Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"This book invites us to a deeper reflection on the split between the humanities and the sciences. . . .This highly erudite book will surely reach a broad audience among historians of science and philosophy in China."
-- Thierry Meynard * Journal of Jesuit Studies *
"Hu’s book offers the reader a treasure trove of diverse stories from 17th and 18th century Chinese intellectual history that are important to understand the genesis and legacy of Dai’s thought."
-- Manuel Sassmann * Monumenta Serica *
"This admirable book casts new light on an 18th-century Chinese intellectual giant and on the complex interplay within and between politics and ideas during that time of dynastic vigor and cultural self-confidence. . . . [It] belongs on the short must-read list of all advanced students of 'early modern' Chinese history. Essential."
* Choice *
"Anyone interested in eighteenth-century Chinese intellectual history should be grateful to Minghui Hu. . . . Hu’s revisionist study sheds new light on the innovativeness of Dai Zhen’s learning and thinking, enriching our understanding of the scientific and technical dimensions of kaozheng scholarship."
-- On-cho Ng * Journal of Asian Studies *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
1. The Man and His Times
2. How Jesuit Science Conquered the Kangxi Court
3. Searching for Truth in the Origins of Civilizations
4. How to Build a Coalition around Science
5. An Outsider Enters the Mainstream
6. How to Dethrone Jesuit Science
7. Bringing It Home to the Palace of LightMonumenta Serica
8. Legibility of Visionary Scholars
Notes
Bibliography
Index
