Events

2024

Lectures: Prof. Dr. Zhang Baichun 张柏春 (Nankai University), “邓玉函和汤若望在中欧科学技术交流中的角色” & Prof. Dr. Tian Miao 田淼 (CAS), “The Translation and Transmission of Euclid’s ‘Elements’ in China”

Prof. Dr. Zhang Baichun 张柏春 (Research Center for the History of Science and Technology at Nankai University), “邓玉函和汤若望在中欧科学技术交流中的角色” & Prof. Dr. Tian Miao 田淼 (Western Science History Research Center & Center for Comparative Studies on Technological Development in China, CAS), “The Translation and Transmission of Euclid’s ‘Elements’ in China”

Department of Chinese Studies, University of Tübingen, Wilhelmstraße 133, Room 42, Tuesday, 2 July 2024, 18:15 PM – 19:45, hybrid conference.

Lecture: Dr. Alexander Jost (Salzburg University), "China, the Mongols and the Arctic"

Dr. Alexander Jost (Salzburg University), “China, the Mongols and the Arctic”.
Tuesday, 23 April 2023, 16:15-17:45, hybrid conference.

Lecture: Dr. Cao Jin (Tübingen/Salzburg), "Mountain of the Golden Beans: Imagining the Origins of Foreign Precious Metals across the Pacific in Late Ming China, 1602-1644"

On 4-5 April 2024, Cao Jin participated in the symposium “Beyond All Horizons: Geography and Imagination in Historical East Asia” hosted by the Forum Asia-Pacific and History Department at the University of Salzburg and gave a presentation entitled “Mountain of the Golden Beans: Imagining the Origins of Foreign Precious Metals across the Pacific in Late Ming China, 1602-1644”. This presentation took as a case study the organisation of an expedition to Luzon in the Philippines in 1602 under the Late Ming government’s imagination of overseas gold mountains and analysed the driving force of precious metals in the Chinese imaginative geography. Cao Jin explained how misconceptions about the geography of the pacific emerged and how those related to geographical and cartographical knowledge communicated by Jesuits during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Eventually, she demonstrated the expectations and hopes set into Western knowledge about mineralogy, prospection and smelting by the example of Adam Schall von Bell‘s Kunyu gezhi 坤輿格致 (Investigations of the Earth’s Interior; 1640). The presentation generated much interest and extensive discussion.

2023

Lecture: Dr. Yang Lijuan 杨丽娟 (School of History, Zhejiang University), “From Introduction to Communication: The Development of Modern Geology in China (1890s-1930s)”

Tuesday, 19 December 2023, 16:15-17:45, hybrid conference.

Lecture: Dr. ZHENG Cheng (Beijing), "Mapping Peking 1688-1914: A Czech Jesuit and a Russian Priest, Chinese Painters and German Soldiers, The Interweaving of City Plans"

Dr. ZHENG Cheng (Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences), “Mapping Peking 1688-1914: A Czech Jesuit and a Russian Priest, Chinese Painters and German Soldiers, The Interweaving of City Plans”.
Thursday, 24 October 2023, 16:15-17:45, hybrid conference.
This lecture was also presented at the University of Salzburg, in the FOR APAC Lecture Series Agorá, 3 November 2023, 15.30-17.00.

Lecture: Dr. Alexander Jost (Salzburg), "European Ideas on Orogenesis, Mining and Metallurgy in 17th century China"

On September 4-5, the ERC Project AFTERMATH under the lead of Barend Noordam and Joshua Batts organized a conference by the name of "Mastery of Materialities: Resources and Technology in Post-Imjin War East Asia (1598-1650)" at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Alexander Jost participated in this conference, in which many questions and problems overlapping with the theme of our project were addressed and presented his recent research results in a talk entitled "European Ideas on Orogenesis, Mining and Metallurgy in 17th century China."

2022

Lecture: Anna Strob (Tübingen), "An Investigation into the Material Composition of the World: Alfonso Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi 空際格致 (c. 1633)"

On March 18, 2022, Anna Strob presented her work in an online panel titled “Hylomorphism East & West” organized by the Department of Philosophy of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. Her presentation was part of a one-year long workshop series that will eventually result in a book publication on Aristotle’s idea of hylomorphism spanning the time from Ancient Rome to Early Qing China. In her contribution, Anna Strob analyzed selected passages of Chinese primary sources and traced the transmission of central Aristotelian concepts on the material composition of the sublunar world in Jesuit Chinese translations of Renaissance natural philosophy. The panel additionally featured presentations on Chinese materialistic monism in comparison to Aristotle and the transmission of the hylomorphic concept to South America.

2021

Lecture: Anna Strob (Tübingen), “Introducing Aristotle to Late Ming China: Alfonso Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi 空際格致 (c. 1633) and his Investigation into Phenomena in the Atmosphere,” Needham Research Institute, Cambridge (England)

From October to December 2021 Anna Strob, M.A., visited the Needham Research Institute in Cambridge with the generous support of the Gerda Henkel Foundation. The research stay allowed her to advance her PhD project and to connect with the academic community of the institute. More specifically, she researched the history of reception of Jesuit Chinese publications in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the methodological approach to analyze and locate these publications in the larger context of the history of science in premodern China. On December 3, 2021, she presented her preliminary findings in the institute’s colloquium series with a lecture titled “Introducing Aristotle to Late Ming China: Alfonso Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi 空際格致 (c. 1633) and his Investigation into Phenomena in the Atmosphere.”

Lecture: Anna Strob (Tübingen), “From Maps to Texts: Knowledge Transition in Early Jesuit Writings,” ICHST, Prague

From July 25 to 31, 2021, the 26th International Congress of the History of Science and Technology took place in Prague, Czech Republic. Due to the ongoing COVID-pandemic, the congress was held as a virtual event. Anna Strob, M.A., contributed with a presentation titled “From Maps to Texts: Knowledge Transition in Early Jesuit Writings” to the symposium on “The Materiality of Knowledge Circulation between China and Europe: Physical Formats, Epistemic Genres, Spatial Localities (16th-18th Century).” Sixteen participants presented their papers in four panels with topics ranging from histories on Eurasian medicine to innovations and technology exchanges between Europe and China in late imperial times. In her presentation Anna Strob focused on the scientific knowledge transmitted in illustrated works by Jesuit authors in the early seventeenth century in China.

Lecture: HAN Qijin (Tübingen), "'The Art of Fugue': Translating the European Thermometer to China during the Kangxi Reign (1662-1722)"

HAN Qijin, M.A. student (Tübingen University)
"'The Art of Fugue': Translating the European Thermometer to China during the Kangxi Reign (1662-1722)" (M.A. project)
Thursday, 17 June 2021, 11:00-12:30 s.t., Zoom video conference

Lecture: SHENG Jia (Tübingen), "The Origins of the Yuanjingshuo 遠鏡說 (On the Farseeing Optic Glasses; 1626): Aristotle's Five Senses, Ptolemy's Refraction and Galileo's Telescope"

SHENG Jia, M.A. student (Tübingen University)
"The Origins of the Yuanjingshuo 遠鏡說 (On the Farseeing Optic Glasses; 1626): Aristotle's Five Senses, Ptolemy's Refraction and Galileo's Telescope" (M.A. project)
Thursday, 6 May 2021, 11:00-12:30 s.t., Zoom video conference

Lecture: Anna Strob (Tübingen), "Mission Impossible? The Translation of Aristotelian Natural Philosophy to Late Ming China: The Example of Alfonso Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi," Seoul National University

Our associated researcher Anna Strob, M.A., was invited by the Institute of Greco-Roman Studies at Seoul National University to contribute to the international workshop on "Aristoteles Asianus: Aristotle’s Works, the Coimbra Texts, and Jesuits’ Chinese Translations in the Seventeenth Century." In her presentation on 3 February 2021 she introduced an in-depth study on selected passages from the Kongji gezhi 空際格致 (Investigation into Phenomena in the Atmosphere, c. 1633) and the accommodative approach taken by the Jesuit missionary Alfonso Vagnone in his Chinese translation of Aristotelian natural philosophy to late Ming China. The online format of the conference allowed the joining of various scholars from related research fields and drew an international audience that actively engaged in the unfolding discussion.

Seminar: Prof. Dr. Thomas Zimmer (Distinguished Research Professor, Center for Chinese German Cultural and Social Exchange, Tongji University Shanghai), special guest in the course "Translating Western Science, Technology and Medicine to Late Ming China"

Prof. Thomas Zimmer, an associated researcher of the Tübingen Department of Chinese Studies and of our project on the Kunyu gezhi and Taixi shuifa, participated via Zoom in our course on "Translating Western Science, Technology and Medicine to Late Ming China" in 25 January and 8 February 2021. During the first session, we discussed the article of Eduard B. Vermeer, "Notions of Time and Space in the Early Ch’ing," published in Huang Chün-Chieh and E. Zürcher (eds.), Time and Space in Chinese Culture, Leiden: Brill, 1995, pp. 201-236. In the second session, Prof. Zimmer read and discussed with us interesting passages from Matteo Ricci’s Kunyu wanguo quantu 坤輿萬國全圖 (A Map of the Myriad Countries of the World; 1602).
Prof. Zimmer’s CV and List of Publications

Lecture: Anna Strob (Tübingen), "The Three Regions of Air in Alfonso Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi (Investigation into Phenomena in the Atmosphere, c. 1633)"

Anna Strob, M.A., PhD cand. (Tübingen University)
"The Three Regions of Air in Alfonso Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi 空際格致 (Investigation into Phenomena in the Atmosphere, c. 1633)" (PhD project)
Wednesday, 27 January 2021, 9:00-10:30 s.t., Zoom video conference

Lecture: Prof. Dr. Yang Aidong (Shandong University of Science and Technology), "The Introduction of Aristotle's Episteme in Ferdinand Verbiest's Qiongli xue (The Learning of the Fathoming of Principles; 1683)"

Prof. Dr. Yang Aidong (Shandong University of Science and Technology)
Lecture "The Introduction of Aristotle's Εpisteme in Ferdinand Verbiest's Qiongli xue 窮理學 (The Learning of the Fathoming of Principles; 1683)" (in Chinese)
Wednesday, 20 January 2021, 9:00-10:30 s.t. Zoom video conference

2020

Lecture: Dr. Cao Jin (Tübingen), "Nützliches Wissen aus dem Fernen Osten: Die Technologietransfer-Projekte der Jesuitischen China-Mission in der späten Ming-Zeit (1583-1644)," Salzburg University

Our project member Dr. Cao Jin was invited by the China Center at Salzburg University to speak on the transfer of European knowledge to Late Ming China within the framework of the Center’s Agorá lecture series. Due to the pandemic situation, this lecture of 15 December 2021 was arranged online, which allowed numerous participants from outside Salzburg to join as well. In the course of her talk, Dr. Cao introduced the newest findings of our DFG project and integrated them into the larger field of knowledge transfer between Europe and China in the early modern period.

Visit: Prof. Dr. Yang Aidong (Shandong University of Science and Technology) starts her one-year research stay at the Tübingen Department of Chinese Studies

Prof. Yang Aidong 杨爱东, Shandong University of Science and Technology, will spend a year at the Tübingen Department of Chinese Studies. This research stay from March 2020 to February 2021 is financed by her home university and shall provide her with an opportunity to link up especially with scholars involved in our DFG research project on the Kunyu gezhi and Taixi shuifa. In addition, it is destined to provide her with time for research on the Qiongli xue 窮理學 (Learning about the Fathoming of Principles; 1683), a collection of Western treatises, which was compiled by Ferdinand Verbiest in the late seventeenth century. During her time in Tübingen, Prof. Yang will join our translation seminar and will also give a lecture on the Qiongli xue topic.
Profile and publications of Yang Aidong

Seminar: Prof. Dr. Hans Ulrich Vogel (Tübingen), text reading seminar at the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities, Erlangen

During his research stay in the winter term of 2019/2020 at the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities "Fate, Freedom and Prognostication: Strategies for Coping with the Future in East Asia and Europe" (Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg), Prof. Hans Ulrich Vogel presented on 20 February 2020 a text related to weather prognostication from chapter 5 of Sabatino de Ursis and Xu Guangqi’s Taixi shuifa 泰西水法卷之五 (Hydromethods of the Great West; 1612) in the Sinological text reading seminar. Moreover, on 7 January 2020 he had the pleasure to chair the lecture of Prof. Zhang Qiong (Wake Forest University), likewise visiting fellow in Erlangen, who gave a talk on "New Varieties of fengyu zhan 風雨占 (Prognostication of Winds and Rain) in Seventeenth-Century China."

2019

Lecture: Prof. Dr. Zhang Qiong (Wake Forest University), "A New World with a Spin: Discourses on the Globe in Early Modern China," Salzburg University

Prof. Zhang Qiong of Wake Forest University, presently a fellow of the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities in Erlangen, has given a lecture entitled "A New World with a Spin: Discourses on the Globe in Early Modern China" at the Salzburg University Library Auditorium on November 20th, 2019. The event was part of the Agorá lecture series and took place upon invitation of the China Center at Salzburg University. It was jointly organized by the Center and Dr. Alexander Jost of Salzburg University History Department and Associate Researcher of our project. Prof. Zhang discussed the perception of the Western view of the earth in the shape of a globe with multiple continents and oceans on it in Late Ming and Early Qing China, which stood in a certain contrast to the traditional Chinese view of a round heaven and a square earth. The famous 18th-century Fürstaller globe placed in the University Library Auditorium served as a beautiful example for the introduced world view (see picture below). Prof. Zhang will come to Tübingen University for a research stay in June 2021.

Lecture: Dr. Cao Jin (Tübingen), "Collateral Benefit: The Calendar Bureau and the Transfer of Western Mining Knowledge into China (1635-1684)," Hefei, Anhui

Dr. Cao Jin gave a lecture at the international conference "Science, Western Learning and Confucianism" in Hefei (28 April to 1 May 2019)

As a member of the DFG project „Translating Western Science, Technology and Medicine to Late Ming China: Convergences and Divergences in the Light of the Kunyu gezhi 坤輿格致 (Investigations of the Earth’s Interior; 1640) and the Taixi shuifa 泰西水法 (Hydromethods of the Great West; 1612)”, Dr. Cao Jin 曹晋 was invited to attend a conference entitled “Science, Western Learning and Confucianism: Commemorating the 390th Anniversaries of the Compilation of the Chongzheng Reign Treatises on Calendrical Astronomy”, which was held at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei from 28 April to 1 May 2019. In her talk with the title “Collateral Benefit: The Calendar Bureau and the Transfer of Western Mining Knowledge into China (1635-1684)” she presented recent findings about the institutional context in which the rediscovered manuscript of the Kunyu gezhi 坤輿格致 (Investigations of the Earth’s Interior) was created. Her study revealed, how knowledge transmission in the fields of mining and metallurgy was organized in the Calendar Bureau by Adam Schall von Bell and his collaborators. Though the Kunyu gezhi was already completed as early as 1640, it could not be printed and put into use because of the collapse of the Ming dynasty. Different than in the case of the calendar reform, the Manchus decided not to put it into action after coming to power. Its traces were lost during the early decades of the Qing period. Nonetheless there are signs that the application of Western knowledge in metal production may have become a topic again, when Liu Yunde 劉蘊德, then vice-head of the Directorate of Astronomy was entrusted with the operation of a silver mine in Shanxi. This shows impressively that for almost half a century, the systematic introduction of Western mining knowledge into China with the help of the Calendar Bureau and successively the Directorate of Astronomy was attempted and remained an option, which, however eventually vanished unused.
The presentation aroused much interest among participants and engendered fruitful discussion. Dr. Cao Jin received inspiring questions and helpful suggestions which were of great value for the deepening of her further research in this field. Many thanks go to Prof. Shi Yunli 石云里 from the University of Science and Technology of China for the organization of this great meeting.

Short report on the conference "Transfer of Scientific and Technical Knowledge between Europe and China during the Early Modern Period," SGCRP, Beijing

Sino-German Center for Research Promotion Beijing, March 30 – April 1, 2019

傳天音、譯七藝，航巨海又梯高山，華夏披星追日月；
衡金石、探四元，識新知而聞舊友，神京接地論天人。
Poem composed by Dr. Chen Zhihui 陈志辉, Institute for the History of Science and Technology,
Inner Mongolia Normal University 内蒙古師範大學科學技術史研究院,
in commemoration of this event.

From March 30 to April 1, 2019, a symposium with the title "Transfer of Scientific and Technical Knowledge between Europe and China during the Early Modern period" was held in the premises of the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion in Beijing. The Conveners, Prof. Hans Ulrich Vogel from the Department for Chinese Studies at Tübingen University and Prof. Zhang Baichun, Director of the Institute for the History of Natural Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences thanked the Sino-German Center for its generous support and introduced the more than 50 participants and guests into the topic, which was inspired by the recent rediscovery of the Kunyu gezhi, a rendering of Georgius Agricola's famous Renaissance mining classic De re metallica into Chinese undertaken by Johann Adam Schall von Bell during the last years of the Ming period. Fields as various as astronomy, cosmology, mathematics, mining, metallurgy, cartography, hydraulic engineering, medicine and mechanics were covered by the participants' presentations and discussions. The meeting, which was organized by the European Centre for Chinese Studies (ECCS) at Peking University culminated at the Wenjin Building of the National Library of China in a public lecture by Prof. Zhang Baichun, with further contributions by Prof. Shi Yunli, University of Science and Technology of China, and Prof. Karel Davids from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. During the meeting, participants were also offered insights into the National Library’s precious Beitang holdings, i.e. a collection of rare Western books brought to China mainly by the Jesuits, and they visited the Zhalan Cemetery with the graves of Matteo Ricci, Schall von Bell, Ferdinand Verbiest and other missionaries as well as the Ancient Beijing Observatory. The event made both sides aware of the great potential of further intensive communication and prepared the ground for future cooperation and exchanges between Tübingen University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as other scholars in Germany and China beyond these institutions.

For German and Chinese versions see Kurzbericht/简报.

18 April 2019, Beijing, Macau and Tübingen
Dr. Cao Jin, Dr. Jost, Prof. Hans Ulrich Vogel, and Sabine Kink

Photos from the conference "Transfer of Scientific and Technical Knowledge between Europe and China during the Early Modern Period," SGCRP, Beijing

Photos

Conference: Transfer of Scientific and Technical Knowledge between Europe and China during the Early Modern Period, SGCRP, Beijing

Sino-German Center for Research Promotion
Beijing, March 30 – April 1, 2019

Objectives of the Conference
The history of scientific, technical and medical exchange between Europe and China during the early modern period (16th to 19th centuries) is an important topic of research undertaken on a global level, but so far, much attention has been paid to special fields like astronomy, mathematics and cartography while other fields of practice and knowledge remain understudied.
This convention prominently concentrates on “hands-on” sciences, practical crafts and techniques and takes the texts produced in these fields more comprehensively into account as this has been done so far. Surprisingly, and perhaps due to the difficult technical language, only very few of the scientific, technical and medical treatises initiated or produced by the Jesuit China mission have been translated into English, nor have they been studied to substantial depth so that much work has still to be done in this respect. Therefore, translations of these Chinese texts into English, including all relevant text-critical, translational and contextual questions according to the newest global standards current in the field, are an important task for the next years.
This conference endeavours to bring together specialists in the history of exchange of scientific and technical knowledge between Europe and China. The targets of this event will be to share between colleagues mainly from China and Germany experiences obtained from relevant research and delineate fields of promising investigations. Moreover, this opportunity is used to explore possibilities of further co-operations in the framework of other conventions and workshops to be held in the future, invitations of individual scholars for research stays, or joint project applications.

Visitors are very much welcome. Those who would like to attend should send a short note to Dr. Jost (eccs.md@gmail.com) or Dr. Cao (eccs.acad@gmail.com).

Programme and Flyer

Conference Venue
Sino-German Center for Research Promotion
Shuangqing Road 83, Haidian District, Beijing, PR China
中德科学中心, 北京市海淀区双清路83号

Conference Hotel
Holiday Inn Beijing Haidian ****
Shuangqing Road 89, Haidian District, Beijing, PR China
北京海淀红杉假日酒店, 北京市海淀区双清路89号A座

Conveners
Prof. Dr. ZHANG Baichun 张柏春
Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Prof. Dr. Hans Ulrich Vogel 傅汉思
Department of Chinese Studies, Tübingen University

Organization
European Centre for Chinese Studies at Peking University (ECCS)
Dr. Alexander JOST 曹大龙, Managing Director
0086-18601241464 (German, English, Chinese)
Dr. CAO Jin 曹晋, Academic Director
0086-18614090561 (Chinese, English, German)

傳天音、譯七藝，航巨海又梯高山，華夏披星追日月；
衡金石、探四元，識新知而聞舊友，神京接地論天人。
Poem composed by Dr. Chen Zhihui 陈志辉, Institute for the History of Science and Technology,
Inner Mongolia Normal University内蒙古師範大學科學技術史研究院,
in commemoration of this event.

From March 30 to April 1, 2019, a symposium with the title "Transfer of Scientific and Technical Knowledge between Europe and China during the Early Modern period" was held in the premises of the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion in Beijing. The Conveners, Prof. Hans Ulrich Vogel from the Department for Chinese Studies at Tübingen University and Prof. Zhang Baichun, Director of the Institute for the History of Natural Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences thanked the Sino-German Center for its generous support and introduced the more than 50 participants and guests into the topic, which was inspired by the recent rediscovery of the Kunyu gezhi, a rendering of Georgius Agricola's famous Renaissance mining classic De re metallica into Chinese undertaken by Johann Adam Schall von Bell during the last years of the Ming period. Fields as various as astronomy, cosmology, mathematics, mining, metallurgy, cartography, hydraulic engineering, medicine and mechanics were covered by the participants' presentations and discussions. The meeting, which was organized by the European Centre for Chinese Studies (ECCS) at Peking University culminated at the Wenjin Building of the National Library of China in a public lecture by Prof. Zhang Baichun, with further contributions by Prof. Shi Yunli, University of Science and Technology of China, and Prof. Karel Davids from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. During the meeting, participants were also offered insights into the National Library’s precious Beitang holdings, i.e. a collection of rare Western books brought to China mainly by the Jesuits, and they visited the Zhalan Cemetery with the graves of Matteo Ricci, Schall von Bell, Ferdinand Verbiest and other missionaries as well as the Ancient Beijing Observatory. The event made both sides aware of the great potential of further intensive communication and prepared the ground for future cooperation and exchanges between Tübingen University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences as well as other scholars in Germany and China beyond these institutions.

For German and Chinese versions see Kurzbericht/简报

18 April 2019, Beijing, Macau and Tübingen
Dr. Cao Jin, Dr. Jost, Prof. Hans Ulrich Vogel, and Sabine Kink

Lecture: Anja Chen (Tübingen), "Western Trigonometry in Late Ming China: Johann Schreck’s (1576-1630) Dace (Grand Measure, 1631)"

Anja Chen, B.A. (Tübingen University)
Lecture "Western Trigonometry in Late Ming China: Johann Schreck’s (1576-1630) Dace 大測 (Grand Measure, 1631)" (MA project)
Tuesday, 23 July 2019, 16:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30

Lecture: Patrick Aberle (Tübingen), "Measurement Methods in Late Ming China: Xu Guangqi and Matteo Ricci’s Celiang fayi (Methods and Meanings of Measurement, 1608)"

Patrick Aberle, B.A. (University of Tübingen)
Lecture "Measurement Methods in Late Ming China: Xu Guangqi 徐光啓 and Matteo Ricci’s Celiang fayi 測量法義 (Methods and Meanings of Measurement, 1608)" (M.A. Project)
Tuesday, 23 April 2019, 16:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30

Lecture: Prof. Dr. Antoni Ucerler (Ricci Institute, San Francisco), "Chinese Christian Books during the Edo Period (1603-1686): Prohibition and Circulation"

Prof. Dr. M. Antoni J. Ucerler, S.J. (Director, Ricci Institute, San Francisco, CA)
Lecture "Chinese Christian Books during the Edo Period (1603-1686): Prohibition and Circulation"
Tuesday, 8 February 2019, 14:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 42

2018

Report: Sabine Kink (Tübingen), Short Report on the 27th Agricola Colloquium in Chemnitz

27. Agricola-Gespräch, veranstaltet vom Agricola-Forschungszentrum Chemnitz, 24. November 2018, Chemnitz
Report (English and German)
Photos

Colloquium: 27. Agricola-Gespräch "Kunyu gezhi" oder die Geschichte der chinesischen Übersetzung von "De re metallica," Chemnitz

27. Agricola-Gespräch: Kunyu gezhi 坤輿格致 oder die Geschichte der chinesischen Übersetzung von "De re metallica", veranstaltet vom Agricola-Forschungszentrum Chemnitz, 24. November 2018, Wasserschloß Klaffenbach, Bürgersaal, Chemnitz
Flyer and Programme

Lecture: Anna Strob (Tübingen), "Tracing Connections: Jesuit Influences on Alfonso Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi (Investigation of Celestial Phenomena, c. 1633)"

Anna Strob, M.A., PhD cand.
Lecture "Tracing Connections: Jesuit Influences on Alfonso Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi 空際格致 (Investigation of Celestial Phenomena, c. 1633)" (PhD project)
Tuesday, 18 December 2018, 16:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30

Lecture: Sabine Kink (Tübingen), "'The Use of Strength is Reduced, but the Results are Extensive' – Hydraulic Pumps in S. de Ursis’ Taixi shuifa (Hydromethods of the Great West; 1612)"

Sabine Kink, M.A., PhD cand.
Lecture "'The Use of Strength is Reduced, but the Results are Extensive' – Hydraulic Pumps in S. de Ursis’ Taixi shuifa 泰西水法 (Hydromethods of the Great West; 1612)" (PhD project)
Tuesday, 13 November 2018, 16:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30

Lecture: Katharina Viklenko (Tübingen), "Espionage or Missionary Work? The Implications of the Russian Orthodox Mission on Qing China (Case Study of Archimandrite Palladius)"

Katharina Viklenko, B.A.
Lecture "Espionage or Missionary Work? The Implications of the Russian Orthodox Mission on Qing China (Case Study of Archimandrite Palladius)" (MA Project)
Tuesday, 6 November 2018, 16:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30

Visit: Dr. Cao Jin (Tübingen) spent a week at the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History in San Francisco

Upon invitation and with a generous travel grant of the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History, our project member Dr. Cao Jin spent one week in San Francisco from 4 to 10 August 2018. There, she received valuable support for our research project from Institute Director Prof. Antoni Ucerler S.J. and Librarian Mark Mir and made use the opportunity to establish relations and carry out exchange with many resident and visiting scholars.
Report

Lecture: Dr. Cao Jin (Tübingen), "From Ricci’s World Map to Schall’s Translation of De re metallica: Western Learning and China’s Search for Silver in Late Ming China," Boston, Mass.

Our project member Dr. Cao Jin (Tübingen University) gave two talks at the World Economic History Conference (WEHC) in Boston, Mass. (29 July - 3 August, 2018). On 3 August she introduced her newest paper discussing relations between the global role of silver in the 17th century and the Kunyu gezhi. Her presentation on 1 August focused on the crucial importance of copper currency in the monetary system of eighteenth-century China.
Poster and Programme

Lecture: Dr. CHEN Hailian (Trier), "In Search of the Origins of Smelting Zinc in China: The Hunan Tradition in Historical Perspective, ca. 1600-1930s"

Dr. CHEN Hailian (Trier University)
Lecture "In Search of the Origins of Smelting Zinc in China: The Hunan Tradition in Historical Perspective, ca. 1600-1930s"
Tuesday, 24 July 2018, 16:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30

Visit: Anna Strob (Tübingen) spent three months at the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History in San Francisco, CA

Having been granted the Ricci Institute Doctoral Research Fellowship, Anna Strob spent three months at the University of San Francisco, California, from June to August 2018. As an established research institution in the field of the history of Christianity in East Asia, the USF Ricci Institute offered her access to rare archival sources related to topics in Chinese-Western cultural history and a unique opportunity to advance her dissertation project on the translation of Renaissance science to late Ming China. Her research activities focused mainly on the transmission of Jesuit sources on Aristotelian natural philosophy to late imperial China and the missionary authors involved in the translation process. Her efforts were generously supported by the librarian Mark Mir, who introduced her to the institute’s rich collections and databases. Throughout the visit, the fellowship holders were encouraged to participate in events of the wider academic community and to exchange with young scholars in the same fields of interest.
Report

Lecture: Prof. Dr. Robert Horres (Tübingen), "Studien zur Technik des japanischen Zimmerhandwerks: Werkzeugsätze in der Technikgeschichte des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts"

Prof. Dr. Robert Horres (Tübingen University, Japanese Studies)
Lecture "Studien zur Technik des japanischen Zimmerhandwerks: Werkzeugsätze in der Technikgeschichte des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts",
Tuesday 29 May 2018, 18:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30

Lecture: Anna Strob (Tübingen), "The Semantics of Heaven in Alfonso Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi, c. 1633"

Anna Strob, M.A., PhD cand.
Lecture "The Semantics of Heaven in Alfonso Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi 空際格致, c. 1633"
Tuesday, 16 January 2018, 16:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30

2017

Lecture: Sabine Kink (Tübingen), "'At Full Moon Clams are Stout': Explanation of Tidal Phenomena in the Taixi shuifa (Hydromethods of the Great West; 1612)"

Sabine Kink, MA, PhD cand. (Tübingen University)
Lecture "'At Full Moon Clams are Stout': Explanation of Tidal Phenomena in the Taixi shuifa 泰西水法 (Hydromethods of the Great West; 1612)" (PhD project)
Tuesday, 5 December 2017, 16:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30

Lecture: Sabine Kink (Tübingen), "Pumps Put in Perspective: Sabatino de Ursis' Taixi shuifa (Hydromethods of the Great West; 1612) in its Literary Context"

Sabine Kink, MA, Dr. phil. cand. (Tübingen University)
Lecture "Pumps Put in Perspective: Sabatino de Ursis' Taixi shuifa 泰西水法 (Hydromethods of the Great West; 1612) in its Literary Context" (PhD project)
Tuesday, 27 June 2017, 18:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30

Lecture: Anna Strob (Tübingen), "Translating Western Science to Late Ming China: Alfonso Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi, c. 1633"

Anna Strob, MA, Dr. phil. cand. (Tübingen University)
Lecture "Translating Western Science to Late Ming China: Alfonso Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi 空際格致, c. 1633"
Tuesday, 23 May 2017, 18:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30

2016

Lecture: Prof. Dr. Hans Ulrich Vogel (Tübingen), "Schall von Bell‘s Chinese Translation of Agricola‘s De Re Metallica (1556): Useful Knowledge and the Great Divergence," IHSS, Peking University

Hans Ulrich Vogel, „Schall von Bell‘s Chinese Translation of Agricola‘s De Re Metallica (1556): Useful Knowledge and the Great Divergence", lecture presented by 21 November 2016 at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at Peking University (IHSS). More Information.
Poster exhibition created by Dr. Alexander Jost
More Information.

Lecture: Prof. Dr. Hans Ulrich Vogel (Tübingen), "Adam Schall von Bell‘s Kunyu gezhi (Investigations of the Earth‘s Interior; 1640): Historical Facts and Theoretical Perspectives," University of Macau

Hans Ulrich Vogel (Tübingen University)
Lecture "Adam Schall von Bell‘s Kunyu gezhi 坤輿格致 (Investigations of the Earth‘s Interior; 1640): Historical Facts and Theoretical Perspectives"
Presented at the Workshop “Historiography about Exchanges across the Asian Maritime World, 1500-1800”, 28-29 October 2016, Department of History, University of Macau.

Lecture: Prof. Hans Ulrich Vogel (Tübingen) & Prof. Dr. Beatriz Puente Ballesteros (UMAC), "Translating Renaissance Science, Technology and Medicine to Late Ming China: 'Useful and Reliable Knowledge' in the Light of the 'Great Divergence'"

Hans Ulrich Vogel (Tübingen University) and Beatriz Puente Ballesteros (University of Macau)
Lecture "Translating Renaissance Science, Technology and Medicine to Late Ming China: 'Useful and Reliable Knowledge' in the Light of the 'Great Divergence'” (《將文藝復興時期的科學、技術和醫學譯介到晚明時期的中國：中西“大分流”背景下的“有用且可信的知識”》)
Presented at 大航海時代的澳門與世界”國際研討會暨澳門歷史文化研究會第15屆學術年會議程, 19-20 September 2016, Macao Polytechnic Institute (澳門理工學院).

Lecture: Prof. Dr. Hans Ulrich Vogel (Tübingen), "Die Übertragung von Georg Agricolas De re metallica (1556) nach China im frühen 17. Jh.: Europäisches 'nützliches Wissen' und die Große Divergenz"

Hans Ulrich Vogel, "Die Übertragung von Georg Agricolas De re metallica (1556) nach China im frühen 17. Jh.: Europäisches 'nützliches Wissen' und die Große Divergenz", lecture presented at the "Symposium zu Ehren von Peter M. Kuhfus, Akademischer Oberrat in der Sinologie", 23 July 2016, Department of Chinese Studies, Tübingen University

Lecture: Prof. Dr. António de Saldanha (Macau/Lisbon), "Staying on, after Ricci: The Rediscovered Beijing Journal (1610-1616) of Sabatino de Ursis, S.J. "

Prof. Dr. António Vasconcelos de Saldanha (University of Macau and University of Lisbon)
Lecture "Staying on, after Ricci: The Rediscovered Beijing Journal (1610-1616) of Sabatino de Ursis 熊三拔, S.J. (1575-1620)"
Tuesday, 19 July 2016, 18:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30

Lecture: Sabine Kink (Tübingen), "Presenting Western Technical Instructions to Ming Literati: Description of the Jade-Balance Pump (yuheng che) in Sabatino de Ursis‘ Taixi shuifa"

Sabine KINK, MA, Dr. phil. cand. (Tübingen University)
Lecture/Text Reading: "Presenting Western Technical Instructions to Ming Literati: Description of the Jade-Balance Pump (yuheng che 玉衡車) in Sabatino de Ursis‘ Taixi shuifa 泰西水法 (Hydromethods of the Great West; 1612)" (PhD project)
Tuesday, 5 July 2016, 18:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30

2015

Lecture: Prof. Dr. Catherine Jami (Paris), "Science and Empire: The View from Beijing, ca. 1700"

Prof. Dr. Catherine Jami (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris)
Lecture "Science and Empire: The View from Beijing, ca. 1700"
Tuesday, 1 December 2015, 18:00 c.t., Wilhelmstr. 133, R. 30