Measuring and Calculating: Lisuan Knowledge During the Qing Dynasty's Anti-Western Policies, 1736–1840
Po-Yuan Cheng’s project examines the development of lisuan knowledge among scholars outside the imperial court during the mid-Qing Dynasty and its impact on perceptions of technological knowledge in Confucian scholarly circles.
Lisuan, a genre encompassing both astronomy and mathematics, was not highly regarded in Late Imperial China, but attracted increased attention after the mid-eighteenth century. Po-Yuan explores how the Empire’s political system, media technology, and social environment influenced the production and dissemination of lisuan after the ban on Christianity by the Yongzheng Emperor.
Examining knowledge-making in mathematics during the mid-Qing dynasty, this project utilizes royal archives, monographs, and daily encyclopedias to investigate the motivations and methods—including intellectual interactions across ethnic groups (Manchu, Han, European) and professional identities (officials, scholars, publishers)—that enabled scholars to engage with lisuan knowledge. Focusing on knowledge production beyond the imperial court, the project challenges traditional views of linear knowledge progression and technological determinism and highlights the knowledge mechanisms that shaped scholarly, educational, and publishing practices.
Po-Yuan earned a BA in Chinese literature and political science, then an MA in Chinese literature, at National Taiwan University. His MA thesis examined literary craft in the Qing dynasty, offering insights into the intellectual challenges faced by Confucian scholarly society.
Find Po-Yuan's profile on the Website of the International Max Planck Research School – "Knowledge and its Resources" (IMPRS-KIR).