Daily Practices of Cosmological Knowledge in Late Imperial China (1368–1911)

Projects cont.

• Bichen Yan

  Western Mineral Theory in Late Ming China: Mineral Genesis in a Hybrid Cosmology

  This study explores the confrontation of Western mineral theory with Chinese cosmological knowledge during the late Ming Dynasty, and traces when the two merged and when they clashed. It aims to explore the exposure of imperial cosmology to Western natural philosophy impacted daily mining and metallurgical practices across different regions. Western mineral concepts entered China via Jesuit translations of early modern mineralogy texts. This study investigates how Jesuits adapted translation strategies to align Western mineral theory and its underlying philosophy with traditional Chinese cosmology, using one key text, Georgius Agricola’s De Re Metallica (1556).

  This mid-sixteenth century work marked a transformative period away from examining the formal cause and nature of minerals towards a materialist understanding, culminating in Agricola’s vision in the text for a universal mining industry. As mining expanded globally in the seventeenth century, this influential text was translated into various languages. This study examines the reception and adaptation of the novel natural philosophical ideas contained in De Re Metallica in different cultural contexts, focssing on the translation process of Kunyu-Gezhi (坤舆格致). In 1640, Jesuit Johann Adam Schall von Bell collaborated with late Ming scholar Li Tianjing to translate parts of De Re Metallica into Chinese as Kunyu-Gezhi, presenting it to Ming Emperor Chongzhen. Despite the emperor’s intention to promote mining industry advancements outlined in Kunyu-Gezhi, opposition from officials hindered its implementation. The translation was lost during the conflicts between the Ming and Qing dynasties but resurfaced as a manuscript copy in 2015.

  The Jesuits faced the challenge of selecting appropriate terms and concepts from Chinese cosmology to convey Western natural philosophy, ensuring comprehension by Chinese readers. However, this process also led to distortions in both Chinese cosmology and Western mineral knowledge. The translation gave rise to a novel form of knowledge diverging from Agricola's mineralogy and traditional Chinese mineral knowledge, both in theory and practice. Thus, exploring Kunyu-Gezhi and its failed fate is vital as it offers valuable insights into the reception and spread of new mineralogical philosophy, highlighting exchanges and clashes between Eastern and Western civilizations.

• Shenmi Song

  Misfortune: The Writing and Interpretation of Childbirth Difficulties in Genethliacal Astrology during the Ming and Qing Dynasties

  There is a category of disorders in Chinese genethliacal astrology that are specifically associated with women, among them, difficulty in labor. Developed on the basis of Western genethliacal astrology, Chinese genethliacal astrology places  women’s childbirth difficulties in the eighth house, the “Disease Palace,” which deals with human diseases. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, genethliacal astrology described difficult labor as a misfortune that could even lead to death. This consequence can be caused by a variety of astrological positions. In Chinese genethliacal astrology, the seventh palace, which discusses marital relationships, is known as the “Husband and Wife Palace.” This was alternatively called the “Wives and Concubines Palace” in many documents during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Presumably, in most cases, the person requesting the horoscope was male, so the probability of childbirth difficulties being mentioned was not high. Many of the fortune-telling guides distinguished between male and female fates. Almost all of this literature are compiled from different sources, with a separate section focusing on various aspects unique to a woman’s fate including difficulties in labor. The description of childbirth difficulties in the field of genethliacal astrology differs from the descriptions of childbirth difficulties in medical texts in terms of technical methods, consequences, and context. However, it did provide a technical knowledge resource for the general public to understand and cope with difficult births.

• Che Jiang

  Myriad Things of One Commoner: Cases of Reading and Compiling Natural History in Late Imperial China

  This study aims to explore how private encyclopedism was practised in the late Ming and early Qing China, drawing on non-canonical natural historical texts beyond Bencao Gangmu 本草綱目. Prior to the rise of kaoju 考據 culture, late Ming China had already witnessed the proliferation of compilations of natural knowledge. Although criticized as inferior writings by mainstream Qing scholars, these texts still reflect the textuality and intellectual pursuits of the book culture of the period in question, and also exemplify efforts to develop a descriptive cosmology in a non-elite, non-philosophical context. A noteworthy example of this is Huayi Huamu Niaoshou Zhenwan Kao 華夷花木鳥獸珍玩考 (Examination of Flowers, Trees, Birds, Beasts, and Treasures from China and the Foreign World) compiled by Shen Maoguan 慎懋官, son of a former official devoid of extraordinary literary talent. Nested within the tension between reading and travelling, this private encyclopedic project aims to construct a mosaic of animals, plants, and minerals of the world by collecting fragments from a variety of textual sources. Shen’s neturalised, unauthored treatment of these sources demonstrates his appreciation for “tidbits” of previous natural knowledge, as well as his interest in remapping a living cosmos on the basis of these tidbits. This study endeavors to trace Shen’s personal library and his selective practice of compilation, as well as how he juxtaposed or reconciled different genres. The readers of Shen’s book and their modes of citation will also be examined. An investigation of these compilers and readers is expected to help understand a phenomenon in East Asian early modernity that is analogous to the culture of eruditio in Renaissance Europe.

• Zimo Liu

  Herbal Medicine and the Geographic Imagination in Late Imperial China

  In the traditional system of Chinese herbal medicine, the origin of medicinal herbs was considered a fundamental characteristic of the herbs themselves. Before the Ming and Qing dynasties, pharmacopoeias typically only noted the place of origin and suitable cultivation areas. However, in late imperial China, a new concept of medical geography emerged, which particularly emphasized the differences between the north and the south when explaining various diseases. Accordingly, physicians further elaborated on the differences in efficacy of the same medicinal herbs from different regions, and a trend towards a "north-south division" also became evident. This study aims to analyze how the materia medica literature of the Ming and Qing dynasties explained the efficacy differences caused by the geographical distribution of medicinal herbs, explore the geographical imagination of physicians regarding the north-south differences in medicinal properties, and examine how the concept of this "north-south division" was constructed.

• Zhihui Chen

  The Cultural Understanding and Daily Practice of the Literati in the Ming Dynasty on the Gnomon Shadow MeasurementThe Gnomon Shadow Measurement is a way of determining and organizing time using astronomical observation that was used in ancient China. It works by using a horizontal jade/stone ruler (guī 圭) to measure the length of the shadow cast by a vertical rod/pillar (biǎo 表). The measurement was used to tell the time, divide the year into four seasons, and calculate the calendar. This practice has a long history, with legend dating it back to one of the spiritual icons of Confucianism, the Duke Zhou (周公). In general, the literati of the Ming Dynasty did not have a good understanding of the principles, techniques, and evolution of shadow measurements, but the historical and cultural connotations related to the measurement were rich and penetrated into the daily practice of the literati in the Ming. In addition to astronomical practice, these daily practices also include the worship of Duke Zhou and the writing of the history of the “Gnomon Shadow Measurement by Duke Zhou,” and the visual expression of abstract temporal rhythms. This study attempts to focus on these two aspects and explore the Ming literati's understanding and their daily practice on the Gnomon Shadow Measurement.