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Book/Printed Material Tian wen lüe 天問略

[ Volume 1 ]

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[ Volume 2 ]

About this Item

Title

  • Tian wen lüe

Other Title

  • 天問略

Translated Title

  • Summary of Astronomy

Summary

  • Tian wen lue (Summary of astronomy) is a well-known work by Yang Manuo, the Chinese name of Father Manuel Dias (1574--1659), also known as Emanuel Diaz. Diaz, a Portuguese Jesuit missionary, arrived in China in 1610 and reached Beijing in 1613. He also spent time in Macao, Shaochuan, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Fuzhou, and other cities. He died in Hangzhou during the reign of the Qing dynasty Shunzhi emperor. Commonly known by its Latin title, Explicatio Sphaerae Coelestis, the book was first published in 1615. This copy is the original edition. It was the first work to introduce to China the telescope, invented and used in astronomical observations a few years earlier by the Italian mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei. Galileo supported the heliocentric view of Copernicus, holding that the sun was the center of the solar system, a view for which he was denounced and eventually tried by the Inquisition. Referring to Galileo, Diaz wrote that there was a European who had created a kind of instrument that "watched faraway places as if from nearby." Although he mentioned the heliocentric theory, Diaz himself was not convinced and still supported the geocentric view. Diaz's topics were astronomy and science, but his main purpose was to spread Christianity, proclaiming "the basis of knowledge of heaven is morality, and the basis of morality is to know God and serve God." The book's Chinese title, Tian wen lue, originated from Tian wen, the Chu poetry anthology by poet Qu Yuan (circa 340--278 BC). While Qu Yuan believed in nine spheres of heaven, Diaz introduced the 12 divisions. Following the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci's method of explaining Christian concepts in terms familiar to the Chinese and taking into consideration the Chinese people's familiarity with the nine spheres of heaven, Diaz repackaged and promoted the unfamiliar astronomy and religion by placing God in the 12th division, called Mountain of Paradise, thus in a visual and symbolic way strengthening the Chinese reader's knowledge of God and Paradise. Written in the form of questions and answers to the Chinese queries, the book was studied and reissued into the 19th century.

Names

  • Diaz, Emmanuel, 1574-1659 Author

Created / Published

  • [Place of publication not identified] : [Publisher not identified], [1615 to 1615]

Headings

  • -  China
  • -  1615 to 1615
  • -  Astronomy, Chinese
  • -  Calendar, Chinese
  • -  Calendars
  • -  Jesuits

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 2 volumes.
  • -  Original resource at: National Central Library.
  • -  Content in Chinese.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
  • -  Title revised per Asian Division.--cc28 2023-01-06

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • Chinese Books, Manuscripts, Maps, and Prints

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021666323

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Diaz, Emmanuel, Author. Tian Wen Lüe. [Place of publication not identified: Publisher not identified, to, 1615] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666323/.

APA citation style:

Diaz, E. (1615) Tian Wen Lüe. [Place of publication not identified: Publisher not identified, to] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666323/.

MLA citation style:

Diaz, Emmanuel, Author. Tian Wen Lüe. [Place of publication not identified: Publisher not identified, to, 1615] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021666323/>.