ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Chinese Physics? The History of Knowledge through the Lens of Fang Yizhi's Wuli Xiaozhi

• In Event: New Insights in the History of Chinese Science 2

English Abstract

This paper focuses on Fang Yizhi's (1611-1671) Wuli Xiaozhi from the late Ming Dynasty to explore the concept of "physics" within the pre-modern context of China. Most historical understanding of the Chinese word "wuli"—the contemporary standard translation of "physics"—mentioned Wuli Xiaozhi. While researchers generally recognize that the pre-modern meaning of "wuli" is "the principles of things," they often project the framework of Western modern physics/science onto the book's content. This neglects the academic lineage constructed in the preface of Wuli Xiaozhi, as well as other writings by Ming Dynasty intellectuals using "wuli" in their titles. This paper attempts to bring back this neglected dimension of local Chinese knowledge, analyzing the relationship between Wuli Xiaozhi and its predecessors (primarily Deng Yuanxi's "Wuxing Zhi" in Han Shi), and its similarities and differences with You Qian's "Wuli Kao" in Bowuzhi Bu and Zhang Dai's "Wuli Bu" in Yehang Chuan. This would show how pre-modern Chinese physics related to the academic transformation (Kaoju Xue) and cultural changes (connoisseurship culture) in the late Ming Dynasty, and reveal the different roles of Jesuit Western learning and traditional Chinese thought in the history of Chinese science.

Author

• Shu-wei Hsu, Institute of Social Research and Cultural Studies, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University