Ferdinand Verbiest

Belgium/China 1623-1688

Ferdinand Verbiest was born in what is now Belgium in 1623 and joined the Jesuit order at age 18. (2) He was ordained in 1655. (10) Originally he wanted to go to South America, but was called to China because of Adam Schall von Bell. (7) He was 35 at the time. After preliminary work in the rural areas, Verbiest was summoned to Beijing to assist Johann Adam Schall von Bell with astronomy. By the time he arrived Beijing, the other Jesuits were imprisoned. Verbiest‘s attempts to free the Jesuits were of no avail and he joined them in the terrible conditions. (1, 7)

However an earthquake struck the wing of the palace where they were to be executed so in 1668 Emperor K’ang Hsi (also known as Kangxi), organized a contest of skill between Verbiest and the Mandarin who had started the persecution. (2, 4, 7) The contest was composed of three parts: to determine the shadow on a sundial on a given day, when a lunar eclipse was to take place, and the location of various planets on a specified date. (2) The losing astronomer was exiled and Verbiest became the President of the Bureau of Mathematics. This new position afforded him an excellent ability to influence the Emperor and the persecution ceased.

Verbiest won both the contest and the favor of the emperor. 

He was assigned the board of Mathematics and made a very bold demand; the ‘Perpetual Calendar of the Kangxi Emperor’ must be altered! (7) This was unthinkable. Not only did millions of people use the official calendar, but the emperor himself had approved it! (1) Furthermore, this was no quibbling change, Verbiest wanted to remove an entire month! The officials pleaded with Verbiest to change his futile course of action, but he replied that “It is not within my power to make the heavens to agree with your calendar.” (1)

It was changed. 

The emperor liked him and learned whatever Verbiest could teach him. Verbiest translated 

six books of Euclid into Manchu, and taught geometry, philosophy and music. The Emperor made Verbiest the highest level of Mandarin, included him on journeys across the Empire and allowed him to preach Christianity. (1) In his efforts to fit in, Verbiest studied Machu and Chinese and took a Chinese name, Nan Huairen. (7)

Being a missionary was Verbiest’s entire purpose for being in China so he leapt at the opportunity and included Christianity whenever he could. (1) Verbiest worked so diligently at his posts because he hoped he could thereby convince the Emperor to become Catholic. (4) Unfortunately this did not occur. Verbiest’s position allowed him much greater influence however, and he was able to reach much farther with his writing and preaching than his fellows as a result. (4) He soon became involved in essentially every project, including the creation of 132 advanced and modern cannon for use by the Imperial Army to stop a rebellion. Verbiest also designed a new type of gun carriage. (1, 4)

Verbiest continued his astronomical work by assembling a table of eclipses, lunar and solar, for the next two thousand years. The emperor was overjoyed with the wondrous progress and promptly made Verbiest in charge of the Imperial Astronomy Observatory. (1)

This post was challenging because the structure had been finished in 1279 and so its instruments were extremely… obsolete. Between about 1669 and 1674, Verbiest faced this challenge by assembling a team of master metalworking artisans to make designs imported from Europe. The final instruments were precise enough to measure fifteen seconds, or a nine hundredth of a single degree. (4, 7)

Verbiest documented his work in a 1674 manuscript titled ‘Disclosure on the Newly-Built Astronomical Instruments in the Observatory’ in which he described the design and function of the instruments very precisely so they could be reproduced. It was such detail that for the six instruments he created it took 16 volumes to contain his descriptions. (7)

He created two separate versions of an armillary sphere, an altazimuth, a quadrant, a sextant, celestial globe. These instruments were then put atop the observatory. It may seem rather odd that such a small amount of instruments could take sixteen volumes to describe. (7) One reason for this apparent oddity is the size of the instrumentation. Each was six feet or more in diameter so they were at least the height of a man, and intricately detailed, including multiple dragons per instrument. (4, 7)

Verbiest created a steam engine for ships, designed pumps, built an aqueduct, created numerous maps, and thirty books. His books covered astronomy, Chinese grammar, and he translated a missal into Chinese as well as producing a Chinese book to explain Christianity in simple terms. (1) 

Verbiest also designed the first car. It was slightly over two feet long and powered by steam, but the idea of having a self-propelling machine was present. (9) The machine carried a contained or water over a bed of coals and the steam was directed at a turbine which provided the power for it to move. (9) Whether it was actually built is an open question, but the designs were completed. 

He was also able to simplify Chinese geometry by reducing the number of degrees in a circle from 365.25 to 360. (7) He was put in charge of public works, assisted China in negotiating their border with Russia, and even sent a missal translated to Chinese to the Pope as evidence of his mission. (2)

The Pope sent him a letter congratulating him for his work, and in 1677 Verbiest was appointed head of all Jesuits in China. (4) He recognized the great opportunities open, but also the desperate need for more priests. He urged missionaries to come from Europe, but also looked to China so that the Chinese could be reached by their own countrymen. (4)

One of the particular needs for Chinese priests was the ability to use Chinese instead of Latin, but Verbiest was not able to obtain this permission. Instead, a few more Jesuits were sent from France. Verbiest used his influence to admit the group to Beijing as swiftly as possible, though he sadly died before they arrived. (4) The emperor delayed the funeral so that the Jesuits could attend and Verbiest was buried next to Ricci and Schall. (1) The emperor was so impressed with Verbiest’s work he bestowed a posthumous name, an honor normally associated with former emperors. (10)

Another of Verbiest’s masterpieces was his 1674 world map. Each of the eight sections was 5.8 foot by 1.77 foot sections. (6) The Verbiest map was part of a larger geographical work, ‘Illustrated Discussion of the Geography of the World.’ (5) (An amazing interactive version of Verbiest’s map here: http://verbiest.asianart.org)

The world map was quite marvelous. Besides the map itself, Verbiest included all sorts of secondary details to enhance the appearance or usefulness. The entire map bears signs of diligent craftsmanship from the oceans of carefully crafted waves to the intricate illustrations of animals. (3) Verbiest included a variety of fantastic animals, from the mighty unicorn to the humble beaver. (3) Each animal featured a short encyclopedic entry next to it. In fact, nearly all of the map was filled with annotations of one kind of another. Verbiest placed fourteen major essays around the exterior of the map to explain various high-level concepts including astronomy, humanity and morals, the ‘four’ elements, earthquakes. (3)

Verbiest also included whatever details he knew of the countries around the world and the inhabitants therein. (3) While there are some incorrect details, such as the cause of earthquakes, the inclusion of unicorns as real animals, and the portrayal of California as an island, the scale of the map is incredible. The entire map is filled with annotations in Chinese and Antarctica in particular is sprinkled with animal images and descriptions. (3)

Verbiest had converted many respected people including mandarins, princes, and scholars. Between his work and the other Jesuit missionaries, there were 800,000 Catholics in China when he died. (1) 

An Armillary Sphere in Action (8)

Works Referenced

1. Fr. Ferdinand Verbiest, S. J. (1623-1688) a Jesuit scientist in China http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jmac/sj/scientists/verbiest.htm 
2. Ferdinand Verbiest http://ricci.bc.edu/people/ferdinand-verbiest.html 
3. A Complete Map of the World, 1674 http://verbiest.asianart.org 
4. Ferdinand Verbiest http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15346a.htm 
5. Verbiest Map https://www.gla.ac.uk/hunterian/collections/collectionsummaries/archaeologyandworldcultures/worldcultures/verbiestmap/ 
6. Matteo Ricci World Map http://www.myoldmaps.com/renaissance-maps-1490-1800/441-ricci.pdf 
7. Ferdinand Verbiest [sic] (1562-1633) http://hua.umf.maine.edu/China/astronomy/tianpage/0029Verbiest9284crw.html
8. Armillary Sphere animation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0chCdFEaP0 
9. The First Automobile of Any Type Was Built By This Flemish Priest In China https://jalopnik.com/the-first-automobile-of-any-type-was-built-by-this-flem-452218957 
10. Ferdinand Verbiest: Early Visionary of Auto-motion http://www.autoviva.com/news/ferdinand_verbiest_early_visionary_of_auto_motion/575

Matteo Ricci

Italy 1552-1610

Matteo Ricci was born Oct 6, 1552, in Italy. Ricci was an early missionary to China, when China did not look favorably on foreigners. However, by adopting their customs and knowledge of mathematics and astronomy he was able to preach about the Catholic faith.  

In 1571, Ricci entered the Society of Jesus, more commonly known as Jesuits. Ricci studied Philosophy, Theology, and learned from mathematics, cosmology and astronomy directly from Father Christopher Clavius. (1) In 1577, Ricci asked to be sent to the farthest reaches of Asia, and by March of the next year he had left for Goa. In 1580 Ricci was ordained, and by 1582 he was sent to Macau to prepare to enter China. (3) At Macau, Ricci spent a year of studying Mandarin and Chinese customs, and then was finally admitted to China.

In the sixteenth century the communities founded by the Nestorian missionaries in the seventh century and the monks in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries where no longer there, and the new missionaries had to deal with the Chinese suspicion of foreigners. (1) After the death of Saint Francis Xavier, in 1552, there were many fruitless attempts at missionary work, so around 1578 the method was changed. (1) 

Instead of trying to push western customs, and Latin in religious rites, the missionaries had to learn Mandarin (the main Chinese language), and the customs of the Chinese, this was to adapt to the Chinese,  get accepted into China, and stay there as to complete their missionary work. (3) Even though the missionaries were adapting to Chinese custom, there did not hid that they were Catholics or that they were priests. (1) The missionaries placed a pictures of the Virgin Mary holding the Infant Jesus in their homes to start conversations of Catholicism, and they brought many new items to the Chinese, such as clocks, paintings and maps that the Chinese had not seen, to appeal to the curiosity of the Chinese and show them the missionaries had interesting things to teach. (1)

Ricci settled in Zhaoqing (then a major city in Guangdong province). Rather than immediately trying to preach about Catholicism, he tried to win the hearts of the Chinese by continuing to learn their customs and living a good life. (3) Despite his initial caution in preaching Catholicism, he took the risk of publishing the first Catholic Catechism in Chinese, and made the first map of the world “Great Map of Ten Thousand Countries”, which showed China in relation to the rest of the world. (3) 

This was quite a new concept for the Chinese because their maps only featured a few European countries, and these cities were depicted as though they were extremely small compared to the grand Chinese achievements, groveling in the sea around China. (1) Naturally the Chinese were skeptical of the map, and how small a part China seemed to be. Over time, the missionaries were able to explain the process by which it was made and the attention to detail within it, and eventually, the Chinese accepted the map and had more printed in Chinese. (1) The map was an important perception shift for the Chinese as it showed they were not the center of the world and showed how the missionaries (and the rest of the world) had greater learning than the Chinese had supposed. Because of this the Chinese decided that the learning of these missionaries must not be ignored. (1) 

In 1589, Ricci travelled from Zhaoqing to Shaozhou (now Shaoguan). In Shazhou Ricci befriended a Confucian scholar, Qu Taisu, and Ricci taught Taisu the rudiments of Mathematics. In return, Taisu introduced Ricci to the upper class mandarin (high military or civil officials). (3) Taisu noted that Ricci’s habit looked similar to a buddhist monk, and suggested that he dress like the Chinese scholar instead. Ricci took the advice when he left Guangdong.  

Ricci tried to enter the imperial city of Beijing in 1595, but because of the  Sino-Japanese conflict in Korea all foreigners were considered suspect. (3) He left Beijing and traveled to Nanchang and then Nanjing. (3) During his stay at Nanchang, 1595 to 1598, he met two princes, and wrote his first book On Friendship. (3) In 1599, he moved to Nanjing and taught astronomy and geography. (3) In his book, History of the Introduction of Christianity in China, he commented on the effects of his work: The priests had great success teaching the Chinese of geography and astronomy because of their clear explanations.

The Jesuits were highly esteemed.The Chinese did not dare describe them as barbarian, though they would have called foreigners barbaric without a second thought. (3) Encouraged by the reception at Nanjing, Ricci once again to enter Beijing, and in 1601 he was finally admitted, accompanied by a Spanish Jesuit, Diego Pantoja. (3)  From then on he never left Beijing, and dedicated the rest of his life to the Chinese people, teaching them science and preaching the gospel. (3) 

His efforts to attract the Chinese intelligentsia lead him in contact with many outstanding personalities, including  Li Zhizao, Xu Guangqi, and Yang Tingyun who became known as the Three Pillars of the Early Catholic Church in China. (3) By the time Ricci died, he had converted 2,500 Chinese, many of whom were in the upper classes. (2) Feng Yingjing, a friend of Ricci’s, remarked that “[Ricci] treated the affairs of our fathers as if they were his own and our fathers in turn treated his as if they were ours.” (3) This attitude wonderfully sums up Ricci’s work in China. During Ricci’s time in Beijing he wrote several books in Chinese: The Secure Treatise on God (1603), The Twenty-five Words (1605), The First Six Books of Euclid (1607), and The Ten Paradoxes (1608). 

Works Referenced

1. Matteo Ricci http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13034a.htm 
2. Matteo Ricci, SJ (1552-1610) https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-voices/16th-and-17th-century-ignatian-voices/matteo-ricci-sj 
3. Matteo Ricci https://www.britannica.com/biography/Matteo-Ricci 

Further Reading

• https://archive.org/stream/lifemethodsofmat00reni#page/n3/mode/2up