Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/491

 lu, 2 chüan, concerning archery; and Hsüeh-li (禮), 5 chüan, on ceremonial.

[Li Shu-ku hsien-shêng nien-p'u ; Li-hsien chih (1876) 6/12b; 1/486/21a; 2/66/57a; 3/250/75a; 7/30/8b; 10/16/7a; 15/1/7a; 16/12/21a; 17/1/102b; (also see bibliography under ).]

2em

LI (禮), Prince. See under,.

 LI (理), Prince. See under.

 LI (履), Prince. See under.

 LI Shan-lan 李善蘭, 1810–1882, Dec. 9, mathematician, was a native of Hai-ning, Chekiang. From boyhood he was interested in mathematics. Though a licentiate of his district, he failed to obtain a higher degree. In 1845 he was engaged as tutor, or secretary, in the Lu-fei family (see under ) and lived in Kashing for some years. During that time he wrote several mathematical works, including the 四元解 Ssŭ-yüan chieh, 3 chüan (completed in 1845), being explanations of the methods used in the Ssŭ-yüan yü-chien (see under ). In 1846 he wrote the 對數探源 Tui-shu t'an-yüan, "Principles of Logarithms", 2 chüan, which was printed in the collectanea Chih-hai (see under ). Alexander Wylie 威烈亞力 (1815–1887), commenting on this work some time later, said that Li "has here given us, as the result of four year's thought, a theorem, which in the days of Briggs and Napier would have been sufficient to raise him to distinction."

In 1852 Li Shan-lan went to Shanghai where for eight years he was engaged by missionaries of the London Missionary Society in translating Western scientific works into Chinese. As with the Catholic missionaries two centuries earlier, the thought in the original work was communicated orally and the Chinese scholar recorded it in the approved literary style. Li began with Wylie to translate Books 7–15 of Euclid's Elements, the first six books having been rendered into Chinese in 1606–08 and published in final form in 1611 under the title Chi-ho yüan-pên (see under ). Li and Wylie completed their translation in three years (working in the mornings only) under the title 續幾何原本 Hsü Chi-ho yüan-pên, 9 chüan. In the afternoons, during the same period, Li and another missionary, Joseph Edkins 艾約瑟, translated An Elementary Treatise on Mechanics (重學 Chung-hsüeh, 20 chüan) and Conic Sections (圓錐曲線 Yüan-chui ch'ü-hsien, 3 chüan), both by William Whewell 胡威立 (1794–1866). The printing blocks for these three works were carved in 1858, but were destroyed by fire after only a few copies were printed. The Hsü Chi-ho yüan-pên was reprinted in 1865, together with the earlier 6 chüan. The Chung-hsüeh and the Yüan-chui ch'ü-hsien were reprinted in 1866. After 1855 Li and Wylie translated the following works, all printed in 1859: Outlines of Astronomy (1851 edition), by John F. W. Herschel 侯失勒 (1792–1871), under the title 談天 T'an-tien, 18 + 1 chüan; Elements of Algebra, by Augustus de Morgan 棣麼甘 (1806–1871), under the title 代數學 Tai-shu hsüeh, 13 chüan; Elements of Analytical Geometry and of Differential and Integral Calculus, by Elias Loomis 羅密士 (1811–1889), under the title 代微積拾級 Tai wei chi shih-chi, 18 chüan. The translation of Newton's Principia (奈端數理 Nai-tuan shu-li) was commenced but never finished. Li and Alexander Williamson 韋廉臣 (1829–1890) translated Lindley's Botany under the title 植物學 Chih-wu hsüeh, 8 chüan, printed in 1859. The last chüan was, in fact, translated by Li and Edkins, owing to Williamson's departure from Shanghai in 1857. In 1859 two of Li's own works were printed in the Hsü (續) I-hai chu-ch'ên (see under ), namely, the 方圓闡微 Fang-yüan shan-wei, 1 chüan, and the 弧矢啟祕 Hu-shih ch'i-mi—both on the measurement of the circle.

About the years 1859–60 Li Shan-lan joined the staff of the governor of Kiangsu, Hsü Yu-jên 徐有壬, and took up his residence in Soochow. Hsü was likewise a mathematician--nine titles representing his work in this field appear in the 白芙堂算學叢書 Pai-fu-tang suan-hsüeh ts'ung-shu, printed about 1872-75 by Ting Ch'ü-chung 丁取忠 of Changsha. When Soochow fell to the Taiping army on June 1, 1860, Hsü was killed in action, and most of Li's printed books were burned, along with the governor's yamen. Li himself escaped to Shanghai where he remained several years. About 1863 he joined the famous staff of, which was then stationed at Anking, but which after the recovery of Nanking (1864) was removed to that city. In 1865 Tsêng financed the reprinting of the Hsü Chi-ho yüan-pên as well as the Chi-ho yüan-pên; and in the following year, financed the reprinting of the Chung-hsüeh. Thirteen of Li's own works, seven previously unpublished, 479