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Wang Zheng
Jingyang official and Catholic convert who with Johann Schreck produced the first Chinese book on Western mechanics and starved himself when Li Zicheng took Shaanxi
On an observatory terrace at night, a large bronze armillary sphere stands on a stone base while two people stand with their backs turned facing the view; stars are joined into constellation lines overhead, and a sundial and tiered dripping water vessels stand at the right.
Also known as Zi Liangfu · Hao Kuixin · Leyi Daoren
- Roles
- Scientist
Wang Zheng, courtesy name Liangfu, came from Jingyang in Shaanxi; he passed the provincial examination in 1594 but did not gain his jinshi until 1622, by which time he had been baptized a Catholic with the name Philip. He served as judge in Guangping and Yangzhou, and in Beijing he studied Western mechanics with the Jesuit Johann Schreck. In 1627 the two produced the Yuanxi qiqi tushuo, in which Wang wrote down and illustrated Schreck's explanations, the first book in Chinese on European mechanics, and Wang printed with it his own illustrated account of devices he had designed. He also helped Nicolas Trigault compile the Xiru ermu zi, which spelled Chinese sounds in Latin letters. Under Chongzhen he became a surveillance official supervising the Liaodong coastal forces, and after the mutiny at Dengzhou he was convicted and banished, later returning home under an amnesty. When Li Zicheng's forces took Shaanxi in 1644 and summoned him to serve, he refused and starved himself to death in seven days.
Life and times
Dates 1571 CE–1644 CE