Statecraft and Intellectual Renewal in Late Ming China ─ The Cross-Cultural Synthesis of Xu Guangqi (1562-1633)

Xu Guangqi was one of the first promoters of Western science in China, worked together with the Jesuit Matteo Ricci on translations of Western science, was one of the first Chinese converts, a high-ranking statesman, organizer of a major calendar reform, introduced Western weapons into the Chinese army, etc. etc.The current volume is a composite profile of this complex figure that is solidly anchored in Chinese (and Western) primary sources. A major achievement.

Catherine Jami, Ph.D. (1985, Universite de Paris XIII), is Chargee de Recherche at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Paris). She works on the history of Chinese mathematics and astronomy and has published extensively on the reception of European science in China during the Ming and early Qing.Peter Engelfriet, Ph.D. (1996, University of Leiden), specializes in Chinese religious and scientific history, including particularly the early Jesuit mission to China. His publications includeEuclid in China (Brill, 1998) and Linked Faiths (Brill, 2000), a festschrift honouring Kristofer Schipper.Gregory Blue, Ph.D. (1989, University of Cambridge), teaches History at the University of Victoria (BC, Canada). His research focuses on the history of Sino-Western relations and on Western interpretations of Chinese history and society.