Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/289

 had not Yang lodged against Schall a more serious—though erroneous—charge that he had deliberately fixed on an inauspicious day in 1658 for the burial of an infant prince (i.e., Jung Ch'in-wang, see under ), in order to cast spells on the parents (i.e., Emperor Shih-tsu and Empress Hsiao-hsien), and thus effect their deaths in quick succession. As believers in Shamanism, and in the power to cast spells for evil purposes, the Manchus were only too inclined to take these accusations seriously.

Unfortunately Schall, who had been stricken by paralysis, had lost the power of speech and could not defend himself adequately. Verbiest (see under ), though well-versed in astronomy, had been in China only a few years and could not yet speak the language sufficiently well to defend the aged father. On April 15, 1665, Schall and seven Chinese astronomers were sentenced by the Board of Punishments to lingering deaths; five more Chinese were marked for execution; and others who were involved, including the three other missionaries then in Peking—Verbiest, Buglio (see under ), and Gabriel de Nlagalhaens 安文思 —were slated to be flogged and exiled. The following day, however, when the sentences were to be approved by a council of officials, an earthquake occurred and this was interpreted as a sign of Heaven's displeasure at the injustice of the sentences. It is reported, moreover, that Empress, who had once been cured of an illness by Schall, interceded in his behalf. The sentences, therefore, were altered so that on May 17 Schall and most of the Chinese involved were freed. Nevertheless, five Chinese astronomers, a11 of them Christian converts, were executed on the charge of having selected an inauspicious day for the burial of a prince. All the churches in the Empire were closed, missionaries in the interior were ordered to Macao, but the four fathers who were then living in Peking were permitted to remain.

During the trial of the astronomers, Yang Kuang-hsien seems to have forfeited public confidence, enough at least to induce him to publish his anti-missionary views in a collection entitled 不得已 Pu-tê-i, "I Could Not Do Otherwise", a title indicative of a certain apologetic approach. Thereupon he was ordered to take charge of the Astronomical Board. From April to August 1665 he repeatedly asked to be released from this duty, on the ground that he was too old and too ill—acknowledging, in fact, that he knew nothing about astronomical calculations. In other memorials he revealed that he feared to take the post because he lacked the co-operation of astronomers in the Board. All these pleas were ignored, however, and in September he was appointed director of the Board. About this time he added a second part to his book—the above-mentioned Pu-tê-i—to include these memorials as well as some other anti-missionary writings. From 1665 to 1668 Yang Kuang-hsien blundered along as director of the Astronomical Board with Wu Wing-hsüan assisting him in preparing the calendar. But owing to contradictory reports from the Board, Emperor Shêng-tsu became suspicious of the accuracy of Yang's calculations. On December 29, 1668, he sent a copy of Yang's calendar for the coming lunar year to Verbiest for examination. Some days later Verbiest reported a number of mistakes he had discovered. In order to decide on the accuracy of this criticism, the Emperor, on January 30, ordered twenty high officials to go to the Observatory and conduct an investigation. When the commission memorialized that the corrections made by Verbiest had been substantiated the Emperor, still dissatisfied, took the officials to task for the vagueness of their report, and on February 26 demanded that a more thorough investigation be made and a detailed report be submitted. On the basis of this second report the Emperor decreed, on March 8, that because the calendrioal calculations by the Western method had been shown to he accurate, all future calendars were to be based on that method; and that Yang Kuang-hsien, who had falsely reported the Western methods as inaccurate, be cashiered. On April 17 Verbiest was appointed associate director of the Imperial Astronomical Board. Four months later, after Wu Ming-hsüan had been shown to be mistaken in the calculations and predictions he had made, he was flogged forty strokes. At this time the Emperor had just condemned the former Regent,, as a traitor and a tyrant. Verbiest seized the opportunity to rectify the injustice that had been done to Schall and the astronomers in 1665 by claiming that Oboi had misjudged the case in favor of Yang Kuang-lisien. The case was reviewed and Yang was sentenced to banishment for having made false charges. On September 5 the Emperor took pity on Yang, on the ground of his age, allowing him to return to his home as a commoner. It is reported that Yang died on the journey south, at Techow, Shantung. 891