Science, civilization, and the origins of European sinology

科学、文明与欧洲汉学的起源

• 批准号: 1028709
• 负责人: Florence Hsia
• 金额: $ 12.13万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-10-01 至 2013-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1028709&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Science; civilization; origins; European; sinology

Summary Science, civilization, and the origins of European sinology examines the emergence of European scholarship on Chinese science and civilization through the prism of a controversy over the Passion Eclipse, a debate born in the shadows that, according to the synoptic gospels, covered the land until Jesus spoke his last words. Some seventeen centuries later, a Jesuit missionary shockingly suggested that the pagan Chinese might shed light on an event at the very heart of Christian belief, for their historical records for the same year and month as the crucifixion told of a solar eclipse that had occurred against the natural course of the stars. In response, citizens of the early modern Republic of Letters gradually computed and conjectured their way to increasingly sophisticated evaluations of China's scientific traditions. The project will use the Chinese Passion Eclipse controversy as a window into the ways in which early modern European scholars confronted Chinese natural knowledge.Intellectual meritMapping the correspondence networks of the central participants in the Chinese Passion Eclipse controversy will provide a fresh perspective into the formation of sinological communities in early modern Europe, one that emphasizes dynamics of intellectual sociability over confessional divides or a nascent orientalism. The project also builds on recent studies of reading, collecting, and scientific practices to examine how these scholars applied a variety of interpretive tools to dissect claims concerning Chinese science's venerable antiquity and to construct narratives about its perceived stagnation. And in moving beyond sinophilic and sinophobic labels, the project advances a fine-grained approach to processes of cultural exchange in the history of science by drawing on recent work in manuscript and print culture to analyze texts as material artifacts that make tangible complex histories of knowledge production and reception.Broader impactsThe project will provide researchers, educators, students, and broad readerships with a methodologically and pedagogically innovative model for historical studies of cross-cultural scientific exchange. Plans for disseminating the project's results include a monograph addressed to specialist and general audiences and a contribution to an American Historical Association publication series that makes issues in world history accessible to students and educators at the secondary and post-secondary levels.

摘要科学、文明和欧洲汉学的起源通过关于激情日食的争议的棱镜来考察欧洲关于中国科学和文明的学术的出现，根据天气福音，这场辩论诞生在阴影中，覆盖了这片土地，直到耶稣说出他的最后一句话。大约17个世纪后，一位耶稣会传教士令人震惊地暗示，异教徒中国人可能揭示了基督教信仰核心的一件事，因为他们的历史记录与十字架受难的年份和月份相同，因为他们讲述了一次日食发生在恒星的自然轨迹上。作为回应，早期现代文人共和国的公民逐渐计算和猜测，逐渐对中国的科学传统做出越来越复杂的评价。该项目将利用中国的月食争议作为一个窗口，了解早期现代欧洲学者面对中国自然知识的方式。绘制中国日食争议中心参与者的通信网络图将为早期现代欧洲汉学社区的形成提供一个新的视角，一个强调知识社会的动态而不是忏悔分歧或新生东方主义的社区。该项目还建立在最近对阅读、收集和科学实践的研究基础上，以检验这些学者如何应用各种解释工具来剖析有关中国科学古老的主张，并构建关于其感觉到的停滞不前的叙事。在超越亲汉和恐华标签的过程中，该项目通过利用最近在手稿和印刷文化方面的工作，将文本作为物质人工制品进行分析，使知识生产和接受的有形复杂历史成为现实。该项目将为研究人员、教育工作者、学生和广大读者提供一个方法和教学上的创新模式，用于跨文化科学交流的历史研究，从而推动科学史上的文化交流过程。传播该项目成果的计划包括一本面向专业和普通受众的专著，以及对美国历史协会出版的一系列出版物的贡献，该系列出版物使中学和高等教育的学生和教育工作者能够了解世界历史问题。