New Astronomy in Service of Old Astrology: Close Planetary Conjunctions in Pre-Modern China

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-427
Author(s):  
Liang Li
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Modern China ◽  
Mathematical Astronomy ◽  
New Knowledge

This article introduces various definitions and criteria for the astronomical phenomena of “encroachments” (close lunar and planetary conjunctions) in pre-modern China. With improvements in observations and mathematical astronomy, the standard of encroachments began to undergo many changes leading to more precise explanations of the phenomena. Before the adoption of Huihui Lifa (Islamic-Chinese calendrical astronomy), traditional Chinese methods could not predict the phenomena of encroachments, and records of encroachments were mainly based on actual observations. These records abound in Chinese dynastic histories, and they play an essential role in the interpretation of astrological omens. In the first half of the seventeenth century, the prediction of encroachments became an effective approach for examining the accuracy of different elements of calendrical astronomy besides solar and lunar eclipses. In the meantime, with the introduction of western astronomical knowledge into China, people had a better understanding of the principle of encroachments, and they began to question its rationality in astrology. Moreover, new knowledge of encroachments also brought new insights and inspired some philosophical discussions on the structure of the cosmos. However, these new astronomical methods still served the old astrology, due to the continued requirements that astronomers interpret astrological omens.

Production, Communication, and Comprehension of Knowledge of the New World: Ethnographic Descriptions in Caspar Barlaeus’ Rerum per Octennium

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-246
Author(s):  
Britt Dams
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
New World ◽  
Classical Antiquity ◽  
Careful Selection ◽  
The Bible ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Trading Network ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Dutch Brazil

This article deals with the textual legacy of Dutch Brazil, in particular the ethnographic descriptions in one of the most popular works about the colony: Barlaeus’ Rerum per Octennium in Brasilia et alibi nuper gestarum. Barlaeus never set foot in Brazil, but was an important Dutch intellectual authority in the seventeenth century. To compose the Rerum per Octennium, he relied on a wide variety of available sources, not only firsthand observations, but also classical, biblical and other contemporary sources. From these, he made a careful selection to produce his descriptions. Recent research shows that the Dutch participated in networks of knowledge and imagination as well as in a more familiar early modern trading network. This article reveals that Barlaeus’ descriptions not only circulated as knowledge, but also produced new knowledge. The Rerum soon became one of the standard works about the colony due to the importance of its author and its composition. Furthermore, the article discusses the rhetorical techniques used in some selected descriptions in order to shed light upon the strategies Barlaeus used in his discourse on the strange reality of the New World. For example, his ethnographic descriptions employed parallel customs or events from the classical Antiquity or the Bible. In these comparisons he displays both his intellectual capacities and shows his desire to comprehend this exotic reality.

Translating the Concept of Experiment in the Late Eighteenth Century

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-97
Author(s):  
Eirini Goudarouli ◽  
Dimitris Petakos
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Intellectual Activity ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Concepts ◽  
Intellectual Context ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
Different Cultures

The Philosophical Grammar: Being a View of the Present State of Experimented Physiology, or Natural Philosophy, In Four Parts (1735) by Benjamin Martin was translated into Greek by Anthimos Gazis in 1799. According to the history of concepts, no political, social, or intellectual activity can occur without the establishment of a common vocabulary of basic concepts. By interfering in the linguistic structure, the act of translation may affect crucially the encounter of different cultures. By bringing together the history of science and the history of concepts, this article treats the transfer of the concept of experiment from the seventeenth-century British philosophical context to the eighteenth-century Greek-speaking intellectual context. The article focuses mainly on the different ways Gazis’s translation contributed to the construction of a particular conceptual framework for the appropriation of new knowledge.

A LOCALISED BOUNDARY OBJECT: SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY WESTERN MUSIC THEORY IN CHINA

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 75-113
Author(s):  
Sheryl Chow
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Print Culture ◽  
Music Theory ◽  
Scientific Revolution ◽  
Cultural Exchange ◽  
Boundary Object ◽  
Western Music ◽  
Coincidence Theory ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Musical Traditions

In 1685, the Portuguese Jesuit Thomas Pereira was ordered by the Qing Kangxi emperor to write books on Western music theory in Chinese. Presented in the books were seventeenth-century practical and speculative music theories, including the coincidence theory of consonance. Invoking the concept of ‘boundary object’, this article shows that the cultural exchange, which gave rise to new knowledge by means of selection, synthesis and reinterpretation, was characterised by a lack of consensus between the transmitter and the receivers over the functions of the imported theories. Although the coincidence theory of consonance could potentially effect the transition from a pure numerical to a physical understanding of pitch, as in the European scientific revolution, it failed to flourish in China not only because of different theoretical concerns between European and Chinese musical traditions, but also because of its limited dissemination caused by Chinese print culture.

Pembelajaran Audio Visual Selama Pandemi Covid-19 Di TK Kana Ungaran

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 175
Author(s):  
Diana Kristanti ◽  
Hary Purwanto ◽  
Maria Lidya Wenas
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Collection Method ◽  
Data Collection Method ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Teachers And Parents

Learning activities have an essential role in improving learning, which serves to see how understanding students receive new knowledge from the teaching and learning process, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic with audiovisual materials at Kana Ungaran Integrated Kindergarten. The type of research used is descriptive quantitative (survey). The data collection method used a questionnaire. The results showed that: (1) aspects of children's learning activities in participating in the learning process in terms of prayer (93%) were stated to be very active; (2) then the observing aspect (76%) can be noted that children are involved in online learning; (3) then the aspect of remembering (94%) can be stated that the child is very active in participating in the learning process in terms of placing; and (4) the next aspect is understanding (66%) can be stated that they are pretty active in the learning process. From the research results, the lowest aspect is understanding (66%), and the highest aspect is remembering (94%). This study suggests that teachers and parents work together and entrust the child to the supervisor during the online learning process. Aktivitas belajar memiliki peranan penting dalam proses peningkatan pembelajaran, yang berfungsi untuk melihat seberapa paham siswa menerima pengetahuan baru dari proses belajar mengajar terlebih pada masa pandemi Covid-19 dengan berbantuan audio visual di TK Terpadu Kana Ungaran.  Jenis penelitian yang digunakan ialah kuantitatif deskriptif (survei). Metode pengumpulan data menggunakan angket. Hasil penelitian bahwa: (1) aspek aktivitas belajar anak dalam mengikuti proses pembelajaran dari dalam hal berdoa (93%) sebelumnya (53%) dinyatakan sangat aktif; (2) kemudian aspek mengamati (76%) sebelumnya (45%) dapat dinyatakan anak aktif dalam pembelajaran daring; (3) selanjutnya aspek mengingat (94%) sebelumnya (59%) dapat dinyatakan anak sangat aktif dalam mengikuti proses pembelajaran dalam hal mengingat; dan (4) aspek yang keberikutnya ialah memahami (66%) sebelumnya (36%) dapat dinyatakan cukup aktif dalam proses pembelajarannya. Dari hasil penelitian menghasilkan aspek terendah ialah memahami (66%) dan aspek tertinggi ialah mengingat (94%).  Dalam penelitian ini disarankan kepada guru dan orang tua murid untuk bekerjasama dan mempercayakan anak kepada pembimbing selama proses pembelajaran daring.

Hybridizing Scholastic Psychology with Chinese Medicine: A Seventeenth-Century Chinese Catholic's Conceptions of Xin (Mind and Heart)

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Contact Zone ◽  
Medical Doctor ◽  
The Other ◽  
Modern China ◽  
Theoretical Position ◽  
East West

AbstractThis paper explores the dynamics of cultural interactions between early modern China and Europe initiated by the Jesuits and other Catholic missionaries through a case study of Wang Honghan, a seventeenth-century Chinese Catholic who systematically sought to integrate European learning introduced by the missionaries with pre-modern Chinese medicine. Focusing on the ways in which Wang combined his Western and Chinese sources to develop and articulate his views on xin (mind and heart), this paper argues that Wang arrived at a peculiar hybrid between scholastic psychology and Chinese medicine, not so much through a course of haphazard misunderstanding as through his conscious and patterned use and abuse of his Western sources, which was motivated most possibly by a wish to define a theoretical position that most suited his social roles as a Catholic convert and a Chinese medical doctor. Thus, rather than seeing Wang as an epitome of "transmission failure," this paper offers it as a showcase for the tremendous dynamism and creativity occurring at this East-West "contact zone" as representatives of both cultures sought to appropriate and transform the symbolic and textual resources of the other side.

scholarly journals THE DISSEMINATION AND USE OF EUROPEAN MUSIC BOOKS IN EARLY MODERN ASIA

2009 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 39-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. M. Irving
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Modern China ◽  
Local Production ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Musical Scores ◽  
Musical Works ◽  
Musical Practices

Musical commodities frequently accompanied European explorers, soldiers, merchants and missionaries who travelled to Asia in the early modern period. During this time, numerous theoretical treatises and musical scores – both printed and manuscript – were disseminated throughout Asia. This article examines the dissemination and use of European musical works in early modern China, Japan and the Philippines, before identifying the titles of scores and treatises so far known to have been present in these territories. In order to measure the relative success of European missionaries in transplanting music to early modern Asia, it then takes as case studies the local production of three significant sources of European music during the seventeenth century: (1) the earliest example of printed European music from Asia, produced by the Jesuit press at Nagasaki in 1605; (2) a Chinese treatise on European music that was commissioned by the Kangxi Emperor in 1713 and printed the following decade; and (3) a 116-page manuscript treatise, compiled by an unidentified Jesuit in late seventeenth-century Manila, which synthesises the most current European music theory as well as commenting on local musical practices.

scholarly journals Antisyphilitic Mercury Drugs in Early Modern China and Japan

2015 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 997-1016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Trambaiolo
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Corrosive Sublimate ◽  
Modern China ◽  
Mercury Chloride ◽  
Technical Knowledge ◽  
History Of ◽  
China And Japan

Abstract Toxic mercury chloride compounds, including preparations and mixtures of corrosive sublimate (HgCl2) and calomel (Hg2Cl2), were widely used in early modern Chinese and Japanese medicine. Some of these drugs had been manufactured in East Asia for more than a thousand years, while others were produced using newer recipes developed in East Asia after the arrival of syphilis or introduced through contact with European medical knowledge. This paper traces the history of the uses and methods of production of sublimated mercury chloride drugs in early modern East Asia, showing how the Chinese doctor Chen Sicheng’s invention of the drug shengshengru (J. seiseinyū) 生生乳 in the seventeenth century exerted a strong influence over eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Japanese doctors’ treatment of syphilis. Japanese doctors’ efforts to produce and use seiseinyū provided a foundation of technical knowledge that was important for their later reception of European-style mercury chloride drugs.

Implementation of Simulation Software for Better Understanding of Manufacturing Processes

2011 ◽  
Vol 692 ◽  
pp. 58-64
Author(s):  
N. Ortega ◽  
Ainhoa Celaya ◽  
Soraya Plaza ◽  
Aitzol Lamikiz ◽  
Inigo Pombo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Essential Role ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Traditional Classroom ◽  
Manufacturing Processes ◽  
Successful Case ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
European Higher Education ◽  
Different Levels

The adaptation of universities to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) plays an essential role in society, creating new knowledge, transferring it to students by means of new and more active methodologies aimed at learning that will enable students to put everything they learn into practice. However, such methodologies are not equally applicable in all subjects. Subjects such as Manufacturing Technology, taught at different levels in both undergraduate and graduate levels, are descriptive to a great extent. This descriptive nature must be supported by new technologies if these subjects claim to be more attractive to students. In this paper some examples of successful case studies are presented. They represent the new way of understanding the teaching replacing the old concept of traditional classroom lecture by more interactive ones and, therefore, more attractive to students.

Some Observations on the “Seventeenth-Century Crisis” in China and Japan

1986 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
William S. Atwell
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Ming Dynasty ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
International Perspective ◽  
Modern China ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
China And Japan

For more than three decades now, scholars have been debating whether or not a “general crisis” occurred in European social, economic, and political history during the seventeenth century. The debate is far from over, but one of its happy side effects has been that students of seventeenth-century Spain, France, or England now are rarely satisfied to study their chosen countries in total isolation. Indeed, it is generally agreed that many aspects of European history during the early-modern period need to be studied from an international perspective in order to be understood fully.The author maintains that the same is true for early-modern China and Japan. Although they had radically different economic, social, and political systems, the Ming dynasty and Tokugawa shogunate experienced a number of problems during the midseventeenth century that were at once interrelated and strikingly similar to those occurring in other parts of the world at the same time.

Transnational Networks in Basic Science

1971 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 585-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Crane
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Basic Science ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Intergovernmental Organizations ◽  
Scientific Cooperation ◽  
Scientific Communities ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Exchange Information ◽  
National Boundaries ◽  
International Scientific Cooperation

Basic science is an inherently international activity. Its principal goal is the production of new knowledge which is evaluated according to universal standards. In terms of membership and goals scientific communities have been international since their emergence during the seventeenth century. Basic science today consists of hundreds of research problem areas in which groups of scientists study similar problems and exchange information across national boundaries. International scientific cooperation occurs on several levels ranging from informal communication between individual researchers to multilateral agreements between governments and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs).

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