西學傳入與明末自然知識考據學：以熊明遇論冰雹生成為例

The Transmission of Western Learning and the Evidential Studies of Natural Knowledge in Late Ming: The Case of Xiong Mingyu on the Generation of Hail

明末耶穌會士來華傳教，引入與中國傳統不同的另類自然知識，不僅開始形成中西兩種文化中自然知識的競爭，也促使士人以西學為鏡來省思傳統中國自然知識，並加以考證或考據。本文以熊明遇（1579-1649）在《則草》與《格致草》中處理冰雹生成為例，來檢視他對留存於文獻中的自然知識進行的考據與反應。筆者發現，朱熹理學在建立「格物窮理」時，將「物各有理」擴及奇異的蜥蜴生雹，肯定蜥蜴生雹有其理。此一見解從宋流傳到明末。在亞里斯多德自然哲學衝激下，熊明遇是首位關注耶穌會士對冰雹的形成與朱熹理學對蜥蜴生雹解說不一致的士人。他不但質疑儒者的「雹理不明」，並將蜥蜴生雹的「奇異」貶入渺論之中，既為思索儒學（或理學）與科學間的關係提供一個異例，也為明代自然知識的考據，提供一個堅實的佳例。熊明遇無疑是西學影響下明代自然知識考據學的先驅者。

In late Ming, while Jesuits came to propagate Christianity in China, they also transmitted alternative natural knowledge which is different from that of Chinese. This paper aims at investigating the evidential studies of traditional natural knowledge in terms of that of western learning done by Xiong Mingyu (1579-1649) in his works of Ze cao 則草and Gezhi cao 格致草． The author finds that, in Song dynasty Zhu Xi believed that hail was generated by lizards. This view became popular from Song to the end of Ming. Nevertheless, in the context of 'gewu qiongli,' it implies that the bizarre case of hail generated by lizards has its own reason. Under the impact of Aristotelian natural philosophy, Xiong Mingyu found that the reasons put forth to explain the generation of hail in Chinese traditions were different from that of Aristotelian philosophers. Through his evidential study on this case, he contended that the reasons offered by Confucians are not clear; especially, he considered the generation of hail by lizards to be groundless. It became a very solid case of the relation between Neo-Confucianism and science, showing that Xiong Mingyu was a pioneer of the evidential studies of natural knowledge in the encounter of western natural philosophy and Neo-Confucianism.