Wang Zheng devoted his life to the cause of science and technology. Before becoming an official, he lived in his hometown, writing books and giving lectures. Because I have lived in the countryside for a long time, I know more about the hardships and difficulties of farmers. When he lived in his hometown in his early years, he devoted himself to researching, improving and inventing various farm tools and daily utensils according to the needs of local agricultural production. According to records, there are mainly siphons, cranes, round pots, daigeng, self-rotating mills, bicycles and so on. His scientific achievements in this period were later included in his book "Illustration of New Devices". In the third year of the Apocalypse (1623), Wang Zheng.
I was deeply influenced and inspired by the book of Italian missionary Giulio Aleni, and became interested in western technology, so I made up my mind to study and introduce western "imported goods". Five Years of Apocalypse (1625)
Reverend Ginny court, learn Latin from him. The following year, I went to Beijing to meet missionaries such as Deng, Diego Pantoja, exchange ideas with each other, discuss academics, and actively engage in the introduction of western science and technology. My main achievement is to cooperate with the Swiss missionary Deng to translate the mechanical engineering work "Atlas of Far West Wonders". After returning to his hometown in his later years, he continued to engage in the research and invention of various machines and tools. Wang Zheng is a versatile and well-read man. He wrote a lot in his life. There are 42 versions of the book "Wang's Family Travel to Protect Heaven" compiled by the seventh Sun in Jiaqing period of Qing Dynasty. These works involve the experiences of Ming and Qing wars, Catholicism, Confucianism, mechanical manufacturing, phonology, poetry and prose, and invention and creation. There are four volumes of Illustrated Wonders, four volumes of Two Principles, Shi Yue, Xue Yong Shu Jie and Xi.
Confucianism has eyes and ears, an extreme volume of "Fear of Heaven and Love for People", a book of Western Confucianism, and a book of Western voices. Among these works, only the Illustration of Strange Wares in the Far West and the attached Illustration of New Wares have been published many times and widely circulated. Most other works have not been seen in the world. First, because the content mostly involves the Ming Dynasty and the late Jin Dynasty, that is, the late Qin Dynasty fought for the war in the Northeast, and Wang Zheng hated and even despised the late Jin Dynasty from the standpoint of the Ming government, which was naturally unpopular with the Qing government; Secondly, the spread of some works about Catholicism was influenced by the repeated bans on Catholicism by the Qing government. Wang's descendants are always worried about engraving, afraid of accidents, and even afraid to show others books without engraving. It's been a long time, so it's lost According to Wang Zheng's data, there should be at least 19 kinds of works.
2 Wang Zheng's mechanical engineering translation of Illustrated Wonders
2. 1 Main mechanical engineering
As the creator of mechanical engineering in China in the late Ming Dynasty, Wang Zheng not only improved and invented many machines, but also left many works on mechanical engineering. According to Wang Jie's Catalogue of Historical Collection of Protecting Heaven in Qing Dynasty, there are five mechanical engineering works translated by Wang Zheng.
(1) The Tale of Strange Men in the Far West was dictated by Deng, a western Jesuit missionary in the Ming Dynasty, and translated by Wang. This book is a physics book, also called Wonders Picture Book, which is divided into three volumes. This book talks about the concepts of gravity, center of gravity and specific gravity, and explains the principles of lever, pulley, shaft and inclined plane to illustrate the application principle and mechanical usage of lifting. It is China's early monograph introducing western mechanics. This book is often published together with Wang Zheng's monograph on mechanical engineering, "The Illustration of Various Devices". It was first published in Yangzhou in the seventh year of the Ming Dynasty (1627), and there are also printed editions, Ming block editions, Si Ku Quan Shu, reprinted editions in the first year of Qing Jiaqing (180 1) and reprinted editions in Qing Jiaqing.
(2) the installation diagram of the new system, a roll of Wang Zheng. This book is the earliest monograph on mechanical engineering in China. The book is about 4,000 words, with the preface "The First Year of Tomorrow" (162 1). This paper records some instruments designed, invented and improved by Wang Zheng, including pictures and descriptions of more than ten kinds of instruments such as irrigation, grain processing, transportation and farming, with praise. This is a book that is often published at the same time as the book Wonderland of the Far West and widely circulated. This book is published in seven years (1627) with one volume.
(3) The Aragia Instrument Map is not divided into Zheng Juan and manuscripts. This book is a continuation of the author's illustration of various instruments. It introduces 24 kinds of instruments, with pictures and detailed instructions. Today, there are only self-recording and postscript words, which are included in the seventh issue of Volume 9 of Northwest Lun Heng.
(4) The "draft of equipment drawing" was written and copied by Wang Zheng. This book is a monograph on musical instruments. It may be Wang Zheng's Illustration of Alagia Musical Instruments, which was originally collected in Tianshui County Library, Gansu Province.
⑤ The small draft of Tibet Illustration written by Wang Ming has been lost. This book is a mechanical monograph, which introduces many machines designed by itself, especially agricultural machinery and water conservancy machinery. Among the above five mechanical engineering works, the greatest achievement, the most important and the most widespread one is the Illustrated Wonder translated by the Swiss missionary Deng.
2.2 Mechanical Engineering Translation "Illustration Wonder"
During the three dynasties of Wanli, Apocalypse and Chongzhen in the late Ming Dynasty, that is, from the end of16th century to the beginning of17th century, some scholars in China had great acceptance of western science and were interested in pure science such as astronomy and mathematics. Water conservancy, surveying and mapping, machinery and other applied sciences should be translated as much as possible. At that time, most methods of translating books were taught by westerners and written by China people, except those written by westerners themselves. Regarding the motivation and process of Wang Zheng's translation of Illustrated Books, he said in Preface to Illustrated Books: "I occasionally read about the strange things contained in Career? 6? 8? 6? One or two of these wonders are by no means what I have seen in this story. " So I made up my mind to study and introduce the "wonders" of the west. In his early years, he studied Latin from French missionary Genig and mathematics and measurement from Swiss missionary Deng. In the sixth year of the Apocalypse (1626), during his friendship with Deng, Wang Zheng asked them about the exotic western tools contained in the Official History, and read many books about western mechanics and mechanics from them. Deng and others introduced him to "there are more than 1000 kinds of strange tools". These exotic anecdotes opened Wang Zheng's eyes and made him "happy". From this, I got to know the general situation of the book The Complete Instrument of Illustrations in Europe, so Deng dictated, wrote and consulted other books, and selected people who cared about people's livelihood and made the country rich and powerful to translate it into three volumes, which together with Wang Zheng's own New System of Illustrations were called The Complete Instrument of Illustrations in Far West.
Wang Zheng's "On Wonders" is scientifically arranged in terms of the contents of the book. First introduce the principle, then introduce the application. This paper systematically introduces the achievements of western mechanical engineering, which has important historical document value. Secondly, judging from the translation of Illustrated Wonders, it is not only a mechanical translation of Deng's dictation, but also focuses on refining his own views through analysis. For example, starting with the analysis of scientific historical materials, this paper summarizes five reasons why scientists can make inventions.
Thirdly, this book uses the Latin alphabet as the sequence symbol, and it is the earliest book among the ancient science and technology books in China (the later version was changed to Chinese sequence numbers such as A, B, C and D). Finally, it is particularly important to point out that in some discussions and calculations, Wang Zheng also paid attention to highlighting national characteristics, such as
When calculating radius of the earth in Article 3 of Volume 1, he used the place names of China to illustrate. For another example, the translation of some technical terms is more in line with the habits of China people, especially some appellations, which are not only vivid and accurate, but also easier to be understood by China people. However, there are still some shortcomings in catalog organization and proofreading. The first is that the number of volumes does not match. There is "the first volume of the far west strange instrument map" in front, which is equivalent to the introduction, but it is followed by "the first volume of the far west two strange instrument map" Then there is the "Wonder of the Far West".
Volume 2 ",the organization is chaotic. At the end of the first volume, he said, "It's listed as four volumes". The first volume, re-solution; The second volume, equipment solutions; The third volume, force solution; The fourth volume, dynamic solution. But the actual content is only three volumes, and none of them can be solved. The mechanical solution mentioned by Wang Zheng refers to the application of various forces in mechanical movement, such as manpower, animal power, wind power, water conservancy and gravity. In fact, the mechanical solution can also be said to be included in the third volume of the Whole Machine Diagram. Secondly, the symbols on the picture do not match the description. The third is that the order and content of the catalogue are not completely consistent, and there are many "people flying"
A kind of "diagram" is put forward in the catalogue, but there is neither diagram nor explanation in the content. When Wang Zheng translated the book, he had reached? 6? After 1 finch, books introduced by western missionaries at that time may have recorded flying people. Perhaps this invention is so amazing that it has little to do with people's daily life. It is also possible to delete it at present, but it is reserved in various versions of the catalogue. These are all shortcomings in organization and proofreading.
According to the textual research of Mr. Hui, the former director of the library of Beitang (Beijing Xishiku Catholic Church), the blueprint for the translation of Strange Books mainly comes from four parts. There are a few words in the introduction of Illustrated Wonders: "At present, an able person is the one who can understand everything best, a multi-flavor, a Simon, a painter and sculptor, a plowman and a thorn Murray. He is better than anyone who has received art education." Hui thinks: "Victoria should be the abbreviation of Witruvius: Simon should refer to Assimon Steven; Farming should be a free translation of Latin farmer Agricola; Stab Murray should be the antonym of Italian Ramel. " Vitovis was a Roman architect in the first century BC. He wrote ten volumes about architecture, and the last volume was about machinery. Simon Stephen, a contemporary of Deng Hanyu, was a famous German physician, while agricola was an Italian engineer and mechanic. The first and second volumes of translation are mostly based on the second volume of Simon Stephen's Lower Memory and the tenth chapter of architecture by Wei Dovis, in which the instruments described are equivalent to the second volume of translation. As for the illustrations in the third volume, most of them come from books written by prickly Murray, and books written by Tian Tian are rarely used. Wang Zheng's translation "Illustration Wonder" and his own "Illustration New Equipment" have always been engraved together. Therefore, the version of Illustration of Wonders must be discussed together with Illustration of New Makers.
The next five versions are worth mentioning.
(1) Seven years from tomorrow (1627) This edition is the earliest edition of Illustrated Wonders. It is the first article in the book, the Preface to the Illustration of Strange Objects written by the proofreader, followed by Wang Zheng's Preface to the Illustration of Strange Objects. On the fourth page of the preface, there is the word "calendar for the purpose", and the word "purpose" starts from another line. Other versions are not like this, which can prove that it is a print of Amin dynasty. Nine lines on each side and twenty crosses on each side. And "Qi Qi Illustration" has the following three lines before each volume:
Deng Hanyu, a Jesuit in the West Sea, dictated.
Wang Zheng's Translation and Painting after Kansai Nestorianism
Hou Jinling Wu Xue Zhong Wei boy
Before Illustration of New Instruments, there was a preface to Illustration of New Instruments, written by Wang Zheng and written by Wu Wei. There are two lines in front of the text:
By the king of Kansai
Jinling Wuwei high school zi
In the twenty-first year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (18 16), the seventh grandson added a preface to the Complete Works of Famous Officials and Scholars in the Ming Dynasty and the Biography of Wang Zhengchuan in Tongzhi, Shaanxi Province.
Engraving, but the rest are original.
② The ten-year edition of Qing Daoguang (1830) has poor fonts and papers. There is no preface by Wang Jie in front of it, but a preface by Mr. Fu Zi Zhang Peng has been added. The word "purport" in Wang Zheng's Introduction to Illustrated Books did not rise. Compared with the seven-year edition starting tomorrow, the third line is changed to:
Zhang Pengzi, Lieutenant Colonel Ankang, graduate student of Jinling Wushu.
The front end of all kinds of equipment in the new system is also changed to:
By the king of Kansai
Jinling Wuwei high school
Ankang zhangpengzi
On the cover, there are four characters of seal script, namely "Illustrated Wonder", "Re-engraved by Daoguang Gengyin (1830) Zhong Chunyue" and "Lailutang Collector's Edition", and the rest are the same.
(3) Shoushan Pavilion Series Edition In Shoushan Pavilion Series Edition, Wang Zheng's illustrations are listed as a sub-part of the series. Different from the previous two versions:
First, add the article "Summary of Siku Quanshu" in front of this book;
B, except the preface of Wang Zheng, all other prefaces have been deleted;
C, different from the Latin letters in the drawings and descriptions in the previous two editions,
In this version, all signs are changed to serial numbers of Chinese characters such as A, B, C and D; D, this edition has exquisite drawings, which seems to be based on Sikuquanshu;
E. Before each volume of Illustrated Books, it is changed to: Deng dictated in Ming Dynasty, translated and painted in Kansai, and Qian Xiyu School in Jinshan. In addition to the reserved sequence, the front of the new system of documents is also changed to: Zheng, Jin Shanqian left school:
F. At the end of the book, Qian Xizuo's Illustration of Wonders was added.
④ Manuscript of Tsinghua University Library Tsinghua University Library
The manuscript of Wang Zheng's "Illustration of Miracles" was preserved, and the person who wrote it and the time when it was written were not specified. Because the picture symbols in "Illustration of Wonders" have been changed from Latin letters to Chinese characters such as A, B, C, D, etc.
It seems that after the Shoushan Pavilion series. In addition to the preface in the Military Position, this kind of "fantastic book illustration" is only preceded by Wang Yingkui's preface, and there is no other preface. In Wang Xu's preface, there is even a remark that "a guest visited Guangling, and the county magistrate gave a collection to Deng Yupu, a western scholar, to talk about strange fields", which seems to be copied according to the engraving of A Ming Dynasty. Are the three behaviors before each volume of this book:
Deng Hanyu, a Jesuit in the West Sea, dictated.
Wang Zheng's Translation and Painting of Kansai Nestorianism
Xin 'an Hou Xue Wu Huai Ancient School
The preface of Wang Zheng was deleted from the front of the new system of various devices, and it was changed to:
By the king of Kansai
Xin 'an Hou Xue Wu Huai Ancient School
On the cover of this manuscript, in addition to the four characters of "Qi Qi's Illustration", there are also words such as Zheng Proofreading, the original collection of Shiren Mountain House, and copying calligraphy and painting.
⑤ In the 3rd edition of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1877), the title of Illustrated Book was changed to Illustrated Machine, and the Illustrated New Equipment was put in front. Perhaps it is because the word "machine" has been widely used by ordinary people during Guangxu period, and publishers changed the word "strange device" to "machine" for the purpose of promotion. At the same time, it may be to show that we attach importance to China people's own works and despise translation, and put Wang Zheng's Illustration of New Instruments before the translation of Illustration of Strange Instruments, but it is of little practical significance. What is even more ridiculous is that only the title and the name in the preface have been changed, but there is no change in the book. The rest is the same as Daoguang Ten Years Edition (1830). Moreover, the Latin letters marked on the drawings in the book have not been changed to Chinese serial numbers such as A, B, C and D. ..
Wang Zheng made great contributions to mechanics, including his own inventions and his introduction of "Western learning spreading to the East". The Wonders of the Far West is an illustrated book introducing western science and technology. This paper introduces in detail some basic knowledge, laws and principles of western mechanics at that time, and also introduces the structure, manufacture and use of some advanced and complicated practical machinery in the west. The charts are accurate and detailed. In the preface of the book, Wang Zheng "praised the magic of his laws", "he can accomplish great things with small strength" and "the magic of his tools is actually a sharp weapon in ancient and modern times", reflecting the yearning of enlightened scholars for "Western learning" at that time. What is particularly commendable is that he not only praised western technology in technical skills, but also further studied its theoretical basis and realized that mathematics, geometry and mechanics "are all mutually supportive" to achieve this progress, which was really an incisive theory at that time. Therefore, his book "Illustrated Strange Objects" (jointly published "Illustrated Strange Objects in Far West" and "Illustrated New Objects") is not only a compilation of experience, but a systematic mechanical monograph-mechanics. There were many outstanding inventors and scientists in ancient China who made great contributions to the development of mechanical technology, but there were no systematic books to record and summarize their achievements. The publication of Illustrated Wonders made up for this deficiency, created a brilliant example in the history of science and technology in China, made an important contribution to the development of mechanical engineering in China, and was praised as "the first systematic monograph on mechanics and mechanical engineering in China". This is the first place in the history of science and technology in China.
The introduction of western classical mechanics principles into China's first translation of mechanical engineering had an important influence on the spread of western classical mechanics principles in China.