Wang Hsi-Shan or
Wang Xishan 王錫闡 (23 July 1628 – 18 October 1682) was a Chinese astronomer, almanac maker, and mathematician who developed an independent cosmological view based on ideas from western astronomy and mathematics. He lived during the late
Ming and early
Qing period and published several manuscript works that have survived.
Wang was the son of Wang Pei-Chen and was born in Soochow. He was self taught and was said to be unimpressive in his appearance and made a living by teaching. He also had some wealthy patrons. The Chinese court of the Ming Dynasty had an astronomical bureau that included Jesuits who brought in knowledge of western astronomy and were involved in introducing calendar reforms. Wang began to study the motions of the stars, and planets using numerical approaches demonstrated in western teaching along with other scholars like Mei Wen-ting and Hsueh Feng-tso. In order to increase acceptability of their approaches, they invented the idea that these techniques had originated in China and had then been taken up from there by western scholars. In 1663 Wang produced tables to help calculating ephemerides, eclipses and solar transits of Venus and Mercury. In 1673 he published on the movements of the planets which considered moving spheres and forces acting on the planets from the outer periphery of these spheres. He divided a circle into 384 divisions rather than the 360 used in western instruments.
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王錫闡(1628年 - 1682年),字
曉庵,號
餘不、
天同一生,江蘇吳江人,明末清初天文學家暨數學家。明亡後,終生不仕,一生鑽研曆法、天象。曾獨立發明計算金星凌日、水星凌日的方法,並提出推算日食、月食的方法。他與
薛鳳祚並稱「
南王北薛」。
王錫闡著有《曉庵新法》六卷、《歷說》六篇、《歷策》一篇、《大統西曆啟蒙》、《推步交朔測小記》、《圜解》、《三辰晷志》、《五星行度解》等。
Read more...: 生平 評價 王錫闡墓
生平
王錫闡自幼好學,11歲以後,專心研究曆象,學習西方曆法和科學知識。16歲以後,明朝覆亡,崇禎帝自縊。滿清入關,他得知後,先是自縊、投河和絕食,試圖三度以死殉國,但是均告失敗。他在往後的人生歲月裡,在自傳《天同一生傳》中,以「帝休氏」自稱,表達強烈的亡國之痛。然而清朝統治逐漸穩固,王錫闡放棄科舉求仕之路,以表達自己「誓不仕清」的決心。此後,他便在江南講學,同時繼續研究天文曆法,中年以後,他儘管疾病纏身,仍然著述曆法、筆耕不輟。
王錫闡由於個人的政治選擇,造成他大半生過著窮困窘迫的生活,終其一生他的曆法學說並未廣泛流傳。而在他逝世之後,不少著作已經散佚,在他的故友門生搜集整理之下,剩下的著作得以逐漸刊印流傳。
評價
王錫闡鑽研究曆法注重實際觀察,務求與天象結合,以形成自己的觀點。他除了精通曆法之外,對於經史、音律等領域也有所研究。
王錫闡曾提出「中學西竊」之說,對梅文鼎產生影響。在此基礎上,梅文鼎提出「西學中源」之說。他與梅文鼎、薛鳳祚等人並稱為一代曆法名家。
思想家顧炎武在《廣師》一文中譽王錫闡「學究天人,確乎不拔」。
王錫闡墓
王錫闡墓位於震澤鎮(今震澤中學內)。1982年3月,王錫闡墓(附王賢祠)被列為江蘇省文物保護單位。 1998年王賢祠改為「王錫闡紀念館」。
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