ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Who Could Make and Use Mathematical and Astronomical Instruments? Evidence from the Late Kangxi Period (1662-1722)

• In Event: Imperial Instruments: Tools for Astronomy and Mathematics in China from Song to Qing

English Abstract

In the late 17th and early 18th century, a number of scientific instruments were imported from Europe to China, and especially to the imperial court. They were both used and reproduced in China. But how widespread was the knowledge and use of such instruments among savants versed in mathematics and astronomy beyond the court? In the absence of instruments preserved outside the imperial collection, one can turn to descriptions of instruments and their making and instructions for their use, found in mathematical and astronomical works written during that period. In this paper I will examine the imperially commissioned textbook Essence of Numbers and their Principles (Shuli jingyun 數理精蘊) compiled during the last decade of the Kangxi reign. In it, we find, among others, methods for constructing the lines on Galilean dividers and horizontal sundials, and problems that involve the use of semicircles. But were these sufficient instructions to make or use the instruments in question? More generally, one might ask: what was the purpose of including such problems in a textbook intended for all officials in the empire?

Author

• Catherine Jami, CNRS