Title

The Transmission of Western Learning and the Evidential Studies of Natural Knowledge in Late Ming: The Case of Xiong Mingyu on the Generation of Hail

Author

Kuang-tai Hsu

Genre

Article  

Pages

117-157

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

Ming, evidential studies of natural knowledge, Zhu Xi, hail generated by lizards, Jesuits, Aristotle, four elements, Xiong Mingyu, Ze cao, Gezhi cao, Confucianism (Neo-Confucianism) and Science

Abstract

  In late Ming, while Jesuits came to propagate Christianity in China, they also transmitted alternative natural knowledge which is different from that of Chinese. This paper aims at investigating the evidential studies of traditional natural knowledge in terms of that of western learning done by Xiong Mingyu (1579-1649) in his works of Ze cao 則草and Gezhi cao 格致草.

  The author finds that, in Song dynasty Zhu Xi believed that hail was generated by lizards. This view became popular from Song to the end of Ming. Nevertheless, in the context of "gewu qiongli," it implies that the bizarre case of hail generated by lizards has its own reason. Under the impact of Aristotelian natural philosophy, Xiong Mingyu found that the reasons put forth to explain the generation of hail in Chinese traditions were different from that of Aristotelian philosophers. Through his evidential study on this case, he contended that the reasons offered by Confucians are not clear; especially, he considered the generation of hail by lizards to be groundless. It became a very solid case of the relation between NeoConfucianism and science, showing that Xiong Mingyu was a pioneer of the evidential studies of natural knowledge