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列傳五十九
Biographies 59
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湯若望楊光先南懷仁
Tang Ruowang, Yang Guangxian, and Nan Huai Ren
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湯若望，初名約翰亞當沙耳，姓方白耳氏，日耳曼國人。 明萬曆間，利瑪竇挾天算之學入中國，徐光啟與遊，盡其術。 崇禎初，日食失驗，光啟上言：「台官用郭守敬法，歷久必差，宜及時修正。」 莊烈帝用其議，設局修改曆法，光啟為監督，湯若望被徵入局掌推算。 光啟卒，以李天經代，奏進湯若望所著書及𢗝星屏障。 迭與台官測日食，候節氣，並考定置閏先後，湯若望術輒驗。 莊烈帝知西法果密，欲據以改大統術，未行而明亡。
Tang Ruowang—born Johann Adam Schall, of the von Bell family—was a German. In the Wanli era, Matteo Ricci introduced Western astronomy and mathematics to China, and Xu Guangqi studied with him until he had mastered the art. Early in the Chongzhen reign, when a predicted solar eclipse missed, Xu Guangqi submitted a memorial: "The Astronomical Bureau still uses Guo Shoujing's methods; given enough years, error is inevitable—the calendar ought to be corrected now." Chongzhen accepted the proposal, set up a bureau to reform the calendar, made Xu Guangqi its superintendent, and called Tang Ruowang in to direct the computations. After Xu Guangqi died, Li Tianjing succeeded him and presented Tang Ruowang's books and a celestial globe to the throne. They tested solar eclipses and seasonal terms against the Board astronomers again and again, and settled the sequence of intercalations—Tang Ruowang's calculations always checked out. Chongzhen saw that the Western system was genuinely precise and intended to replace the Datong calendar with it—but the dynasty collapsed before he could act.
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順治元年，睿親王多爾袞定京師，是歲六月，湯若望啟言：「臣於明崇禎二年來京，用西洋新法釐正舊曆，制測量日月星晷、定時考驗諸器。 近遭賊毀，擬重製進呈。 先將本年八月初一日日食，照新法推步。 京師日食限分秒並起復方位，與各省所見不同諸數，開列呈覽。」 王命湯若望修正曆法。 七月，禮部啟請頒歷，王言：「治歷明時，帝王所重。 今用新法正歷，以敬迓天休，宜名時憲歷，用稱朝廷憲天乂民之至意。 自順治二年始，即用新歷頒行天下。」 湯若望復啟言：「敬授人時，全以節氣交宮，與太陽出入、晝夜時刻為重。 今節氣、日時、刻分與太陽出入、晝夜時刻，俱照道里遠近推算，增加歷首，以協民時，利民用。」 王獎其精確。 八月丙辰朔，日有食之。 王令大學士馮銓與湯若望率欽天監官赴觀像台測驗，惟新法吻合，大統、回回二法時刻俱不協。
In Shunzhi 1, after Prince Regent Dorgon took Beijing, Tang Ruowang wrote in the sixth month: "I reached the capital in Chongzhen 2, corrected the old calendar by Western methods, and built instruments to measure the sun, moon, and stars, mark shadows, and keep time for verification. Bandits recently destroyed them; I propose to rebuild and submit them anew. First, I have computed this year's solar eclipse on the first day of the eighth month by the new method. I attach the eclipse limits to the second for Beijing, the points of first and last contact, and how each province's view will differ." Dorgon ordered Tang Ruowang to revise the calendar. In the seventh month the Ministry of Rites asked permission to issue the calendar. Dorgon replied: "Ordering the calendar and marking the seasons is among an emperor's gravest duties. Since we now correct the calendar by the new method, in reverence for Heaven's favor, it should be called the Shixian Calendar—'Observing Heaven's Norm'—fitting the court's purpose of harmonizing with Heaven and bringing order to the people. From Shunzhi 2 onward, the new calendar shall be promulgated empire-wide." Tang Ruowang added: "To give the people correct time, nothing matters more than the solar terms crossing the lodges, and the sun's times of rising, setting, and the hours of day and night. Solar terms, clock times, and sun-rise and sun-set tables for day and night should now be computed for each distance from the capital, added to the calendar's front matter, so local time aligns with the people and serves daily life." Dorgon praised the precision of the proposal. On bingchen, the first day of the eighth month, there was a solar eclipse. Dorgon sent Grand Secretary Feng Quan and Tang Ruowang with Bureau officials to the observatory—the new method alone matched observation; Datong and Muslim reckoning both missed the times.
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世祖定鼎京師，十一月，以湯若望掌欽天監事。 湯若望疏辭，上不許。 又疏請別給敕印，而以監印繳部，謂治歷之責，學道之志，庶可並行不悖，上亦不許。 並諭湯若望遵旨率屬精修曆法，整頓監規，如有怠玩侵紊，即行參奏。 加太僕寺卿，尋改太常寺卿。 十年三月，賜號通玄教師，敕曰：「國家肇造鴻業，以授時定歷為急務。 羲和而後，如漢洛下閎、張衡，唐李淳風、僧一行，於曆法代有損益。 元郭守敬號為精密，然經緯之度，尚不能符合天行，其後晷度遂以積差。 爾湯若望來自西洋，精於象緯，閎通曆法。 徐光啟特薦於朝，一時專家治歷如魏文魁等，實不及爾。 但以遠人，多忌成功，終不見用。 朕承天眷，定鼎之初，爾為朕脩大清時憲歷，迄於有成。 又能潔身持行，盡心乃事。 今特錫爾嘉名，俾知天生賢人，佐佑定歷，補數千年之闕略，非偶然也。」 旋復加通政使，進秩正一品。
After the Shunzhi Emperor made Beijing the capital, in the eleventh month he placed Tang Ruowang in charge of the Astronomical Bureau. Tang Ruowang asked to be excused; the emperor refused. He also asked for a personal imperial seal and to surrender the Bureau seal to the ministry, arguing that calendar duty and religious vocation could then coexist—the emperor again said no. Shunzhi further ordered Tang Ruowang to lead his staff in refining the calendar and tightening Bureau rules, and to report any slackness or misconduct at once. He was promoted to Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud, then transferred to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. In the third month of Shunzhi 10 he received the title Master of Penetrating Mysteries. The edict read: "A dynasty at its founding treats fixing time and calendar as urgent business. Since the calendar minister Xihe, Han had Luoxia Hong and Zhang Heng, Tang had Li Chunfeng and the monk Yixing—each age revised the calendar in turn. Yuan's Guo Shoujing was called exacting, yet even his longitudes and latitudes never fully matched heaven's motion; gnomon readings drifted ever farther off. You, Tang Ruowang, came from the West, master astral patterns, and grasp calendrical method through and through. Xu Guangqi singled you out to the court; reigning calendar men like Wei Wenkui could not match you. Yet as a foreigner you met envy; despite your gifts, Ming never fully used you. Heaven favored me; at the founding you compiled the Great Qing Shixian Calendar for me until it stood complete. You kept your conduct clean and gave your duties your full heart. I now grant this honorific title so you may know Heaven sends able men to fix the calendar and fill gaps of millennia—no accident." He was soon made Commissioner of the Office of Transmission and raised to rank 1a.
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欽天監舊設回回科，湯若望用新法，久之，罷回回科不置。 十四年四月，革職回回科秋官正吳明炫疏言：「臣祖默沙亦黑等一十八姓，本西域人。 自隋開皇己未，抱其歷學，重譯來朝，授職歷官，歷一千五十九載，專管星宿行度。 順治三年，掌印湯若望諭臣科，凡日月交食及太陰五星陵犯、天象佔驗，俱不必奏進。 臣察湯若望推水星二八月皆伏不見，今於二月二十九日仍見東方，又八月二十四日夕見，皆關象佔，不敢不據推上聞。 乞上復存臣科，庶絕學獲傳。」 並上十四年回回術推算太陰五星陵犯書，日月交食、天象佔驗圖像。 別疏又舉湯若望舛謬三事：一、遺漏紫炁，一、顛倒觜參，一、顛倒羅計。 八月，上命內大臣愛星阿及各部院大臣登觀像台測驗水星不見，議明炫罪，坐奏事詐不以實，律絞，援赦得免。
The Bureau had long kept a Muslim astronomy section; once Tang Ruowang's new method took hold, that section was abolished for good. In the fourth month of Shunzhi 14, the dismissed Muslim section's Autumn Officer Wu Mingxuan wrote: "My forebear Mashayihei and seventeen other clans were Western Region families. Since Sui Kaihuang jiwei they brought their calendar science, came to court by reinterpretation, and served in office for 1,559 years, charged solely with star lodges and their motion. In Shunzhi 3 Director Tang Ruowang told our section that eclipses, lunar and planetary encroachments, and omen readings need no longer be reported to court. Tang Ruowang predicted Mercury hidden in both the second and eighth months—but on the twenty-ninth of the second it still appeared in the east, and on the evening of the twenty-fourth of the eighth as well; such signs bear on divination, and I must report what the math shows. I beg Your Majesty to restore our section, so this nearly lost science may survive." He also submitted Muslim calculations of lunar and planetary encroachments for Shunzhi 14, plus eclipse and omen charts. A separate memorial listed three Tang Ruowang errors: omitting Purple Qi, reversing Turtle Beak and Three Stars, and reversing Rahu and Ketu. In the eighth month the emperor sent Inner Minister Esen and ministers from every yamen to the observatory to test Mercury's visibility. Wu Mingxuan was judged guilty of false reporting—strangulation by statute—but escaped through amnesty.
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康熙五年，新安衛官生楊光先叩閽進所著摘謬論、選擇議，斥湯若望新法十謬，並指選擇榮親王葬期誤用洪範五行，下議政王等會同確議。 議政王等議：「歷代舊法，每日十二時，分一百刻，新法改九十六刻。 康熙三年立春候氣，先期起管，湯若望妄奏春氣已應參、觜二宿，改調次序，四餘刪去紫炁。 天祐皇上，歷祚無疆，湯若望祗進二百年曆。 選榮親王葬期不用正五行，反用洪範五行，山嚮年月俱犯忌殺，事犯重大。 湯若望及刻漏科杜如預、五官挈壺正楊宏量、歷科李祖白、春官正宋可成、秋官正宋發、冬官正硃光顯、中官正劉有泰皆凌遲處死； 故監官子劉必遠、賈文鬱、可成子哲、祖白子實、湯若望義子潘盡孝皆斬。」 得旨，湯若望效力多年，又復衰老，杜如預、楊宏量勘定陵地有勞，皆免死，並令覆議。 議政王等覆議，湯若望流徙，餘如前議。 得旨，湯若望等並免流徙，祖白、可成、發、光顯、有泰皆斬。 自是廢新法不用。
In Kangxi 5, Xin'an Guard licentiate Yang Guangxian came to the palace gates with his "Picking Out Errors" and "On Date Selection," denouncing ten flaws in Tang Ruowang's method and accusing him of misapplying Hongfan five-phase rules to Prince Rong's burial date. The regents were ordered to decide. The regents replied: "Tradition divided each day into twelve double-hours and one hundred quarter-hours; the new method uses ninety-six. At Kangxi 3's Beginning of Spring qi test the pitch-pipe sounded early; Tang Ruowang falsely reported spring qi in Three Stars and Turtle Beak, rearranged the sequence, and dropped Purple Qi from the four residuals. Heaven blesses the emperor with boundless reign—yet Tang Ruowang submitted a calendar of only two hundred years. For Prince Rong's burial date he ignored orthodox Five Phases and used Hongfan Five Phases instead—the mountain orientation, year, and month all breached taboo killings; the offense was grave. Tang Ruowang, Clepsydra officer Du Ruyu, water-clock officer Yang Hongliang, calendar officer Li Zubai, Spring Officer Song Kecheng, Autumn Officer Song Fa, Winter Officer Zhu Guangxian, and Central Officer Liu Youtai were all sentenced to death by slicing; Former Bureau official Liu Biyuan, Jia Wenyu, Song Kecheng's son Zhe, Li Zubai's son Shi, and Tang Ruowang's adopted son Pan Jinxiao were all sentenced to decapitation." The throne replied: Tang Ruowang had served many years and was now old; Du Ruyu and Yang Hongliang had toiled surveying the tomb site—all were spared death, and the case was sent back for review. On reconsideration the regents sentenced Tang Ruowang to exile; the rest as before. The throne spared Tang Ruowang and the others exile; Li Zubai, Song Kecheng, Song Fa, Zhu Guangxian, and Liu Youtai were executed. From then on the new method was abandoned.
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聖祖既親政，以南懷仁治理曆法，光先坐譴黜，復用新法。 時湯若望已前卒，复通微教師封號，視原品賜卹，改「通玄」曰「通微」，避聖祖諱也。
Once Kangxi took personal rule, he put Nan Huai Ren in charge of the calendar, punished and dismissed Yang Guangxian, and restored the new method. Tang Ruowang had already died; his title Master of Penetrating Subtlety was restored, condolence honors were paid at his former rank, and "Penetrating Mysteries" became "Penetrating Subtlety" to avoid Kangxi's taboo name.
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楊光先，字長公，江南歙縣人。 在明時為新安所千戶。 崇禎十年，上疏劾大學士溫體仁、給事中陳啟新，舁棺自隨。 廷杖，戍遼西。
Yang Guangxian, style Changgong, was from She County in Jiangnan. Under the Ming he held the rank of battalion commander in Xin'an Guard. In Chongzhen 10 he memorialized against Grand Secretary Wen Tiren and Censor Chen Qixin, bearing a coffin with him to show he was ready to die for the charge. He was beaten at court and exiled to western Liaodong.
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國初，命湯若望治歷用新法，頒時憲曆書，面題「依西洋新法」五字。 光先上書，謂非所宜用。 既又論湯若望誤以順治十八年閏十月為閏七月，上所為摘謬、辟邪諸論，攻湯若望甚力，斥所奉天主教為妄言惑眾。 聖祖即位，四輔臣執政，頗右光先，下禮、吏二部會鞫。 康熙四年，議政王等定讞，盡用光先說，譴湯若望，其屬官至坐死。 遂罷新法，復用大統術。 除光先右監副，疏辭，不許； 即授監正，疏辭，復不許。
Early in the dynasty Tang Ruowang was ordered to govern the calendar by the new method; the Shixian calendar books bore on their cover the five characters "According to the Western new method." Yang Guangxian wrote that this should not be used. He then argued that Tang Ruowang had wrongly made Shunzhi 18's intercalary tenth month into an intercalary seventh; the emperor's "Picking Out Errors" and anti-heterodoxy essays attacked Tang Ruowang fiercely and denounced Catholicism as delusion misleading the people. When Kangxi ascended the throne the four regent ministers favored Yang Guangxian and sent the case to the Ministries of Rites and Personnel for joint trial. In Kangxi 4 the regents fixed the verdict wholly on Yang Guangxian's side, censured Tang Ruowang, and punished his subordinates up to death. The new method was abandoned and the Datong system restored. Yang Guangxian was made Right Assistant Director; he asked to decline and was refused; He was then made Director; he declined again and was again refused.
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光先編次其所為書，命曰不得已，持舊說繩湯若望。 顧學術自審不逮遠甚，既屢辭不獲，乃引吳明烜為監副。 明烜，明炫兄弟行，明炫議復回回科不得請，至是明烜副光先任推算。 五年春，光先疏言：「今候氣法久失傳，十二月中氣不應。 乞許臣延訪博學有心計之人，與之制器測候，並飭禮部採宜陽金門山竹管、上黨羊頭山秬黍、河內葭莩備用。」 七年，光先复疏言：「律管尺寸，載在史記，而用法失傳。 今訪求能候氣者，尚未能致。 臣病風痺，未能董理。」 下禮部，言光先職監正，不當自諉，仍令訪求能候氣者。
Yang Guangxian compiled his writings under the title Unavoidable, using old doctrine to hold Tang Ruowang to account. Knowing his own learning fell far short, and having failed repeatedly to decline the post, he brought in Wu Mingxuan as Assistant Director. Mingxuan was Wu Mingxuan's younger brother; Wu Mingxuan's petition to restore the Muslim section had failed—now Mingxuan served as Yang Guangxian's deputy for calculations. In the spring of Kangxi 5 Yang Guangxian wrote: "The qi-observation method has long been lost; in the twelfth month the mid-term did not respond. I beg leave to seek learned and capable men, build instruments with them for observation, and have the Ministry of Rites gather bamboo tubes from Jinmen Mountain in Yiyang, black millet from Yangtou Mountain in Shangdang, and reed membranes from Henei for use." In Kangxi 7 Yang Guangxian wrote again: "Pitch-pipe dimensions are recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian, but the method of use has been lost. I have sought those who can observe qi, but have not yet found any. I suffer from rheumatism and cannot oversee the work myself." The Ministry of Rites replied that as Director he should not shirk duty, and ordered him still to seek those who could observe qi.
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是時朝廷知光先學術不勝任，復用西洋人南懷仁治理曆法。 南懷仁疏劾明烜造康熙八年七政民歷於是年十二月置閏，應在康熙九年正月，又一歲兩春分、兩秋分，種種舛誤，下議政王等會議。 議政王等議，曆法精微，難以遽定，請命大臣督同測驗。 八年，上遣大學士圖海等二十人會監正馬祜測驗立春、雨水兩節氣及太陰火、木二星躔度，南懷仁言悉應，明烜言悉不應。 議政王等疏請以康熙九年曆日交南懷仁推算，上問：「光先前劾湯若望，議政王大臣會議，以光先何者為是，湯若望何者為非，及新法當日議停，今日議复，其故安在？」 議政王等疏言：「前命大學士圖海等二十人赴觀像台測驗，南懷仁所言悉應，吳明烜所言悉不應，問監正馬祜，監副宜塔喇、胡振鉞、李光顯，皆言南懷仁曆法上合天象。 一日百刻，歷代成法，今南懷仁推算九十六刻，既合天象，自康熙九年始，應按九十六刻推行。 南懷仁言羅睺、計都、月孛、推歷所用，故入歷； 紫炁無象，推歷所不用，故不入歷。 自康熙九年始，紫炁不必造入七政歷。」 又言：「候氣為古法，推歷亦無所用，嗣後並應停止。 請將光先奪官，交刑部議罪。」 上命光先但奪官，免其罪。
By then the court knew Yang Guangxian's learning was inadequate and again put the Westerner Nan Huai Ren in charge of the calendar. Nan Huai Ren impeached Mingxuan for the Kangxi 8 popular calendar: intercalation wrongly placed in the twelfth month instead of Kangxi 9's first, two spring equinoxes and two autumn equinoxes in one year—errors of every kind. The regents were ordered to decide. The regents replied that calendar method is subtle and could not be settled hastily; they asked that ministers supervise joint testing. In Kangxi 8 the emperor sent Grand Secretary Tu Hai and twenty others with Director Ma Hu to test Beginning of Spring, Rain Water, and the positions of the moon and the fire and wood stars—Nan Huai Ren said all matched; Mingxuan said none did. The regents asked that Kangxi 9's calendar be entrusted to Nan Huai Ren. The emperor asked: "When Yang Guangxian impeached Tang Ruowang, the regents decided in Yang's favor—what was he right about, what was Tang wrong about? The new method was then stopped; today it is restored—why?" The regents replied: "Grand Secretary Tu Hai and twenty others tested at the observatory—Nan Huai Ren matched throughout, Wu Mingxuan did not. Director Ma Hu and Assistant Directors Yitara, Hu Zhenyue, and Li Guangxian all said Nan Huai Ren's calendar accorded with heaven. One hundred quarter-hours per day is the tradition; Nan Huai Ren's ninety-six match heaven—from Kangxi 9 onward, ninety-six quarter-hours should be used. Nan Huai Ren said Rahu, Ketu, and the lunar apogee node are used in calendar calculation and belong in the calendar; Purple Qi has no visible form and is not used in calendar calculation, so it does not belong in the calendar. From Kangxi 9 onward, Purple Qi need not be included in the Seven Luminaries calendar." They also said: "Qi observation is an ancient method, useless for calendar calculation; hereafter it should be discontinued altogether. They asked that Yang Guangxian be stripped of office and sent to the Ministry of Punishments for sentencing." The emperor ordered Yang Guangxian stripped of office but spared punishment.
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南懷仁等復呈告光先依附鼇拜，將歷代所用洪範五行稱為滅蠻經，致李祖白等無辜被戮，援引吳明烜誣告湯若望謀叛。 下議政王等議，坐光先斬，上以光先老，貸其死，遣回籍，道卒。 刑部議明烜坐奏事不實，當杖流，上命笞四十釋之。
Nan Huai Ren and others further accused Yang Guangxian of siding with Oboi, calling the Hongfan Five Phases used through the ages the "Scripture for Destroying Barbarians," causing the innocent execution of Li Zubai and others, and citing Wu Mingxuan's false charge that Tang Ruowang plotted rebellion. The regents sentenced Yang Guangxian to decapitation; the emperor, citing his age, spared his life and sent him home—he died on the way. The Ministry of Punishments found Mingxuan guilty of false reporting—beatings and exile by statute; the emperor ordered forty blows with the cane and release.
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南懷仁，初名佛迪南特斯，姓阜泌斯脫氏，比利時國人。 康熙初，入中國。 時湯若望方黜，楊光先為監正，吳明烜為監副，以大統術治歷，節氣不應，金、水二星躔度舛錯。 明烜奏水星當見，其言復不售。 乃召南懷仁，命治理曆法。 南懷仁劾光先、明烜而去之，遂授南懷仁監副。
Nan Huai Ren—born Ferdinand Verbist—was a Belgian. He came to China early in the Kangxi reign. Tang Ruowang had just been dismissed; Yang Guangxian was Director and Wu Mingxuan Assistant Director. They governed the calendar by the Datong system—seasonal terms failed to match, and the positions of Venus and Mercury were wrong. Mingxuan reported that Mercury should be visible—but once again his prediction failed. Nan Huai Ren was summoned and put in charge of the calendar. Nan Huai Ren impeached Yang Guangxian and Mingxuan and had them removed, then was made Assistant Director.
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時三月，南懷仁言是歲按舊法以十一月置閏，以新法測驗，閏當在九年正月。 既又言是月二十九日雨水，乃正月中氣，即為康熙九年之正月，閏當在是年二月。 上命禮部詢欽天監官，多從南懷仁，乃罷八年十二月閏，移置九年二月； 節氣佔候，悉用南懷仁說。 六月，南懷仁請改造觀像台儀器，從之。 十二月，儀器成，擢南懷仁監正。 儀凡六：曰黃道經緯儀，曰赤道經緯儀，曰地平經儀，曰地平緯儀，曰紀限儀，曰天體儀； 並繪圖立說，次為靈臺儀象志。 十七年，進康熙永年表，表推七政交食，為湯若望未竟之書，南懷仁續成之。 二十一年，命南懷仁至盛京測北極高度，較京師高二度，別為推算日月交食表上之。 南懷仁官監正久，累加至工部侍郎。 二十七年，卒，諡勤敏。
In the third month Nan Huai Ren said that by the old method the year had an intercalary eleventh month, but testing by the new method showed the intercalation belonged in Kangxi 9's first month. He added that Rain Water on the twenty-ninth of that month was the mid-term of the first month—making it Kangxi 9's first month, with intercalation in the second month of that year. The emperor had the Ministry of Rites consult Bureau officials; most sided with Nan Huai Ren, so Kangxi 8's intercalary twelfth month was cancelled and moved to Kangxi 9's second month; Seasonal-term observation and divination all followed Nan Huai Ren's method. In the sixth month Nan Huai Ren asked to rebuild the observatory instruments; the request was granted. In the twelfth month the instruments were finished, and Nan Huai Ren was promoted to Director. There were six instruments in all: an ecliptic armillary sphere, an equatorial armillary sphere, an azimuth instrument, an altitude instrument, a quadrant, and a celestial globe; He also drew illustrations and wrote explanations, compiled as the Treatise on Observatory Instruments and Phenomena. In Kangxi 17 he presented the Kangxi Perpetual Tables for seven-luminaries eclipses—Tang Ruowang's unfinished work, which Nan Huai Ren completed. In Kangxi 21 Nan Huai Ren was sent to Shengjing to measure polar altitude—two degrees higher than Beijing—and submitted separately computed eclipse tables. Nan Huai Ren served long as Director and was eventually promoted to Vice Minister of Works. In Kangxi 27 he died; his posthumous title was Qinmin, "Diligent and Keen."
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自是欽天監用西洋人，累進為監正、監副，相繼不絕。 五十四年，命紀理安制地平經緯儀，合地平、象限二儀為一。 乾隆中，戴進賢、徐懋德、劉松齡、傅作霖皆賜進士。 道光間，高拱宸等或歸國，或病卒。 時監官已深習西法，不必復用西洋人，奏奉宣宗諭，停西洋人入監。 方聖祖用南懷仁，許奉天主教，仍其國俗，而禁各省立堂入教。 是時各省天主堂已三十餘所。 雍正間，禁令嚴，盡毀去，但留京師一所，俾西洋人入監者居之。 入內地傳教，輒繩以法。 迨停西洋人入監，未幾海禁弛，傳教入條約，新舊教堂遍內地矣。
From then on the Astronomical Bureau employed Westerners, who rose in unbroken succession to Director and Assistant Director. In Kangxi 54 Ignatius Kögler was ordered to build an azimuth-altitude instrument, combining azimuth and quadrant into one. Under Qianlong, Ignatius Sichelbarth, Franz Xaver von Hallerstein, Augustin von Hallerstein, and Felix da Rocha were all granted jinshi degrees. In the Daoguang era, Gao Gongchen and others either returned home or died of illness. By then Bureau officials had mastered Western methods and Westerners were no longer needed; on memorial the Daoguang Emperor ordered that Westerners cease entering the Bureau. When Kangxi employed Nan Huai Ren, Catholics were allowed to practice their faith and keep their customs, but provinces were forbidden to build churches or receive converts. By then there were already more than thirty Catholic churches in the provinces. Under Yongzheng the ban was strict; churches were destroyed throughout the empire, save one in the capital for Westerners serving in the Bureau. Missionary work in the interior was always punished by law. After Westerners ceased entering the Bureau, the maritime ban soon eased, missionary rights entered treaties, and old and new churches spread across the interior.
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論曰：曆算之術，愈入則愈深，愈進則愈密。 湯若望、南懷仁所述作，與楊光先所攻訐，淺深疏密，今人人能言之。 其在當日，嫉忌遠人，牽涉宗教，引繩批根，互為起僕，誠一時得失之林也。 聖祖嘗言當曆法爭議未已，己所未學，不能定是非，乃發憤揅討，卒能深造密微，窮極其閫奧。 為天下主，虛己勵學如是。 嗚呼，聖矣！
The commentators observe: calendar and computation grow deeper with every advance and finer with every step forward. The writings of Tang Ruowang and Nan Huai Ren and the attacks of Yang Guangxian—who was shallow and who deep, loose and who precise—today anyone can judge. At the time, envy of foreigners, religious entanglement, and mutual factional strikes made a thicket of passing gains and losses. Kangxi once said that while calendar disputes raged he could not judge what he had not studied; he then threw himself into the subject in earnest and mastered its subtlest depths. As ruler of the realm, to humble oneself and pursue learning so— —how sagely indeed!