The Journal of the Macau Ricci Institute

Preface

H.E. Bruno Angelet — 2023-10-01

Throughout history, contacts between China and Europe have been mutually enriching, including in the field of philosophy, sciences or arts. In the field of astronomy, encounters started during the Ming dynasty. Prominent European Jesuits, including Matteo Ricci, Johann Adam Schall von Bell, and the Belgian Ferdinand Verbiest, shared with their Chinese counterparts their scientific knowledge, thus contributing to the advancement of astronomy in China.

Ecliptic Armilla

Stephan Rothlin — 2023-10-01

A copy of the Celestial Globe of Ferdinand Verbiest SJ at Leuven University (Belgium)

Jeroom J. Heyndrickx — 2023-10-01

In the year 1675, at the request of Emperor Kangxi, Ferdinand Verbiest drew the plans for six bronze astronomical instruments that stand till today on top of the Ancient Observatory in Beijing. The most remarkable of them is the Celestial Sphere. This happened at the peak of the friendly exchange between the Jesuits and China initiated by Matteo Ricci, Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest during the 17th and 18th centuries which are the golden period of the relations of China with the West. The Opium Wars during the 19th century and the
Boxer Rebellion in 1900 destroyed all that. Th astronomical instruments witnessed this historical drama which makes them witnesses of the good and bad times of East-West relations.
That fact inspired the Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation of Leuven University (Belgium) to order a perfect bronze copy of the Celestial Globe, manufactured in Beijing. From Leuven University the copy of the Celestial Sphere tells the world today to restore the old relationship of equality, mutual respect, and friendship between East and West.

Changing China through a dialogue between Science and Faith

Stephan Rothlin — 2023-10-01

On 9 October 2023 in Beijing we celebrated the 400th birthday of Ferdinand Verbiest who is considered one of the most outstanding missionaries in China following in the footsteps of
Matteo Ricci and Johann Adam Schall von Bell.
The Symposium on “Exploring the Mysteries of Heaven with Ferdinand Verbiest: Dialogue between Science and Faith” provided an opportunity for the Macau Ricci Institute at the University of St. Joseph to cooperate with the Embassy of Belgium in China, the Yale Center Beijing, the Korean Center for Innovation and the Swiss Chamber of Commerce. This overview of the extremely rich encounter limits itself to briefly highlighting
three core dimensions of our combined effort which was in line with the last fourth centenary celebration in 2010 recalling the death of Matteo Ricci 400 years ago. From a Western point
of view, it may not easily be understandable how much the memory of friends is greatly valued and appreciated in China over the span of several centuries.
While it was encouraging to see how many people on different levels of society in Belgium did enthusiastically join this event on a stunningly beautiful autumn day in Beijing–which included
a visit to the six Astronomical instruments at the Ancient Observatory in downtown Beijing–should not let us ignore the fact that Ferdinand Verbiest like other luminaries did a long time ago fall into oblivion in Europe.

Celestial Globe

MRI Editorial Team — 2023-10-01

Ricci, Schall, and Verbiest

Dennis P. McCann — 2023-10-01

This essay explores the continuity between the “scientific apostolate” associated with Adam Schall von Bell and Ferdinand Verbiest, and the original mission strategy of “cultural accommodation” developed by Ricci, Ruggieri, and Valignano. Though it stirred some controversy within the Jesuit community, as if it were a violation of the community’s rules against members of the order accepting political offices, Schall’s acceptance was approved in Rome, on the assumption that it was necessary to preserve the Jesuit mission of evangelization in China. After all, Ricci himself had petitioned his Jesuit superiors in Rome to send missionaries who not only could communicate in Chinese but who also possessed specific expertise in mathematics and astronomy. Ricci’s initial contribution to the strategy of “cultural accommodation,” however, entailed making strategically important friendships with the Chinese literati, friendships based on mutual respect for each other’s learning and mutual interest in the advancement of science, which was the basis for the hospitality that Ricci and his companions received from some of the Confucian
literati. But by the time Schall and Verbiest sought to carry on the strategy of cultural
accommodation, the task was significantly complicated by the violent transition from the Ming to the Qing dynasty, and was far more controversial, both in Beijing as well as in Rome. This essay seeks to explore some of that complexity.

Quadrant

MRI Editorial Team — 2023-10-01

The Scientific Image of Ferdinand Verbiest and the Jesuits in China

Huanjie Lei — 2023-10-01

Ferdinand Verbiest is a representative figure among the Jesuits who came to China during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The common view of later generations is to place him alongside his predecessors Matteo Ricci and Johann Adam Schall von Bell, shaping them as leaders of Western Learning Spreading to the East and disseminators of Western science.
However, the scientific image of Verbiest and the Jesuits in China has not always been like this, and it can be examined according to the general division of Chinese history into three stages: Ming and Qing dynasties, modern times, and contemporary times. The significance of Verbiest will also be discussed from the history of evaluation to the evaluation of history.

Keywords: Ferdinand Verbiest, the Jesuits, scientific image, science

Equatorial Armilla

MRI Editorial Team — 2023-10-01

Science, Politics and Religion

Thierry Meynard — 2023-10-01

As we celebrate the 400th anniversary of Ferdinand Verbiest’s birth, it is quite
meaningful to remember the most tragic event in his own life and in the history of the Catholic mission in China, the Calendar Case instigated by Yang Guangxian which led to the nationwide prohibition of Christianity and the arrest of almost all of the missionaries.
Recent studies, based on Manchu, Chinese and Western writings, have helped us to better understand how Kangxi seized the opportunity of the Calendar Case to get rid of the regents and to assume personal rule. In this short essay, we shall look at how the missionaries who were exiled in Canton evaluated the involvement of Verbiest at the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.
Their discussions shed a new light on the fragility of a synthesis between science, politics and religion which overlooks their mutual boundaries.

Sextant

MRI Editorial Team — 2023-10-01

Ferdinand Verbiest in the TV series of Chinese Court Dramas

Bingquan Li — 2023-10-01

In recent years, due to its frequent appearance in “Chinese court dramas”, especially in those focused on the Kangxi emperor, the image of Verbiest has moved from historical documents to the proscenium and gradually entered the sight of the contemporary public. Compared with the “historical Verbiest,” the image of Verbiest in popular culture is without doubt scattered, incomplete, or even distorted. This article first intends to raise the question of “who is Verbiest” from the viewpoint of popular culture, and then examines the main characteristics of the image of Verbiest presented in the dramas and the identity constructed based on contemporary experience. Finally, the paper attempts to reflect by way of analogy on how the image of Verbiest relates to contemporary Chinese cultural context.

Ferdinand Verbiest and his Chinese books according to his correspondence

Noël Golvers — 2023-10-01

In view of Verbiest’s central position in Jesuit contacts with Chinese authorities and
calendar specialists in the period 1660-1688, it is worth collecting the few precise title
references he gives in his letter corpus, which was recently extended and revised (132 items) to include the Chinese works and authors he was acquainted with and which he apparently used. Their number is rather low, and the titles are stemming from expected libraries and collections, and are for obvious reasons mostly found in letters to his European colleagues in China, as European readers were unacquainted with Chinese. But even this low number - which certainly covers only a small part of the real number of books he used - contains some revealing titles; at any rate, it suggests a various, composite reading, and in addition it reflects some unexpected, and rather surprising assessments, with regard to the (absence of) logical structure and of (technical) illustrations.

Altazimuth

MRI Editorial Team — 2023-10-01

A Visit to the Graveyard at Zhengfusi Church

Dongfeng Chen — 2023-10-01