Li Zhizao: Based on Confucianism and supplemented by Tianxue
2022-03-03
On April 29, the 23rd year of Wanli of the Ming Dynasty (1595), a sampan docked at Nanchang mansion near the Ganjiang River. Surrounded by curious people, a westerner from a foreign country went ashore to visit the famous Tiezhu palace, visited the Taoists there, and then set sail north. Two months later, the westerner named Matteo Ricci returned to Nanchang and lived here for three years. He brought many artifacts that the Chinese had never seen, knowledge and religion that they had never heard of. For more than 100 years, one day in July 1488, a 17-year-old young man named Wang Shouren also visited Tiezhu Palace on his wedding day, had a discussion with Taoists in the temple and forgot the wedding banquet. 30 years later, Wang Shouren returned to Jiangxi, where he completed the most important works of his life, published and engraved the ancient books University and the conclusion of Zhu Zi's later years, and his disciple engraved the biography, forming the school of mind of Neo Confucianism in the song and Ming Dynasties. The iron pillar palace in Nanchang has witnessed two completely different kinds of knowledge in China for a hundred years. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, people of insight were thinking about reversing the mysterious and impetuous atmosphere. The arrival of Matteo Ricci undoubtedly provided a new knowledge and vision for the literati at that time, and the new western learning he brought provided a new knowledge resource for the literati. Li Zhizao is one of the most typical representatives who supplement Confucianism with Western learning. His systematic treatment of Western learning has witnessed another layer of significance of the spread of Catholicism in China. The Sinicization of bishop tomorrow is not only the integration of Catholic faith into Chinese culture, but also the combination of Western learning and Chinese culture. It is a great historical process in which Chinese culture absorbs all excellent learning to achieve its own breadth and depth. There is very little information about Li Zhizao, and there are still disputes in some places, which makes it impossible for us to have a clear understanding of his life experience. According to Li Zhizao's Jinshi resume, he was born in Renhe County, Hangzhou in the year of Xinwei in Longqing, Ming Dynasty, that is, 1571. In the 22nd year of Wanli (1594), Li Zhizao, 23, won the provincial examination. In the 26th year of Wanli (1598), he ranked fifth in the joint examination and was appointed the head of the Ministry of work. Three years after Li Zhizao became a scholar, Matteo Ricci was allowed to live in Beijing. Li Zhizao, who heard of Matteo Ricci's name, visited Matteo Ricci with several friends. In Ricci's apartment, Li Zhizao saw the complete map of mountains and seas drawn by Ricci. This meeting opened Li Zhizao's journey of Western learning. However, unlike Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao advanced to a deeper level step by step after learning western learning. First of all, he was attracted to the fields of public opinion and astronomy, which he had been quite interested in. But in his study, he found that these knowledge were based on mathematics, so he went deep into the study of mathematics. After learning mathematics, he went further into the level of philosophy and theology. As a system, Western learning guided Li Zhizao into Catholic theology. Li Zhizao was very interested in practical learning when he was young. He once drew maps of two cities and thirteen provinces in the Ming Dynasty. After seeing the world map drawn by Matteo Ricci in the western method, Li Zhizao was sensitive to realize that the drawing method of this map was different from the traditional Chinese method of "planning inside and planning side". It was "taking astronomy to the right degree" and using longitude and latitude to determine the geographical orientation. Li Zhizao, who was fascinated by Ricci's knowledge, went to Ricci's apartment every day to learn geography and astronomy. It took four or five hours each time. In 1602, Li Zhizao and Matteo Ricci cooperated to draw a version of the world map "the complete map of all nations in Kunyu", which changed the prevailing western drawing pattern of putting Europe in the center of the map at that time and moved the meridian 170 degrees to the west, so that China in East Asia was in the center of the map, and the full Icon was marked with detailed Chinese characters, This is the earliest world map of China. In 1603, Li Zhizao was sent to Fujian to preside over the rural examination. On his way back and forth, he conducted a field test on the astronomical and geographical knowledge transmitted by Matteo Ricci. The results showed that "it's not cool to go back and forth for thousands of miles". In 1607, Li Zhizao compiled and printed the theory of hungaitong constitutional map. The main content of the book is to translate the "on the astrolabe" by Matteo Ricci's teacher kravius. On this basis, integrating traditional Chinese astronomical knowledge, Li Zhizao introduced the production and use methods of the astrolabe at a large length. Li Zhizao also made astronomical instruments such as celestial sphere, globe and astrolabe by himself. In the first year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty (1628), when Xu Guangqi was ordered to revise the calendar, he recommended Li Zhizao to participate in compiling the almanac. Li Zhizao translated many books while repairing the calendar, and died of illness a year later. In the process of drawing maps and making astrolabes, Li Zhizao found that these works need mathematical basis. Therefore, Li Zhizao's research is promoted to mathematics as the basis of public opinion astronomy. Yuanrong Jiaoyi is the product of Li Zhizao's discussion of astronomy with Matteo Ricci. The book discusses 18 theorems, involving the relationship between various geometric bodies. Each theorem is deduced and explained with diagrams, solutions and theories. It has quoted Xu Guangqi's original geometry for many times and supplemented some of its untranslated contents. Li Zhizao realized that mathematics is the basis of other disciplines, and believed that the reason for China's backward science and technology is the underdevelopment of mathematics, so whether it is "canals, calendar images" or "official governance and people's livelihood", it is affected by this. In order to promote China's mathematics learning, Li Zhizao and Matteo Ricci translated Tongwen suanzi. The whole book consists of three parts, which mainly introduces the mathematical calculation methods, among which the written calculation is a new method that did not exist in ancient China. "Tongwen suanzi" has a wide influence among Chinese scholar bureaucrats because of the practicability of the written calculation method. The contents of "Tongwen suanzi" have been used for reference or quoted in Mei wending, a mathematician in the Qing Dynasty, and "mathematical essence" made by the emperor in Kangxi. In the process of studying mathematics, Li Zhizao found the defects of Chinese mathematics and believed that Chinese mathematics only paid attention to "law" and ignored "righteousness", that is, it paid attention to the specific methods derived from experience, but lacked the logical analysis and demonstration of mathematical principles. The so-called "only on its degree", but could not elucidate "its reason", while western mathematics had both. Li Zhizao went further and began the so-called "reason seeking for numbers", which is to explore the reason behind mathematics and enter the metaphysical level. In 1610, Li Zhizao, who worked alone, was seriously ill and was taken good care of by Matteo Ricci. After recovering from his illness, under the persuasion of Matteo Ricci, Li Zhizao was baptized and converted to Catholicism. After being baptized, Li Zhizao's thinking is more metaphysical. In the third year of the Apocalypse (1623), Li Zhizao, who resigned from his office at home, and the missionary Fu Fanji translated the book "interpretation of the universe". The base book of this book is "Aristotle's lt; on heaven gt; four volumes", which mainly tells the Greek philosopher Aristotle's cosmology in the form of Catholic doctrine, and involves the problem of creationism in Catholic theology. In Li Zhizao's view, this idea of blending philosophical cosmology and creative doctrine is discussing the nature of the tangible, further discussing the intangible, and further the study of the super nature, which actually refers to Catholic theology. This process of advancement is completed by logical inference. Therefore, Li Zhizao specially translated the exploration of Ming Li. The main content of Ming Li Tan is Aristotle's logic. Li Zhizao believes that logic helps people to "open up and understand" and distinguish right from wrong, which is especially helpful for the style of study of empty talk about the nature of mind in the late Ming Dynasty. In the second year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty (1629), Li Zhizao compiled a series of Western studies, the first letter of Tianxue. The book is divided into two parts, and there are ten books in the part, mainly about Catholic doctrine and morality and ethics; There are also ten books on instruments, involving mathematics, astronomy and water conservancy. Li Zhizao's intention is to establish a complete system for Western learning from instrument to theory, which is undoubtedly a remedy for the overall atmosphere of talking about emptiness and belittling practical knowledge at that time. Li Zhizao believes that Tianxue and Confucianism go hand in hand, which is basically the same. He takes Confucianism as the foundation and uses Tianxue to make up for it, uses science and practical learning to make up for the deficiency of yangmingxinxue in worldly knowledge, and uses logic to make up for the deficiency of Confucianism in theoretical methods. It can be seen that although Li Zhizao converted to Catholicism, he still thought about the significance of Western learning from the standpoint of Confucianism and for the needs of Confucianism, trying to supplement the knowledge of Confucianism with the knowledge system represented by Catholicism. Li Zhizao has been introducing western learning to supplement Confucianism all his life. He was a scholar bureaucrat Catholic who had a comprehensive understanding of Western learning in the late Ming Dynasty. His Catholic belief enabled him to cross the gap of cultural heterogeneity and deeply grasp the whole knowledge system of Catholicism; He also deeply understood Confucianism with the knowledge of scholar bureaucrats, and his unique identity enabled him to act as a bridge between the two cultures. He can understand the shortcomings of Confucianism on which he is based, and has enough knowledge to make up for this deficiency, which is a higher realm of Catholicism in China and the value of Catholicism in China. Like Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao used his knowledge to try to save the Ming Dynasty in danger at that time. Becoming a Catholic did not change his patriotism. He actively ran around, raised his own funds to buy Western cannons, and constantly wrote suggestions to use western technology to "attack foreigners with foreigners". However, Li Zhizao's efforts did not bear fruit, and the Ming Dynasty finally came to an end. (outlook new era)
Edit：Yuanqi Tang Responsible editor：Xiao Yu
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