N.B. Description based on Jap-Sin II, 43.

Budeyi bian [Pu-te-i pien] 不得已辯 [辨]
By Nan Huaren 南懷仁 (Ferdinand Verbiest).
One juan. Bamboo paper, bound in European style. No date or place of publication.

The cover bears a Latin title: “Refutatio persecuto | ris Yam Quam Sien | circa res mathemati | ces | a p. Ferdin. Verbiest | S.J.”

In his preface Verbiest states that, after the great persecution of Yang Guangxian against the missioners, Adam Schall had lost the power of speech. Verbiest himself, being a newcomer to China, had been unable to defend himself and he had therefore lived in retirement. This was the occasion for him to reflect and to discover the errors of Yang Guangxian. Verbiest then points out that the calendar method of Yang Guangxian came from the traditional school of the Ming dynasty. Since the establishment of the new regime, the Shunzhi emperor had proclaimed the employment of the new European method, which had been in use for over twenty years and had yielded good results. In Verbiest’s opinion, progress comes from long and careful studies. The longer the studies, the more perfect will be the science of the calendar. Yang Guangxian, however, esteemed the old method and belittled the new one. As the result of his maliciousness eight members of the Imperial Observatory had lost their lives. Yang Guangxian cared only for the principles of calendar making and ignored the practical side. To this Verbiest retorts that to show the validity of the principles one must see them in practice. Wrong principles can never give good results. The disgrace of Yang Guangxian before the Kangxi emperor and his ministers through the failure of his experiments clearly showed that he was ignorant of the principles of calendar making. Finally, Verbiest concludes that although justice had been done in the case of Yang Guangxian, the damage done by Yang’s books still remained. For this reason he still wished to publish his work as a defense of the truth.--Cf. Albert Chan, Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 344-346.

For full bibliographic citation see Ad Dudink & Nicolas Standaert, Chinese Christian Texts Database (CCT-Database).

JapSin II, 39.1
Xinfa liyin 新法曆引.
By Tang Ruowang 湯若望 (Johann Adam Schall von Bell).
One juan. Bamboo paper, one ce. No date or place of publication.

The cover has a label with the title: Liyin 曆引 and a Latin inscription: “Introductio ad astrono | micos calculos | a p. Adamo Schall.”

Cf. Pfister, p. 180, no. 23; Couplet, pp. 21–22; Hsü 1949, p. 373; Väth, p. 363, no. 6; Courant 4953.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 325.

P. Johann Adam Schall von Bell S.J. und die Geheimakten zum Gerichtsprozeß der Jahre 1664-1665 in China / Martin Gimm. Tang Ruowang yu Qingchao mibendang  湯若望與清朝密本檔 /  Ji Mu zhu 嵇穆著.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Johann Adam Schall von Bell S.J. (1592–1666), der sich fast fünf Jahrzehnte in China aufhielt, gilt als einer der wichtigsten und einflussreichsten Persönlichkeiten der Frühgeschichte chinesisch-europäischer Beziehungen. Sowohl auf religiösem wie wissenschaftlichem Gebiet hervorragend ausgewiesen verstand er es, in stets tatkräftigem Einsatz seine Kenntnisse bis hinauf zu dem jugendlichen, ersten Kaiser der neuen manjurischen Qing-Dynastie weiterzugeben.

Martin Gimm entwickelt in seiner Studie auf der Grundlage neu erschlossener Quellen eine revidierte Chronologie des Wirken Schalls. Gleichzeitig gibt er einen Ausblick auf die in den 1660er Jahren in China aufkommenden antieuropäischen Bewegungen und die sich um 1664 aus den Anklagen des berüchtigten Yang Guangxian entwickelnden Strafaktionen gegen Schall, die schließlich zu seinem Todesurteil führten. Gimm wertet hierfür insbesondere die 24 um 1990 neu aufgefundenen manjurischen Geheimakten zum Prozessgeschehen aus, deren wichtiges I. Dokument in Übersetzung vorgelegt wird. Inhalt und Wesen sämtlicher Geheimakten, die Anklagepunkte, die beteiligten Behörden, Institutionen und Personen sowie die ausgesprochenen Strafurteile werden detailliert dargestellt. Abgerundet wird die Untersuchung durch ein ausführliches Quellen- und Literaturverzeichnis und einen Index. --Publisher note.

JapSin II, 42 A
Qinding xinli ceyan jilüe 欽定新曆測驗記略.
By Nan Huairen 南懷仁 (Ferdinand Verbiest).
One juan. White bamboo paper in one ce, forty-two folios (ff. 8–10 and 29–31 are missing).

The title page is xylographed in Latin from the handwriting of Verbiest with the date 1668, which engraving was done in Beijing: Astronomia Europaea | sub Imperatore Tartaro Sinico | Cam Hy appellato | Ex umbra in lucem revocata | A P. Ferdinando Verbiest | Flandro Belga Brugensi | E Societate Jesu | Academiae Astronomiae | in Regia Pekinensi | Praefecto | Anno Salutis M.DCLXVIII.”

On the twenty-first day of the eleventh month, the seventh year of the Kangxi reign, we had an unexpected visit from four Grand Secretaries sent by His Majesty, namely, His Excellency Wu Gesai 吳格塞, His Excellency Duo Nuo 多諾, His Excellency Zhuo Ling’an 卓令安, and His Excellency Fan Chengmo 范承謨, all of them now deceased. His Majesty wanted to know whether the calendars then issued were correct. My reply was that they were very erroneous and that I had solid argument for saying so. There and then I pointed out the errors of these calendars. His Excellency Duo referred my reply to the emperor. The following day (22nd) an imperial order summoned me, An Wensi 安文思 [Gabriel de Magalhães], and Li Leisi 利類思 [Lodovico Buglio] to present ourselves at the Donghua Gate. On that same day the officials of the Imperial Observatory, Ma You 馬祐, Yang Guangxian, and Wu Mingxuan, were also there. [There followed a disputation between Yang, Wu, and Verbiest]. It was proved that the calculation of the calendar was incorrect and by imperial order the Qizheng minli 七政民曆 was compiled in the eighth year of the Kangxi reign by Wu Mingxuan, then Vice president of the Imperial Observatory, to be examined carefully for definite errors . . .

Cf. Sommervogel, vol. VIII, col. 576, 580; H. Bosmans, S.J., Ferdinand Verbiest, directeur de l’Observatoire de Péking, 1623–1668 (Extrait de la Revue des Questions scientifiques, janvier–avril 1912); Henri Bosmans, S.J., Les Écrits Chinois de Verbiest (Extrait de la Revue des Question scientifiques, juillet 1913, Louvain, pp. 272–298), p. 291. Courant 4992: “Khin ting sin li tchhe yen ki lio. Abrégé d’observations relatives au nouveau calendrier, imprimé par ordre imperial. Recueil de rapports et pièces diverses (1668 et 1669), émanant du P. Verbiest et d’autres fonctionnaires: texte et figures. 1 livre.--Cordier, Imprimerie Sino-européenne, 354. Grand in 8. Incomplet de plusieurs feuillets. 1 vol., cartonnage. Nouveaux fonds 3336.”For Jap-Sin II, 42 (I–III and A), see also Jap-Sin IV,27.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 343-344.

JapSin II, 25
Wuwei lizhi 五緯曆指.
By Luo Yagu 羅雅谷 (Giacomo Rho).
Nine juan. Bamboo paper in nine ce bound in one volume, European style.

The cover bears a label with the title and a Latin inscription: “Modus calculandi | motus quinque | planetarum | a p. Jac. Rho, S.J. | 9 tomi.”

1. Hengxing lizhi 恆星曆指 (Theory on the fixed stars) by Adam Schall (juan 1–4),
2. Yueli lizhi 月離曆指 (Theory on the moon) by Giacomo Rho (juan 5–8),
3. Jiaoshi lizhi 交食曆指 (Theory on the eclipse of the sun and moon) by Adam Schall (juan 9–15),
4. Richan lizhi 日躔曆指 (Theory on the sun) by Giacomo Rho (juan 25).

Although this book is part of the Chongzhen lishu, the edition is that of 1645 (Shunzhi 2), when the collection was reduced to 103 juan with a new title Xiyang xinfa lishu 西洋新法曆書 (cf. Hsü 1949, pp. 239–253).
Students who were being trained in the Western method served in the Astronomical Bureau. Their names appear in this book and can be seen at the beginning of each juan; seemingly they were the proofreaders. Some of them appear more than once. Zhu Tingshu 朱廷樞, in particular, appears in all the juan. The following are their names as they appear in different juan:

Juan 16: Cheng Tingrui, Song Kecheng, Zhu Tingshu, Zhu Guangxian, Li Cibin, and Pan Guoxiang (the six aforementioned students).

Juan 17: Wang Yinglin 王應遴, Ge Jiwen 戈繼文, Zhu Tingshu, Zhou Shitai 周世泰, Wu Mingzhu 鄔明著, Xu Huan 徐瑍.
Juan 18: Cheng Tingrui, Zhou Shicui 周士萃, Zhu Tingshu, Liu Youtai 劉有泰, Chen Shilan 陳士蘭, Yin Kai 殷鎧.
Juan 19: Zhou Yin 周胤, Sun Youben 孫有本, Zhu Tingshu, Bao Yingqi 鮑英齊, Zuo Yunhe 左允和, Liu Yunde 劉蘊德.
Juan 20: Jia Liangdong 賈良棟, Zhang Youzhuan 掌有篆, Zhu Tingshu, Zhou Shichang 周士昌, Cheng Tingrui, Wu Zhiyan 武之彥.
Juan 21: Yang Zhihua 楊之華, Li Hua 李華, Zhu Tingshu, Chen Zhengjian 陳正諫, Huang Hongxian 黃宏憲, Song Keli 宋可立.
Juan 22: Liu Youqing 劉有慶, Li Zubai 李祖白, Zhu Tingshu, Zhu Guangda 朱光大, Cheng Tingrui, Song Fa 宋發.
Juan 23: Zhu Guoshou 朱國壽, Jia Liangqi 賈良琦, Zhu Tingshu, Jiao Yingxu 焦應旭, Huang Hongxian, Liu Youtai.
Juan 24: Ge Chengke 戈承科, Xu Huan, Zhu Tingshu, Zhang Cheng 掌乘, Zhu Guoshou, Liu Yunde.

Most of these students continued to serve at the Astronomical Bureau under the Qing dynasty as we see in the memorial to the throne written in 1644 (Shunzhi 1, cf. Jap-Sin II, 37). Many of them had been Christians (cf. Jap-Sin, 157), among whom was Li Zubin, the son of Li Zhizao. Five of them, Li Zubai, Song Kecheng, Song Fa, Zhu Guangxian, and Liu Youtai lost their lives during the persecution of Yang Guangxian 楊光先 in 1665 (Kangxi 4). Many of the names in our list appear in the memorials to the throne of Xu Guangqi (cf. Wang Zhongmin 王重民, Xu Guangqi ji 徐光啟集, Shanghai, 1963, juan B, pp. 392, 394, 401, 427–429). This shows that they served the Ming and the Qing government.

Liu Yunde (zi 素公, 1628–1707), one of the proofreaders (ch. 19 and 24), was a native of Huguang province. He was vice-president (you jianfu 右監副) of the Imperial Observatory. During the Kangxi period he was sent to Shanxi to supervise mining. Later he lost his office as the result of a calumny. It was then that he turned to Christianity and was baptized by Ferdinand Verbiest as Basilius (Blaise) and took his European name, Verbiest. In 1684 he became a Jesuit and in 1688 he was ordained priest in Nanjing, together with the renowned Chinese painter Wu Li 吳歷 (1631–1718) and (Paulus) Wan Qiyuan 萬其淵 (zi 三泉, 1635–1700) by the first Chinese bishop, Luo Wenzao 羅文藻 (known to Europeans as Gregorio López). For many years Liu worked in Shanghai and Nanjing. He died in Nanjing in 1707 (cf. Pfister, pp. 402–403; JWC 2:227–230; Répertoire, p. 288; SF, vol. VI, p. 646).
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 306-309.

"Wang Xishan....drew on the Tychonic model to construct his own, while pointing to some contradictions in the Jesuits’ writings. The model expounded in Wuxing xingdu jie 五星行度解 (Explanation of the Five Planets’ Angular Motions, 1673), gave a physical, rather than merely geometrical, account of planetary motion: Wang proposed that its cause was an attraction force comparable to that of a magnet"-–Cf. N. Standaert, Handbook of Christianity in China, p. 726.

JapSin II, 39.4-5
Xinfa biaoyi 新法表異.
By Tang Ruowang 湯若望 (Johann Adam Schall von Bell).
Two juan. Bamboo paper, one ce.
No date or place of publication.

The cover bears a label with the title and a Latin inscription: “Differentia inter Euro | paeam et sinicam astro | nomiam | a p. Adamo Schall | S.J. | 2 tomi.”

The Xinfa biaoyi (Divergences of the new calendar) was written about 1634. It is divided into two parts. Juan A is a general study of the ancient Chinese calendars. According to Schall, although it had been said that there were over seventy calendar experts in the history of China, in reality, there were only forty odd. Juan B deals with the new calendar adopted by the Manchus after fall of Beijing in 1644. It is the Western calendar introduced into China by the Jesuits.
Folio 35 of juan A gives a brief account of the reform of the calendar at the end of the Ming dynasty:

The proposal for calendar reform was first made in the Wanli reign, and the decision was made in the Chongzhen period. It was in the jisi 己巳 year (i.e., 1629, Chongzhen 2), when I was summoned [to the capital] where I wrote [books] and set up instruments. Six years later, the calendar was ready, and after verification both before and after, we found [the calendar] to be in close accord with the celestial movements. At that time, there was a scholar, Wei Wenkui 魏文魁 by name, known as a calendar expert, who had been in the service of His Excellency Xing Yunlu 邢雲路, the Surveillance Commissioner 按察使. This man had written a book entitled: Lüli kao 律曆考. He too came with his disciples and having presented a memorial to the throne, he petitioned that a calendar bureau should be set up for his school with the intention of competing with us. His calculations were later found to be inaccurate and he was dismissed. The new system continued to prevail. In the Forbidden City, His Majesty himself took interest in the calculations and time and again gave high praise to our achievements. Unfortunately, the situation of the empire was precarious and became worse as time went on. With uninterrupted warfare throughout the empire, it was impossible to promote the new calendar, a fact that was lamented by many contemporaries.

JapSin II, 39.6
Xinli xiaohuo 新曆曉或
By Tang Ruowang 湯若望 (Johann Adam Schall von Bell).
One juan. Bamboo paper, one ce. No date or place of publication.

The cover bears a label with the title and a Latin inscription: “Solutiones objectionum | circa Astrononiam | Europaeam | a p. Adamo Schall.”

Ego infrascriptus Vice-Prov^lis Soc^tis Jesu | Vice-Prov^ae Sinensis testor hoc exemplar Li | belli huius esse legitimum; uti et subscriptiones | duorum mandarinorum tribunalis ma | thematici in quorum fidem hic | subscribo. Pekini 2^a Octobris 1701 | Antonius Thomas.

Cf. Pfister, p. 179, no. 10; Väth, p. 366, no. 17.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 328-329.

JapSin II, 39.7
Xinli xiaohuo 新曆曉或
By Tang Ruowang 湯若望 (Johann Adam Schall von Bell).
This is a duplicate of Jap-Sin II, 39.6.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 329.

The cover bears the title and a Latin inscription: “Liber Quartus. Tractatus brevis Apologeticus.”

1. 修曆居咨禮部文 (A note sent by the Calendar Bureau to the Ministry of Rites; ff. 1–7).
2. 滿城玉山布衣魏文魁答曆局問 (A reply to the inquires submitted to the Calendar Bureau by Wei Wenkui, commoner of Yushan in the prefecture of Mancheng, ff. 8–13).
3. 與王廷評答客難 (A letter to Wang Ting in criticizing the [book] Da ke’nan, i.e., replies to the problems raised by a certain inquirer, ff. 14–24).
4. 禮部尚書徐光啟論修改曆法事 (Xu Guangqi, President of the Ministry of Rites, on the reform of the calendar, ff. 25–30).
5. 欽天監在局學習諸論曆新舊法事 (The students of the Imperial Observatory on the problems of the new and the old calendars, ff. 31–41).

For further details, see Jap-Sin II, 64.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 208-209.

Xueli xiaobian 學曆小辯.
By Tang Ruowang 湯若望 (Johann Adam Schall von Bell).
One juan. Bamboo paper in one ce with a paper case. No date or place of publication.

The cover bears a label with the title and a Latin inscription: “Refutatio duorum librorum | 曆測 Li ts’e | 曆元 Li-yüan | qui antiquam astronomiam | propugnabant.”

Formerly in the second year of the Chongzhen reign when the Ministry [of Rites] proposed to apply the Western method in the Calendar formation, we were doubtful of its practicability. But then several million characters were written on this method and published in book form. These writings were clear and orderly. We still had some doubts. Later we participated in a survey of a solar eclipse and twice in a survey of a lunar eclipse. We could not but be convinced by the facts. Of late, we have been told to carry on our studies. Every day we study under the direction of the Western masters. We do not only deal with books, but we also make experiments with instruments. We do not only listen with our ears, but we also experiment with our own hands. What they told us are true facts and shown with proofs. [We feel that] if the ancients writers were to come back, even they would find it hard to make objections . . .

The Xueli xiaobian was written under the following circumstances. By imperial order the Astronomical Bureau was started on 6 November 1629 (22.IX Chongzhen 2) under the direction of Xu Guangqi. This was known as the Xiju 西局, since the calendar was drawn up according to the Western method. The new establishment aroused the jealousy of the traditional astronomers and they were very unhappy about it. In 1630 the censor of Sichuan recommended a student named Leng Shouzhong 冷守中, who had written a book on the calendar, based on the Huangji jingshi 皇極敬世 (Cosmological Chronology) of Shao Yong 邵雍 (1011–1077). His book was sent to the Bureau for inspection. Xu Guangqi read through it and pointed out the mistakes. He wanted, however, to indicate the error by facts. It happened that in the 4th month of Chongzhen 4 (1–30 May 1631) there was an eclipse of the moon in Sichuan. Xu took this occasion and asked Leng Shouzhong to make the observation. Leng’s calculation proved to be wrong by two hours, while the Western method of calculation was perfectly exact. Leng therefore was told to continue his study with “greater humility.” The traditional school felt greatly humiliated and kept on arguing. In the sixth month (29 June–28 July 1631) an old and more serious scholar of Mancheng Xian 滿城縣, Wei Wenkui 魏文魁, presented to the court two books he had written under the name of his son Wei Xiangqian 魏象乾 : the Liyuan 曆元 ¸ and the Lice 曆測. These books were sent to the Bureau for examination. Xu Guangqi read them with great interest and praised their author as an assiduous scholar. Nevertheless, he did not hesitate to point out the mistakes in these two books and exhorted Wei to improve his works by correcting them. Also a number of the students at the Bureau reacted against Wei Wenkui. The discussions became acrimonious and Wei blamed the Bureau for the errors. It was under these circumstances that the Xueli xiaobian was written. Some authors attribute it to Xu Guangqi. It is possible that the book was written by Xu under the name of Schall. Notice that the other copy of this text (Jap-Sin I, 158) does not mention an author.

Xu Guangqi died in 1633. His successor, Li Tianjing 李天經 (jinshi of 1613), who in his early days had studied in the traditional school, found himself in an embarrassing situation. To please Wei Wenkui he declared impartiality and established a Dongju 東局 with the aim of reforming the old traditional school. By then there were four Astronomical Bureaus in the capital: that of the Datong calendar 大統曆 (used since 1384), of the Mohammedan calendar 回回曆, of the Western calendar (the Xiju 西局) and of Wei Wenkui’s calendar (the Dongju 東局). They fought among themselves, in particular Li Tianjing and Wei Wenkui. Eventually, Wei lost ground and with his death the Xiju was recognized by the emperor.

Cf. Wang Ping 王萍, Xifang lisuanxue zhi shuru 西方曆算學之輸入 (Taipei, 1966), pp. 55–61; Yang 1949, vol. 1, pp. 151–156; Li Zhengfu 黎正甫, “Mingji xiugai lifa shimo” 明季修改曆法始末 in: Dalu zazhi shixue congshu 大陸雜誌史學叢書, second series, ce 4, pp. 262–264; CJC, juan 31, ce 4, pp. 382–384; Fang Hao 方豪 1954, vol. 4, pp. 23–24; Bo Shuren 薄樹人, “Xu Guangqi de tianwen gongzuo” 徐光啟的天文工作, HKC, pp.110–142.

Cf. Pfister, p. 179, no. 8; Feng 1938, p. 207; Hsü 1949, p. 378; Courant 4951; Jap-Sin I, 158.

Albert Chan, Chinese books and documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 369-371.

Facsimile reprint of mss.
Library stamp on t.p.: Bibliotheca-Zi-Ka-Wei = 上海徐家匯藏書樓.
Copyist date on first collection (chuji. 初集) Chongzhen 11 崇禎十一 [1638]. Later collections date from Shunzhi yuan nian 順治元年 [1644] and afterwards.