French Jesuit Astronomical Observations in Beijing

Name: French Jesuit Astronomical Observations in Beijing
Start: 1661
End: 1670

Type Event Region China Time 1661–1670

In the 1660s, Jesuits continued Ming-era astronomical and calendrical work at Beijing's Imperial Astronomy Bureau and observatory, laying groundwork …

Timeline

1664–1668Beijing Observatory · BeijingUnder the ban on Christianity, Jesuits at the Imperial Astronomy Bureau were imprisoned, and regular celestial observations and calendrical compilation at the observatory nearly ceased, leaving the European astronomical tradition in China facing a crisis of survival.
1669–1670Beijing Observatory · BeijingVerbiast regained trust through calendrical and computational tests, was ordered to rebuild the observatory's instruments and resume celestial observations, restoring the Jesuit astronomical observation system in China and laying the foundation for the participation of Jesuits from multiple countries.

Sources

The Astronomical Instruments of the Ming and Ch'ing Emperors — Joseph Needham (1958)
Jesuit Science and the Republic of Letters — Mordechai Feingold (ed.) (2003)