利瑪竇與謝肇淛

Matteo Ricci and Xie Zhaozhe

明末耶穌會士利瑪竇(Matteo Ricci, 1552～1610)入華傳教，引入西方另類自然知識，挑戰中國傳統自然知識。以《五雜組》名垂後世的謝肇淛(1567～1624)，萬曆三十七年(1609)秋任工部屯田司主事，與利瑪竇在北京有段重疊期間。本文通過謝肇淛生平資料，從《塵餘》(1607)和《文海披沙》(1609)到《五雜組》的發展與演變，分析利瑪竇《天主實義》與謝肇淛《五雜組》的關聯。筆者發現謝肇淛見過自鳴鐘，讀過《天主實義》受其影響批判宋代理學，還將諸多傳統自然知識視為渺茫之論，他是十七世紀自然知識考據先驅者之一，對熊明遇(1579～1649 )《則草》與《格致草》的「渺論存疑」有其影響。

In the Wanli 萬曆 era, Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) came to China to preach Catholicism. He introduced western natural knowledge into China, thereby challenging China’s traditional natural knowledge. Between 1609 and 1610, Ricci and Xie Zhaozhe 謝肇淛 (1567-1624) were both in Beijing. Nevertheless, they seemed not meet each other. By analyzing the development of three Xie’s works on collected notes from Chen Yu 塵餘 and Wen Hai Phi Sha 文海披沙 to Wu Za Zu 五雜組, the author finds that Ricci had some influence on Xie. Xie not only mentioned that he had seen the mechanical chime clock Ricci had given Emperor Wanli, but had also read his Tianzhu Shiyi 天主實義 (True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven). This suggests that Ricci’s work has had some impact on Xie’s Wu Za Zu. In particular, Xie have shared Ricci’s criticism of Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism. Perhaps under the influence of Ricci’s challenge of China’s traditional natural knowledge, Xie deemed much Chinese traditional natural knowledge without evidence. In this respect, he becomes a pioneer of evidential study on natural knowledge in early 17th century and may in turn have influenced Xiong Mingyu 熊明遇 (1579-1649) who criticizes much Chinese traditional natural knowledge without evidence in his works Ze Cao 則草 (A Draft on Regularity) and Gezhi Cao 格致草( A Draft on the Investigation of Things).