Near Chegongzhuang, outside Fuchengmen, there is a cemetery of foreign missionaries, where Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest, a Belgian missionary, has been quietly buried for more than 300 years. 1657, Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest was sent to China by European Catholic Jesuits to preach, and died in 1688. Before his death, he was the right assistant minister and second-class official of the Ministry of Industry of Qing Dynasty. After his death, Kangxi personally wrote articles and inscriptions for him, and posthumous title was "diligent" and sent his uncle Tong Guogang and other ministers to the cemetery to hold a grand funeral for him. How did a foreign missionary become a high-ranking official in Kangxi court?
Ferdinand Wilbur, Jesuit missionary. The word Burton, the word Xun Qing, comes from Belgium. Born in Pitan, he studied theology in Seville. He joined the Jesuits in 164 1 year, and came to China with Martino Martini (1 614-161) in1year, and he was in Shunzhi for fifteen years in Qing Dynasty (/kloc) The following year, he was sent to Shaanxi to preach. In the seventeenth year (1660), he was called to Beijing to assist Tang Ruowang in compiling calendars. In the third year of Kangxi (1664), Tang Ruowang was imprisoned by Yang Guangxian.
The following spring, because of the sudden strong earthquake in Beijing, the ruling and opposition parties were deeply frightened and thought they had offended God. Under the intervention of Empress Xiao Zhuang, ferdinand verbiest, who was found guilty of the calendar bill, was released from prison, but he was still forbidden to re-enter Qin Tianjian. Tang Ruowang died soon, while ferdinand verbiest was still secretly making astronomical observations and calculations, waiting for the right time. Soon, Yang Guangxian made many mistakes in presiding over Qin, which caused an uproar. Therefore, Kangxi, who did not understand the calculation of astronomical calendar, decided to solve this dispute through actual measurement.
In the seventh year of Kangxi (1668), 1 1 23, Kangxi ordered Yang Guangxian, Hu Zhenyu, Li Guangxian, Wu Mingxian, An Wensi and ferdinand verbiest to "make enemies, take themselves as their own, take others as their own and compete with each other". They were also called together to discuss, "which is right is when observing, otherwise it will change and must be fixed, and the astronomical calendar will be formulated in detail and become a perfect law." In addition, Kangxi gave them a sundial needle, determined the height of the needle at will, and then went to the observatory with the university student Li to predict the exact position of the sun shadow at noon the next day. 1 1 24th, 25th and 26th of the month (lunar calendar), ferdinand verbiest was right, while Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxian were wrong. In the same year1February, ferdinand verbiest was illegally played as the deputy commander-in-chief of Qin, which led to a miscalculation. December, the seventh political calendar in the eighth year of Kangxi, should be the first month of nine years, and the vernal equinox and autumnal equinox are misplaced in one year. Since then, Kangxi ordered him to revise the almanac, and arranged two solar terms, beginning of spring and Liyu, as well as the running tests of the moon, Mars and Jupiter. Therefore, Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest is "consistent with every paragraph" and Wu Mingxuan is "inconsistent with every paragraph". The western calendar is superior to the old one because of its accurate calculation, so Kangxi tried his best to remove Yang Guangxian and adopted the new rule of law calendar of westerners. The calendar dispute ended successfully because of Kangxi's intervention, and the more scientific western calendar replaced the traditional calendar.
Emperor Kangxi, who rode a horse, was eager to acquire knowledge of western natural science because of the calendar dispute. He said, "Yang Guangxian and Tang Ruowang are betting on the Sun Shadow outside the noon gate and in front of Jiuqing. None of Nai Jiuqing knows the law. If I don't know how to think, how can I judge people's right and wrong and learn from my anger? " So he took westerners as his teachers, studied hard and began to have frequent contact with western missionaries, which became the main reason why Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest favored Kangxi.
In the eighth year of Kangxi (1669), after ferdinand verbiest was appointed as the deputy supervisor of Qin, he wrote to delete the leap month in the following year. This will cause a change in the routine ceremony in the middle of the year, so the relevant authorities suggested that he withdraw his original proposal. But he insisted on his own opinion, but unexpectedly, Kangxi stood in the south, which shows that Kangxi has a trusting attitude towards Gregorian calendar and ferdinand verbiest. To show his gratitude to Kangxi, Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest spent four years making six kinds of astronomical instruments, including Tycho's classic instruments-ecliptic theodolite, celestial instrument, equatorial theodolite, horizon compass, quadrant (horizon latitude instrument) and gauge (distance instrument). Kangxi "added the title of Taichang Temple for his hard work".
In the 10th year of Kangxi (167 1), Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest successfully carried a large stone column weighing more than 10,000 Jin across the Lugou Bridge by using a western-style gallows. The following year, he was ordered to dredge Wanquan River to divert water to irrigate the fields. In the 13th year of Emperor Kangxi (1674), he invited the publication of sixteen volumes of Records of Newly-built Lingtai Instruments edited by him. In the same year, he was promoted to Qin Tianjian, and was appointed as a temple minister.
In the 12th year of Kangxi (1673), Wu Sangui and other San Francisco rebelled, and Kangxi ordered them to supervise the manufacture of light artillery for mountain operations. He wanted to refuse, because he didn't know how to make guns, but he couldn't refuse, because Tang Ruowang made guns for the Qing court. So he took pains to supervise and build 450 cannons and trained more than 200 gunners in a few years. In the 19th year (1680), 320 SHEN WOO cannons were built, and Kangxi personally led the princes and ministers to Lugouqiao to watch the test guns. Kangxi happily took off the mink and gave it to him as a reward, and praised him for "making guns next year, which has been effective in Shaanxi, Huguang, Jiangxi and other provinces, and it is better to make new guns today!" Because of the success of gun making, Kangxi specially appointed the right assistant minister of the processing department.
Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest has been the first Taifu of Kangxi since the 10th year of Kangxi (167 1). He has served for 27 years and won the appreciation of Kangxi. He was awarded the title of Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Industry. Since then, he often met with Kangxi and talked about western scientific knowledge such as astronomy, mathematics, geography, music theory and philosophy. Kangxi sent someone to teach him Manchu and Chinese. He translated many European mathematical and astronomical works in Manchu, such as Euclid's geometry. The fun of mathematics attracted the young Kangxi, who spent almost all his time outside dealing with political affairs on his studies. After learning the most interesting and understandable things in geometry, statics and astronomy, I also learned western philosophy and music theory. Ferdinand Ferdinand verbiest then tried to explain his knowledge of geography to him. The map of the world drawn by Matteo Ricci, the Kunyu Graph Theory written by Julio Aleni, and the foreign disciplines of the professional party are all his research materials. Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest also compiled "Kun Yu Wai Ji" to further introduce western geography and geographical knowledge. Frequent teaching activities make the relationship between the two sides closer. Ferdinand Ferdinand verbiest proudly boasted, "Every morning, as soon as I entered the palace, I was immediately taken to Kangxi's residence, often for three or four hours. I am alone with the emperor, reading and explaining to him, and I can't leave until noon. He often leaves me for lunch and brings me some exquisite meat from a golden plate. "
In order to cater to Kangxi's desire to learn more western scientific knowledge and skills, Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest took the opportunity to recommend many missionaries. For example, when he was talking about western music theory, he deliberately praised Xu Risheng's musical talent, so Kangxi sent someone to India for an invitation. Xu Risheng arrived in Beijing on 1673 and was welcomed by the emperor. Min Ming arrived in Macau on 1660, and was imprisoned for the calendar dispute. 167 1 After his release, he preached in Guangdong. Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest recommended him to give lectures in Beijing, which won the trust of Kangxi. 1685 replaced Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest as the supervisor of Qin Tian. Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest also invited Kangxi to recruit Amdo, a fellow countryman, to come to Beijing to take over as Kangxi's teacher, to teach arithmetic and the use of mathematical instruments, and to be the deputy supervisor of Qin. Kangxi hoped that there would be a European doctor in the palace. Ferdinand verbiest quickly informed the Vatican and suggested that the monk Cod Jute, who is proficient in medical skills, come to Beijing from Goa, India.
In the 26th year of Kangxi (1687), Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest fell from his horse and was injured. He died in Beijing the following year. After the death of Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest, Kangxi held a grand funeral for him, saying that "Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest managed the calendar for years. In the past, when fighting, it was good to make weapons. Today, when I heard that I died of illness, I deeply cherished ... "It can be said that I was extremely prized. Kangxi's admiration for Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest stems from his love for western science. Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest's excellent ability has made many missionaries who are good at this field flock to him. They had extensive contacts with Kangxi, which had a certain influence on the political, economic, military and cultural policies of Kangxi dynasty. At the same time, they also carried out missionary activities frequently under the banner of spreading western science.