Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/328

Rh compiled by Ting Wên-chiang 丁文江, a geologist of note who, in the course of his explorations, traversed many of the sites which Hsü described. This definitive edition comprises, aside from a well-punctuated text, a chronological biography of Hsü, and an atlas showing in detail the routes Hsü took. In Ting's estimation Hsü's outstanding contributions to geography were his discovery that the stream, P'an-chiang 盤江, is the main source of the West River, that the Mekong and Salween are separate rivers, and that the Gold Sand River is the true source of the Yangtze.

[Hsü Hsia-k'o yu-chi, Ting's ed.; Article on Hsü's native place in 方志月刊 Fang-chih yüeh-k'an, vol. 6, no. 10, pp. 48–51; Ting, V. K., "On Hsü Hsia-k'o, Explorer and Geographer," The New China Review, vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 225–37.]

2em

 HSÜ Kuang-ch'i 徐光啟, Apr. 24, 1562–1633, Nov. 8, scholar and official, was a native of Shanghai. He became a hsiu-ts'ai in 1581, but failed several times in the provincial examinations. For a time he taught the children of a family at Shao-chou, Kwangtung, where in 1596 he met the missionary Lazare Cattaneo (see under ), and thus came into contact for the first time with Christianity. Later he went to Peking where in 1597 he passed the Shun-t'ien provincial examination for chü-jên with high honors. In 1600, while passing through Nanking on his way to Peking to take the metropolitan examination, he met Matteo Ricci 利瑪竇. Three years later a number of scholars, including, took part in the celebration of the seventieth birthday of Hsü's father, Hsü Ssŭ-ch'êng 徐思誠. In the same year (1603) Hsü Kuang-ch'i went to Nanking to visit Ricci, but the latter had gone to Peking. However, he met Jean de Rocha (see under ), and was baptized by the latter under the name Paul (保祿). In 1604 he became a chin-shih, and was selected a bachelor in the Hanlin Academy. During his stay in Peking he and received instruction in various subjects from Ricci, and from 1604 to 1607 Hsü worked continuously with Ricci, translating works on mathematics, hydraulics, astronomy and geography. He thus earned the distinction of being the first Chinese to translate European books into the Chinese language. One of the most influential of these translations was Euclid's Elements, published under the title 幾何原本 Chi-ho yüan pên, 6 chüan, recorded by Hsü from dictation by Ricci. After several revisions it was published in final form in 1611. The remaining nine books of Euclid were translated into Chinese by in collaboration with Alexander Wylie (see under ) and were printed in 1858. During the period 1606–08 a work on trigonometry was written by Hsü, from oral dictation by Ricci, under the title 測量法義 Ts'ê-liang fa-i, 1 chüan. To compare the system of angular measurement in the ancient work, 九章 Chiu-chang (or Chiu-chang suan-shu 算術), with the western method, Hsü wrote a work, entitled 測量異同 Ts'ê-liang i-t'ung, 1 chüan, in which he pointed out the identity of the two methods. A work on right-angle triangles, entitled 勾股義 Kou ku i, in 1 chüan, is also attributed to Hsü. The above-mentioned four works were later included in the Hai-shan hsien-kuan ts'ung-shu (see under ).

In 1606 Hsü invited his father to Peking where the latter was baptized under the name Leon (良). Hsü Kuang-ch'i's son, Hsü Chi 徐驥, was also baptized under the name Jacques (雅各伯). Not long after Hsü became (1607) a corrector in the Hanlin Academy, his father died. He thereupon resigned and went home to observe the period of mourning. On his way through Nanking he invited Cattaneo to preach in Shanghai, but the latter did not come until the following year when through Hsü's efforts Cattaneo baptized a number of Chinese converts. On the west side of his own residence Hsü built a church in which large companies of believers gathered. During this period of mourning he went twice to Macao in order to visit the churches of that colony. Upon his return to Peking in 1610 he learned that Ricci had died a few months earlier, and had been buried in a cemetery donated by the Emperor. By the end of the year Hsü was re-instated in his former post as corrector in the Hanlin Academy. About this time (December 15, 1610) an eclipse of the sun was miscalculated by the Imperial Board of Astronomy, whereas the calculations made by Pantoja (see under ) proved to be correct. It was recommended, therefore, that Hsü, with the assistance of Li Chih-tsao, Ursis (see under the former), and Pantoja, should be commissioned to translate Western calendrical material for the use of Chinese astronomers. The project, however, had not gone far when it was discontinued. In 1612 Hsü was made a 316