Overview
Key data
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Completed | 1723 (first year of Yongzheng, Qing) |
| Compilation | By imperial order under Kangxi |
| Volumes | Fifty-three |
| Contents | Arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry, algebra (the “root-borrowing method”) |
Why it was compiled
The Kangxi emperor was fond of mathematics and ordered the compilation of the Shuli Jingyun,
which with the Lixiang Kaocheng and the Correct Meaning of Pitch and Pitch Pipes forms the Origins of Pitch and Calendar.
It gathers the Western mathematics then introduced together with traditional Chinese mathematics into one work.
Contents and form
The work is divided into sections on establishing the principles and on applying them in detail:
the former treats the principles of mathematics, the latter the applications of its various methods.
It covers arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry, and the algebra then called the “root-borrowing method.”
It restates the notation and methods of Western mathematics in Chinese, making them easy for scholars to study.
Value
The Shuli Jingyun is the authorized Qing compendium of mathematics,
standing to calendrical learning as the outside to the inside: calendrical computation is impossible without mathematics.
The entry of Western methods at the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing is a key passage in the exchange between Chinese and Western calendrics: from Matteo Ricci’s arrival, through the reform urged by Xu Guangqi and others, to Adam Schall’s recension, a whole body of Western astronomy passed by stages into the Chinese almanac. The claim that “Western learning has its source in China” was one Qing response to this.
Compiled and arranged by Chujia Kuang.