌會主譯著撮要

Qi bian 奇編

Ru 儒

Shangdi 上帝

Shangzhu 上主

Shaozhou 韶州

sheng jiao 聖敎

Taixi shueili fa 泰西水利法

Tianxue chuhan 天學初函

Tianxue shiyi 天學實義

Tianxue Zhufa 泰西水利法

Tianzhu zhi dao 天主之道

tian 天

Tianzhu 天主

Tianzhujiao 天主敎

Tianzhu shiyi 天主實義

Tianzhu Zhuhan 天主初函

Wang Yangming 王陽明

wanshi bu ke yi zhi fa 萬世不可易之法

Wu Hsiang-hsiang 吳相湘

xieshuo 邪説

xijiao 西敎

Xu Guangqi 徐光啓

Xu Guangqi ji 徐光啓集

Xu Guangqi nianpu 徐光啓年譜

Xu Guangqi zhuan 徐光啓傳

Xu Zongmian 徐宗勉

Yang Cheng'ou 楊成歐

Yang nianpu 楊年譜

Yang Qiyuan xiansheng nianpu 楊起元先生年譜

Yang Tingjun 楊廷筠

Yang Tingjun xiansheng zaoxing shiji 楊廷筠先生操行事跡

yi 異

yiren 異人

Yu Qunfang 余群芳

Zhao Heng 趙衡

zhengjiao 正敎

Zhejiang 浙江

Zhen Shishe 眞實社

zhi ren 智人

zhi ren wu ji 智人無己

Zhongguo shixue tansuo 中國史學探親

Zhu 主

Zhuang Zi 藏絀

Zhuang tzu. 壯于

Zhuhong 邾宏

Zhong Mingren 鐘銘仁

Zhong Nianliang 鐘念良

NOTES

1Ed. D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., Fonti Ricciane: documenti originali concernenti Matteo Ricci e la storia delle prime relazioni tra l'Europa e la Cina 1579-1615, 3 vols. Roma, 1942-1949, vol. 2, p. 308, (N712) - Matteo Ricci called Xu Guangqi the "Great Pillar" of Christianity, in China.

D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., [the pertinent] footnotes; FANG Hao, Li Zhizao yanjiu (Research on Li Jizao), Taipei, 1966; Ed. HUMMEL, Arthur William, Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period 1644-1912, 2 vols., Washington D. C., United States Government Printing Office, 1943-1944, vol. 1, pp. 316-319,452-454 and vol. 2, pp. 894-895; LIANG Jiamin, Xu Guangqi nianpu (Chronological account of the life of Xu Guangqi), Shanghai, 1981; LUO Guang, Xu Guangqi zhuan (Biography of Xu Guangqi), Hong Kong, 1953; XU Zongmian, Ming Qing jian Yesu huizhu yizhu tiyao(An annotated bibliography of Jesuit translations and writings during the late Ming, early Qing periods), Taipei, 1958; Ed. YANG Cheng'ou, Yang Qiyuan xiansheng nianpu(Chronological account of the life of Yang Qiyuan), Shanghai, 1944 - For biographical material on YANG Tingjun, LI Zhizao and XU Guangqi.

See: DEHERGNE, Joseph, S. J., Répertoire des Jésuites de Chine de 1552 à 180, in: "Bibliotheca Instituti Historici Societatis Iesu", Roma, Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, 371973 - For the spelling of the missionaries' names.

Also see: DEHERGNE, Joseph, S. J., Les Chrétientés de Chine de la Période Ming (1581-1650), in: "Monumenta Serica", Bonn, 161957, pp. 1-136 -For detailed summaries on a place-by-place basis of missionary activity, drawn from a survey of most of the early Western-language materials.

2GERNET, Jacques, Chine et Christianisme. Action et réaction, Paris, Gallimard, 1982, pp. 46-47 - The author stresses that some missionaries, particularly Niccòlo Longobardi, S. J. (°1565-†1655), expressed doubts over whether the persons who had been baptized were in fact well instructed in the Faith.

See: Ibidem., pp. 19-20 - Notice that the views ascribed to Longobardi, who is frequently cited, come to us in a version that seems to have passed through the hands of the Franciscan Antonio de Santa María Caballero (° 1602-†1669), before being published in French, in Paris, in 1701, as a contribution to the Rites Controversy.

Also see: DEMIÉVILLE, Paul, The First Philosophic Contacts between Europe and China, in: "Diogenes", Summer 1967, pp. 94-95.

3BNP: Courant 3370 - For a copy of what appears to be a late Ming printing of this work. It is this version that is followed.

4FANG Hao, Introductory Notes, in: Ed. YANG Cheng'ou, op. cit., p. 2 - The author states that Giulio Aleni dictated the account to Ding, who put it into its written form.

See: Ed. HUMMEL, Arthur William, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 894 - For data on Yang Tingjun.

5YU Qunfang (CHUNG-fang Yü), The renewal of Buddhism in China: Chu-hung and the Late Ming Synthesis, New York, Columbia University Press, 1981, pp. 23-28.

6Ed. YANG Cheng'ou, op. cit., p. 26; FANG Hao, 1966, op. cit., p. 36.

7YU Qunfang (CHUN Fang Yü), op. cit., pp. 76-90.

8Ed. YANG Cheng'ou, op. cit., p. 27.

9Ibidem., p. 26; FANG Hao, 1966, op. cit., p. 36; D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol. 3, p. 13, n. 3 - For the year of Yang's baptism. HUMMEL, Arthur William, vol. 2, p. 894 - Where the date 1612 is given for Yang Tingjun. Eds. GOODRICH, Carrington - FANG, Chaoying, Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368-1644, 2 vols., New York, 1976, p. 33 - The author give the date of 1613. GERNET, Jacques, La Politique de conversion de Matteo Ricci et l'evolution de la vie politique et intellectuelle en Chine aux environs de 1600, in: "Archives des sciences sociales de religions", (36) 1973, p. 86 - The author observes that: "Yang Tingjun, baptized at age 54, passed almost without transition from the Buddhist faith to Christianity."

10FANG Hao, op. cit., p. 30.

11D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol. 2, pp. 168-171.

See: Ed., TRIGAULT, Nicolas, S. J., De Christiana Expeditione apud Sinas, Roma, 1615, pp. 435-436 - For a slightly different version.

Also see: TRIGAULT, Nicolas, S. J., Ed. GALLAGHER, Louis, S. J., China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Matthew Ricci, 1583-1610, New York, Random House, 1953, p. 397 - The translation of the latter work.

12LI Zhizao, Preface, to: ALENI, Giulio, Comp. LI Zhizao, Chih fang wai ji, in: "Tianxue chuhan" ("First collection of writings on Learning from Heaven"), 1623 [1st edition] - In: Ed. WU Hsianghsiang, Zhongguo shixue tansuo (Collectanea of Chinese Historical Studies), Taipei, 1965 [reprint], vol. 23, la, p. 1269

13RICCI, Matteo, S. J., Li Madou shi yu wanguo quantu (Ricci's complete map of the myriad nations of the Earth), Beijing, 1936 [reprint] - For the prefatory note, on the 1602 Map.

14D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol. 2, pp. 173-178 (N631); Ed., TRIGAULT, (1615), op. cit., pp. 436-37; TRIGAULT, (1953), op. cit., p. 398.

15FANG Hao, (1966), op. cit., pp. 22-23.

16LI Zhizao, Preface, to: RICCI, Matteo, Comp. Li Zhizao, Chihjen shipian, in: "Tianxue chuhan", 1608 [1st edition], la-2a, pp. 101-103 - Li was making an allusion, as was Ricci's title, to the chapter in the Zhuang Zi entitled Great and Venerable Teacher where it has Confucius defining the "extraordinary man" as one who is "extraordinary to others but compatible with Heaven."

See: Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tzu), in: "Harvard-Yenching Institute Sinological Index Series", Peking, 1947, 18/ 6/73 - The Zhuang Zi is a text attributed to the philosopher Chuang-tzu of the fourth century B. C.

17D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol. 2, p. 178, n. 3 (NN 631-632).

18Idem. - Trigault was less sympathetic to Li over the issue of his concubines. He commented: "It seems as if the man had more light to recognize the truth than courage to accept it."

See: Ed. TRIGAULT, (1615), op. cit., p. 437; TRIGAULT, (1953), op. cit., p. 398.

19Fang Hao, (1966), op. cit., p. 29 - Fang notes that Aleni's biography of Ricci includes the only early account in Chinese of Li's baptism.

See: ALENI, Giulio, S. J., Da Xi Li Xitai Xiansheng xing zhi (The career of Ricci from the Far West), in: Ed. Hsiang Ta, Peking, 1947, p. 19.

20FANG Hao, (1966), op. cit., p. 29 - Where he quotes Giulio Aleni.

See: D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol. 2, p. 501 (NN 926-927) - Trigault's version of events seems to conflict with Aleni's, for Trigault has Li still ill when Ricci himself is stricken.

Also see: Ed. TRIGAULT, (1615), op. cit., pp. 611, 614; TRIGAULT, (1953), op. cit., pp. 562, 564 - In late Ming, the tael was a unit of value as well as unit of weight. One tael was approximately 1.3 ounces.

21FANG Hao, (1966), op. cit., p. 36.

22BNP: Courant 3370, DING Qilin, Yang Tingjun xiansheng zaoxing shiji (Manifestations on the Surpassing Character of Yang Ting Yun), 1b, fol. 3.

23PETERSON, Williard J., Western Natural Philosophy Published in late Ming China, in: "Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society", (117) August 1973, pp. 295-322.- For a summary account of the Jesuits publications on 'science', in Chinese, during the Ming Dynasty.

24Ed. TRIGAULT, (1615), op. cit., p. 437; TRIGAULT, (1963), op. cit., p. 398.

25D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol. 2, p. 172, n. 3 (N629).

26LI Zhizao, (1623 [l st edition] - 1965 [reprint]), op. cit., 1b-2a, pp. 1270-1271.

27See: Note 13 supra - Li was apparently trying to correlate the "fields" in the Sky with those on Earth.

28LI Zhizao, in: RICCI, (1936), op. cit. - For the author's note (in the mid-Pacific) on the 1602 Map.

29GERNET, (1982), op. cit., pp. 93, 265.

The author translated tienxue as études célestes. The six mathematical, four astronomical and one water conservancy books were grouped in a section called Qi bian (Compilations on Concrete Phenomena). The titles on mores, religions, and geography come under the heading Li bian (Compilations on Principles).

30See: Note 28 supra.

31Zhuang Zi, op. cit., 2/1/21 and 90/33/3.

32D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol. 2, pp. 250-255, (NN 680-683) - For a summary of what Ricci wrote.

See: LO Kuang, op. cit.; LIANG Jiamin, op. cit. - For supplementary material.

Also see: Ed. TRIGAULT, (1615), op. cit., pp. 471-473; TRIGAULT, (1953), pp. 429-431 - for the same story with some variations.

33XU Guangqi, Xu Guangqi chi (Collection of writings of Xu Guangqi), Peking, 1963, pp. 527-28.

34LIANG Jiamin, op. cit., p. 44: LUO Guang, op. cit., p. 6; D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol. 2, p. 250, n.3 (NN 679-680). The strained circumstances of the Xu family can be inferred from the late marriage arrangement.

35D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol.2, p.489 (N912) - Ricci said that Zhao Heng, of whom Xu Guangqi was by convention an acknowledged follower because he was passed in the Provincial Examination by Zhao, later tried to dissuade Xu from following the missionaries' Faith.

36Ibidem., vol. 2, pp. 252 (N680), 253 - By 1604, when Xu did pass the Examination, his son had already provided him with two grandsons.

37Ibidem., pp. 253-254 (N681).

38I bidem., p.253 (N680) - The story Ricci gives of Xu's name being deleted at the last minute from 1601 the list of successful candidates, is puzzling.

LIANG Jiamin, op. cit., pp. 65,67 - Without regard for Ricci's testimony, the author surmises that Xu did not sit for the 1601 Examination and suggests illness or family affairs as a reason.

39D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol. 2, pp. 254-255 (N682).

See: GOTO Motomi, Min-Shin shiso to Kirisuto-kyo (Ming-Qing thought and Christian religion), Tokyo, 1979, pp. 144-145 - No historian, it would appear, has been able to find testimony by Xu himself about these events.

See: XU Guangqi, op. cit., pp. 551-563 - The account of Xu's life by his son does not mention that they became followers of the Western Faith.

40D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol. 2, p. 255 (N683).

41Ibidem., vol.2, p. 308 (N714); LIANG Chia-mien, op. cit., p. 193; HUMMEL, Arthur William, op. cit., vol. 2, pp. 316-319.

42Ed. TRIGAULT, (1615), op. cit., p. 520; TRIGAULT, (1953), op. cit., p. 476 - Where it is stated that Xu suggested the strategy of publishing books on Western science. Certainly none had been published before Xu became involved with Ricci, but Li Zhizao had been working on mathematics and astronomy for at least a year.

43D'ELIA, Pasquale M., S. J., op. cit., vol. 2, p. 308 (N 712).

44XU Guangqi, op. cit., pp. 86-87 - For the Ba ershiwu yan (Postscript to the twenty-five discourses).

See: LI Zhizao, (1623 [1st edition] - 1965 [reprint]), op. cit., pp. 325-327.

45XU Guangqi, op. cit., p. 75 - For the Jihe yuanben xü (Preface for the printing of the elements of geometry).

See: LI Zhizao, (1623 [1st edition] - 1965 [reprint]), op. cit., pp. 1927-1928.

46Idem.

47Ed. TRIGAULT, (1615), op. cit., p. 489; TRIGAULT, (1953), op. cit., p. 448 - For an early example by the author:

"The reply made by Doctor Paul, when he was asked, in company, what he considered to be the basis of Christian law, might be quoted here, as being very timely. He defined the whole subject in four syllables, or rather in four words, when he said, Ciue [Jie], Fo [Fo], Pu [Bu], Giu [Ru], meaning, it does away with idols and completes the law of the literati.".

See: GERNET, (1982), op. cit., p.94; DEMIÉVILLE, Paul, op. cit., pp. 89-90; WANG Chung-min, Xu Guangqi, Shanghai, 1981, p. 25.

48PETERSON, Williard J., Fang I-chih: Western Learning and the 'Investigation of things', in: Ed. BARY, William Theodore de, "The Unfolding of Neo-Confucianism". New York, Columbia University Press, 1975, p.377.

49XU Guangqi, op. cit., p. 66 - For the Taixi shueili fa (Preface for the Western methods of water control). See: LI Zhizao, (1623 [1st edition] - 1965 [reprint]), op. cit., pp. 1506-1507.

* Professor of East Asian Studies in Princeton University.Author of Bitter Gourd: Fang I-Chich and the Impetus for Intellectual Change.

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