How mysterious is "Qin Tianjian" in Qing Dynasty, which integrates theology and science?

1675 (in the 14th year of Kangxi), when the Central Plains of China was still in the buffer stage of dynasty change, the first astronomical research institution in Britain-Greenwich Observatory (also known as the Royal Observatory) was formally established, and it was fortunate to be located in the beautiful Royal Greenwich Garden on the Thames.

Prior to this, when the Qing army entered the Central Plains of China (A.D. 1644), the rulers also established a celestial research institution similar to the Royal Observatory on the basis of the Qing Dynasty, which was called "Qin" institution in history. It is worth noting that although this institution has long shouldered the heavy responsibility of studying ancient astronomy in China, it is not the same as the Royal Observatory. Take the most obvious example: the former not only has functions based on scientific theory, such as making calendars, observing images and telling time, but also has social and cultural functions without scientific theory, such as choosing calendars, issuing accounts and choosing places. For example, as recorded in Volume 77 of Guangxu Canon, the latter is based on substantial scientific theory. It can be seen that it is quite logical to say that imperial academy in Qing Dynasty was a mysterious institution integrating science and theology.

In the complicated ruling mechanism of Qing Dynasty, as one of the most easily overlooked institutions, what are the characteristics of "Qin Tianjian" from the perspective of feudal rule? And what are the differences in details between this institution and the Royal Observatory at the same time? On this series of problems, the author will briefly discuss with readers in this article.

0 1 "Qin": an astronomical institution whose ruling function is greater than its scientific research function. First of all, as the last government agency in ancient China, the ruling function of Qin in Qing Dynasty was definitely above scientific research, which is beyond doubt. No matter what image it created, it can be seen that it is still a feudal ruling institution based on inheriting the will of God for the rulers, handling state affairs, making astronomical calendars, and binding the daily behavior norms of the Lebanese people.

Secondly, compared with the previous dynasties, the official position of "Qin" in Qing Dynasty is very complicated. According to historical records, from the third year of Shunzhi to the third year of Kangxi (official 1664), the officials of Qin Tian Prison "merged with the Han people", that is to say, during this period, the institution completed the integration process of "Manchu officials". In the 31st year of Kangxi (A.D. 1693), due to the need of translating Mongolian constitutional books, there were more vacancies in Mongolian official positions. In addition, a large number of western missionaries came to China in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, which had a certain influence and stimulation on the field of astronomy at that time. Therefore, during the nearly 200 years from the first year of Shunzhi to the sixth year of Daoguang (1826), there appeared the phenomenon that western priests held important positions in Tian Jian, Qin. Therefore, the inclusiveness of "Qin" in Qing dynasty is incomparable to that of previous dynasties. However, due to its huge inclusiveness and relatively loose management, the "Imperial Celestial Supervisor" in the Qing Dynasty greatly promoted the astronomical exchanges between China and the West, official and unofficial.

German missionary Tang Ruowang

Finally, the organizational system of "Qin" in the Qing Dynasty was relatively simple, with low rank of officials and slow promotion. Before the Ming Dynasty, the organizational system of ancient astronomical institutions in China was very complicated. Until the thirty-first year of Hongwu (1398), Qin still had four subjects: calendar, missing engraving, Uighur and astronomy. After the early years of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, only three subjects remained. In addition, the level of "Qin" officials in the Qing Dynasty was lower than that of any dynasty. For example, until the end of the Qing Dynasty, the rank of a court envoy (Zhengsi Pin) was still higher than that of Qin (Zhengwu Pin).

To sum up, it can be seen that the impact of western advanced cultural ideas did not bring any substantial subversion to Qin Tianjian's structure and function in the Qing Dynasty, and reduced his ruling function. This seems to have promoted the development of astronomy in China at that time, but in fact it had the opposite effect in a sense, which is why the astronomical research in Qing Dynasty has been lagging behind the world since17th century.

Qin, Tian Jianli and Qi in Qing Dynasty

As mentioned above, "Qin Tianjian" in Qing Dynasty is an institution integrating science and theology, while the Royal Observatory is a research institution supported by substantial scientific theories. In fact, there are both subjective factors and considerable objective factors that cannot be ignored, such as completely different things and different conditions.

First of all, taking the Royal Observatory as an example, its original intention was to accurately locate the latitude and longitude of ships in the ocean, thus promoting the development of British navigation in this period. On the other hand, the Qin dynasty in the Qing dynasty only solved some non-scientific affairs of feudal tradition on the basis of inheriting the ancestral system, such as making calendars, observing images, divining and telling the time. To put it bluntly, it mainly serves a series of daily offices such as politics, etiquette, ethics and folk customs. The proportion of enterprises that rely on scientific theories is very small.

Royal Greenwich Observatory

In terms of organizational structure, Qin Tianjian in Qing Dynasty is quite different from the Royal Observatory. The Royal Observatory was originally built under the Ordnance Department of the headquarters, but because its function is related to navigation, it was placed under the Admiralty. In the Qing Dynasty, Qin Tianjian developed from a subordinate to the Ministry of Rites into an independent official office with three subjects: current constitution, missing engravings and astronomy. In terms of the number of officials, the Royal Observatory consists of only one director and a dozen assistants, while in the Qing Dynasty, there were as many as hundreds of officials who were paid by the government. It can be seen that compared with the Qin Dynasty in Qing Dynasty, the Royal Observatory has the characteristics of single function and simple structure.

Finally, as a necessity of astronomical research, precision instruments are undoubtedly indispensable, which is relatively perfect in the Royal Observatory, such as large-scale wall quadrant, zenith instrument, ZTE instrument, theodolite, geomagnetic instrument and other high-precision astronomical instruments, and directors who are proficient in astronomy (all previous directors of the Royal Observatory are world-famous astronomers). On the other hand, the "Qin" Observatory in the Qing Dynasty only had some old instruments from the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, which were in disrepair and had no precision at all. It can be said that it exists in name only. Although some instruments were supervised later, they still lagged far behind the Royal Observatory. In addition, there are many irrationalities in the official position of Qin in Qing Dynasty. Many officials were at a loss in the field of astronomical calendar calculation and didn't know how to make and use instruments, which undoubtedly had a considerable inhibitory effect on the research and development of astronomy in China at that time.