عنوان

Imagined civilizations :

(Number (ISBN

1421406063 (alk. paper)

(Number (ISBN

9781421406060 (alk. paper)

Number

dltt

Title Proper

Imagined civilizations :

General Material Designation

[Book]

Other Title Information

China, the West, and their first encounter /

First Statement of Responsibility

Roger Hart

Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item

vii, 374 pages :

Other Physical Details

illustrations ;

Dimensions

25 cm

Text of Note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-366) and index

Text of Note

Science as the measure of civilizations -- From Copula to incommensurable worlds -- Mathematical texts in historical context -- Tracing practices purloined by the three pillars -- Xu Guangqi, Grand Guardian -- Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- Appendix A: Zhu Zaiyu's New theory of calculation -- Appendix B: Xu Guangqi's Right triangles, meanings -- Appendix C: Xu Guangqi's writings

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Text of Note

"Accounts of the seventeenth-century Jesuit Mission to China have often celebrated it as the great encounter of two civilizations. The Jesuits portrayed themselves as wise men from the West who used mathematics and science in service of their mission. Chinese literati-official Xu Guangqi (1562-1633), who collaborated with the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) to translate Euclid's Elements into Chinese, reportedly recognized the superiority of Western mathematics and science and converted to Christianity. Most narratives relegate Xu and the Chinese to subsidiary roles as the Jesuits' translators, followers, and converts. Imagined Civilizations tells the story from the Chinese point of view. Using Chinese primary sources, Roger Hart focuses in particular on Xu, who was in a position of considerable power over Ricci. The result is a perspective startlingly different from that found in previous studies. Hart analyzes Chinese mathematical treatises of the period, revealing that Xu and his collaborators could not have believed their declaration of the superiority of Western mathematics. Imagined Civilizations explains how Xu's West served as a crucial resource. While the Jesuits claimed Xu as a convert, he presented the Jesuits as men from afar who had traveled from the West to China to serve the emperor."--Publisher's website

Ricci, Matteo,1552-1610

Jesuits-- Missions-- China-- History-- 17th century

China, Religion, 17th century

China, Social conditions, 960-1644

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0

Class number

Class number

Book number

Book number

Hart, Roger, (Roger Preston)

Date of Transaction

20131104121724.0

Cataloguing Rules (Descriptive Conventions))

rda

Electronic name

[Book]

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