Imagined Civilizations: China, the West, and Their First Encounter

385 Pages·2013·6.872 MB·English

by  Roger Hart

Imagined Civilizations
This page intentionally left blank
Roger Hart
Imagined Civilizations
China, the West, and Th eir First Encounter
Th e Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore
© 2013 Th e Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2013
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Th e Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363
www.press.jhu.edu
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010924546
ISBN 13: 978-1-4214-0606-0
ISBN 10: 1-4214-0606-3
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information,
please contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936 or [email protected].
Th e Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials,
including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent post-consumer
waste, whenever possible.
With enormous gratitude to all my teachers,
with special thanks to Benjamin Elman
a nd Mario Biagioli
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 Science as the Measure of Civilizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3 From Copula to Incommensurable Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4 Mathematical Texts in Historical Context. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
5 Tracing Practices Purloined by the T hree Pillars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
6 Xu Guangqi, Grand Guardian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
7 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Appendix A: Zhu Zaiyu’s New Theory of Calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Appendix B: Xu Guangqi’s Right Triangles, Meanings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Appendix C: Xu Guangqi’s Writings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
vii
This page intentionally left blank
Imagined Civilizations