Qianxiang tushuo 乾象圖說 (Japanese mss. copy) / [Johann Adam Schall von Bell 湯若望]

See also:《明史·志第七十四　藝文三》：王應遴《乾象圖說》一卷，《中星圖》一卷

The Qianxiang tushuo 乾象圖說 (Illustrated Celestial Phenomena) is an undated manuscript by an anonymous Japanese copyist of a volume containing sections of the Chidao nanbei liang zongxing tu 赤道南北兩總星圖 (General Star Map of the Southern and Northern Hemispheres Divided by the Equator). The General Star Map is a rare star atlas made in Beijing by Fr. Johann Adam Schall von Bell, SJ under the overall direction of Paul Xu Guangqi in 1634. The star map is based on the Jesuit astronomer Christoph Grienberger's (1580-1636) work, Catalogus Veteres Affixarum Longitudines ac Latitudines Conferens cum Nouis (Rome, 1612). It is one of a collection of related works that became the Chongzhen lishu 崇禎曆書(Calendar Compendium of the Chongzhen Reign) presented from 1631-1635, near the end of the Ming dynasty.

The Chongzhen lishu 崇禎曆書 included works created before the Calendar Office existed, including the Yuanjing shuo 遠鏡說 (Explanation of the Telescope, 1626), a copy of which the Ricci Institute also has in Japanese manuscript copy.

The Qianxiang tushuo manuscript is a fanfold text (27 cm x 16.5 cm) in 24 folds displaying 48 pages, with illustrations covering two pages each, hence the use of fanfold binding to avoid bisecting the image at the fold. It is handwritten and drawn in ink, with punctuation and corrections in red. On the top cover in one corner is the character 水. The copyist carefully reproduces four instruments and ten celestial maps taken from panels on the full size Chidao nanbei liang zongxing tu in fine detail. The four instruments are:

1. Ecliptic Theodolite (Armillary) 黃道經緯儀
2. Equatorial Theodolite (Armillary) 赤道經緯儀
3. Azimuth instrument (Armillary) 地平經緯儀
4. Sextant 紀限儀

Following each instrument is an explanation of its function by Schall (no.1 & 3) or Wu Mingzhu 鄔明著 (no. 2 & 4)*

*Chinese term jingweiyi 經緯儀: D’Elia uses the modern name theodolite but the same three characters were used during the Ming-Qing dynasties for what Europeans would call an armillary or armillary sphere, after the Latin armilla, or “bracelet” which well-describes their appearance. 

The ten celestial maps (in order of appearance in the manuscript, not on the actual chart):

1. Map of the oppositions and conjunctions of Venus in [five] revolutions of the planet around the Sun 太白行天一周遲留伏逆諸行經圖
2. Map of [the variations] in latitude of Venus 太白緯圖
3. Map of the oppositions and conjunctions of Jupiter in one revolution of the planet around the Sun 歲星行天一周遲留伏逆諸行經圖
4. Map of [the variations] in latitude of Jupiter 歲星緯圖
5. Map of the oppositions and conjunctions of Mercury in [three] revolutions of the planet around the Sun 歲星行天一周遲留伏逆諸行經圖
6. Map [of the variations] in latitude of Mercury辰星緯圖
7. Map of the oppositions and conjunctions of Mars in [seven] revolutions of the planet around the Sun 榮惑行天一周遲留伏逆諸行經圖
8. Map of [the variations] in latitude of Mars 榮惑緯圖
9. Map of the oppositions and conjunctions of Saturn in one revolution of the planet around the Sun 填星行天一周遲留伏逆諸行經圖
10. Map of [the variations] in latitude of Saturn 填星緯圖

These ten circular diagrams trace the orbit of the five known planets: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn, and their variations in latitude over time. They reflect the use of the Tychonic geo-heliocentric system of the universe based on that of the 16th-century Danish scientist Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), a compromise between Ptolemaic geocentricism and the heliocentrism of Nicolaus Copernicus. In 1674 the Jesuit Astronomer Royal of the Qintianjian (Imperial Astronomical Bureau), Fr. Ferdinand Verbiest, S.J., also relied on Tycho’s designs when he was tasked with recasting and modifying the instruments that still exist today at the ancient observatory in Beijing.

The Qianxiang tushuo manuscript (under this title) is thus far not found elsewhere. The manuscript is meticulously crafted from a rare source, possibly produced in the 17^th century during a period of when Japanese astronomers needed to update their own calendar and astronomical tools, despite the prohibited source from which it was derived. This manuscript could only have been made by someone who had access to the original, or to an extremely detailed copy of it. The General Star Map itself is very large and rare and only a few copies are known to exist.

Sources:

Standaert, N. Handbook of Christianity in China, volume 1, 635-1800. Leiden, Brill, 2001.

D’Elia, Pasquale M. “The double stellar hemisphere of Johann Schall von Bell S.J. : (Peking 1634)” in Monumenta Serica, v. XVIII, 1959., p.328-359  

Hara, Mari Yoko. “The Double Hemisphere Star Atlas (1634): Empiricism, Technical Images, and Cross-Cultural Trust” (2019. Draft, Academia.edu)

Hashimoto Keizō 橋本敬造'Chidao nanbei liang zong xing du' to 'heng xing ping zhang'《赤道南北兩縂星圖》と《恆星屏障》in 新発現中国科学史資料の研究 vol. 2: 論考編, pp. 581-604.

“....Yuanjing shuo 遠鏡說 (Explanation of the Telescope, 1626), by Schall, which contained the first account of the Tychonic world system in Chinese.” Cf. Standaert, Handbook of Christianity in China, v.1, p. 714.

See Fr. A. Chan S.J. bibliographic entry for Japonica-Sinica II, 39.2 edition.
See full bibliographic entry Ad Dudink & Nicolas Standaert, Chinese Christian Texts Database (CCT-Database).

Local access dig.pdf. [Schall-Yuanjingshuo mss.pdf] & folder with master (.tif) images.