The Opposition of Confucians to Catholicism in the Early Qing Dynasty: Yang Guangxian and Kangxi Calendar Lawsuit (1664-1665)

Abstract

During the 3rd and 4th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1664-1665), the world was greatly shaken by a lawsuit that took place in Beijing. The lawsuit was the Kangxi Calendar Lawsuit (Kangxi Calendar Controversy) between the Jesuit priest and astronomer Johann Adam Schall von Bell (Tang Ruo wang 湯若望, 1591-1666) and Confucian writer Yang Guangxian 楊光先 (1597-1669). Yang Guangxian (hereinafter referred to as Yang) openly framed the charges against Schall and obtained secret help from the four regents at the time. Unlike the many intellectuals who criticized Catholicism during the late Ming Dynasty, he fought alone much of the time. Still, he won the case: Schall was thrown into prison and Datongli 大統曆 (The traditional Han Chinese Calendar) was restored. On the surface, the lawsuit appeared to be a dispute regarding the contradiction between the Chinese calendar and western calendar, but in reality, it was a bloody confrontation between two cultures. It is possible to account for the lawsuit on the grounds of culture psychology, national feeling and palace politics, but from a broader perspective, what truly stands out is the wide gap in concepts of life and the world, about which Yang was undoubtedly clear.