West Coast History of Science Society Meeting

University of California, San Francisco

April 11th - April 14th, 2002
[Program]

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The Active Role of Chinese Scientific Tradition in the Assimilation of Foreign Sciences Exemplified by the Reform of Calendar at the End of the Ming Dynasty
 

Chen Hongxi
Xidian University

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Guangqi directed the compilation of Chongzhen Calendar Book (consisting of 136 volumes) for the purpose of reforming the calendar, and introduced into China European astronomy in many aspects. This series was published by the imperial government at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty and marked a hightide in the history of the development of astronomical science in China. It was one of the fruitful events in the introduction of European science into China at the turn from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. Through an analysis  of the role of the long-standing Chinese calendar-reforming tradition in that historical period, this paper points out that the Chinese scientific tradition has played an important and active role in the assimilation of  foreign sciences.