Xu Guangqi - Early Life

Early Life

Xu Guangqi was born into a relatively poor family in Shanghai on April 24, 1562. His father, Xu Sicheng, was in difficult financial situation when Guangqi was a child, and had to support the family with a small vegetable farm, but apparently still earned enough to be able to send his son to school at the age of six. Xu received the equivalent of his bachelor's degree at nineteen, but did not receive higher degrees until his thirties. Afterwards, he spent the majority of his time in positions of high office serving the Ming court. When he died, he held positions of Deputy Prime Minister of the Cabinet (内阁次辅) and Minister of Rites (礼部尚书) (Minister of Culture/Education/Foreign Affairs). He lived in a period when Chinese mathematics had gone into decline. The earlier efforts at algebra had been almost forgotten. Xu blamed some of the failures on a decline in interest of practical science in China and became something of a critic of Chinese society.

He was a colleague and collaborator of Matteo Ricci, the Italian Jesuit. Together they translated several classic Western texts (most notably part of Euclid's Elements) into Chinese, as well as several Chinese Confucian texts into Latin. Ricci's influence led to Xu being baptized as a Roman Catholic in 1603, under the name "Paul Siu". His descendants remained as Catholics and Christians into the 21st century.

From 1607 until 1610, Xu was forced to retire from public office, and returned to his home in Shanghai. It was during this time that he experimented with Western-style irrigation methods. He also experimented with the cultivation of sweet potatoes, cotton, and the nu zhen tree. He was called once more to serve the Chinese bureaucracy, where he rose to a high rank and became known late in his career simply as "The Minister". Yet he continued to experiment and learn of new agricultural practices while he served his office, promoting the use of wet-rice in the Northeast of China. From 1613 until 1620 he often visited Tianjin, where he helped organize self-sufficient military settlements (tun tian).

Xu Guangqi's tomb still exists in Shanghai in Guangqi Park just a short walk from the Xujiahui Cathedral in the Xujiahui area on Nandan Road (南丹路).