The Influence of the on the Spread of European Mechanical Knowledge in China in the XVIth and XVIIth Centuries

Michela Cigola

Laboratory of Documentation, Analyis, Survey on Architecture and Territory. DiMSAT. University Cassino, via G. Di Biasio 43, 03043 Cassino, Italy

Abstract. This article aims to investigate the role played by various missionar- ies of the Society of Jesus in the development and spread of European scientific and mechanical knowledge in China between the XVIth and XVIIth centuries.

1 The Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus (in Latin Societas Iesu) is a male religious institution governed by papal law. The members of this order of clerks regular, called Jesuits, place the letters S.J. after their names. The order was founded by the Spaniard who, along with several companions, professed vows in Paris in 1534 to preach in the Holy Land (this project was later abandoned in 1537) and swore obedience to the . Ignatius’ plans were approved by Pope Paul III in 1540. After being expelled from several European coun- tries in the second half of the XVIIIth century, the order was suppressed by Pope Clement XIV in 1773, but was restored by Pope Pius VII in 1814. The Jesuits, whose motto is Ad maiorem Dei gloriam, indicating their search for mystical perfection, observe a vow of total obedience to the pope and are particularly involved in missions and education. The spread of the order was rapid and its activities in several countries were ex- traordinarily vigorous. On the death of St. Ignatius (1556), it had more than 1000 monks with around 100 colleges and other houses spread out over 12 provinces, in Europe, Africa, the Indies and South America [1]. Some of the order’s cultural centres were promoted by St Ignatius in Rome: the Collegium Romanum founded in 1551, and the Collegium Germanicum founded in 1552. The history of Jesuit missions is integral to the history of relations between China and the West. The first attempt made by a Jesuit to reach China was in 1552 by St Francis Xa- vier, a Spanish priest and missionary and founding member of the Society of Jesus. , however, never actually reached China, dying a year after his arrival on the Chinese island of Shangchuan.

T. Koetsier, M. Ceccarelli (Eds.): Explorations in the His. of Machines & Mech., HMMS 15, pp. 69–79. springerlink.com © Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2012