The missionaries of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties did some useful things in China, and in order to preach and learn Chinese Chinese, they introduced Chinese culture to the West and Western culture to China, which played a role in exchange.

John Tong, a German, was a Western Catholic missionary active in Beijing's political scene in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and served in the Ming and Qing dynasties. After Kangxi became pro-government, the case was retried and Tang Ruowang was rehabilitated.

During the Yuan Dynasty, Chinese inventions such as silk, papermaking, gunpowder, and printing were all transmitted to the West, and some Western missionaries came to China, but only a few, such as Marco Polo. From the beginning of the 31st year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty to the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Jesuit priests came to China one after another, but the scale was not large. These people used persuasion and doctrine to teach and spread their influence, and among the many Jesuits who came to China, Matteo Ricci and John Tong were the most famous.

Matteo Ricci was the first famous missionary to come to China in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and after joining the Jesuits, he was trained as a missionary in the East and had some knowledge of Chinese Confucianism. After coming to China, he combined missionary and Confucianism, called it Confucianism, and tried to sinicize it as much as possible. He understood the status and influence of scholars in Chinese society, and in order to win their trust, he spent fifteen years studying the Confucian classics.

He was proficient in Chinese, teaching and preaching, and used his Western scientific knowledge and Han culture to make friends with powerful people, such as the Wanli Emperor, the prime ministers Ye Xianggao and Xu Guangqi, and the ministers Li Zhizao and Yuan Hongdao, all of whom were his good friends, and this man was buried in Beijing after his death.

Matteo Ricci and why did the Jesus Church come to China at that time? Because "The Travels of Marco Polo" caused a great sensation in the West, and it was written that China was so rich that it could pick up gold when it went. This book had a great influence in the West, so these people came to China because of their desire for wealth, their desire to preach, and their desire to expand the power of the church, and Matteo Ricci was one of the first people.

John Tang was born in a noble family in Cologne, Germany, and his personality was relatively active and his academic performance was very good. After graduating, he was sent to the Germanic Academy in Rome, where he received a good education in Europe and studied astronomy and mathematics. Sent by the Society of Jesus to Macao under the leadership of the French priest Ginnico, he entered Guangdong in the second year of the Ming Dynasty and arrived in Beijing in the same year, where he succeeded the late clergyman Deng Yuhan and assisted Xu Guangqi in compiling almanacs and creating an astronomy department, where he lived in China for forty-seven years. This man basically devoted his life to the missionary cause, and was active in China.

John Tang was proficient in astronomical calculations, and his accurate calculation of the lunar eclipse won the appreciation of Zhang Wenda, the secretary of the household department. At that time, the Chinese calendar was no longer very precise and often made mistakes.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Guangqi asked for the opening of the calendar bureau, which was an institution for revising the calendar. Xu Guangqi was a prime minister, this person is more enlightened, because he saw the progress of Western science and technology, more advanced than China, so he studied and studied this, using the new Western method to calculate the Chinese calendar is very effective, so Xu Guangqi has more trust in Western missionaries.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were frequent wars, and later the Ming army was more and more at a disadvantage, so the ministers of the DPRK and China wanted to make a breakthrough in firearms. John Tang helped the Ming Dynasty to supervise the manufacture of war cannons using Western methods, and he dictated the relevant techniques for making cannons. In the ninth year of Chongzhen, Tang Ruowang was ordered to set up a factory to cast cannons, and more than 20 cannons were built in two years, which was very powerful and played a major role in the war with the Manchus in the northeast.

In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, when the Qing soldiers entered Beijing, the regent Dolgon ordered the residents of the inner city to move out within three days. At the same time he gave a brief account of his missionary and calendar work, and the next day his recital was granted.

Later, John Tang was sent to the palace several times, explaining to the emperor and the regent the merits of the new calendar, and presenting astronomical instruments such as telescopes, armillary spheres, and earth-level dials. At that time, the Manchus had just arrived in Beijing, and they had never seen any of them, so they thought it was very interesting and curious. Moreover, John Tang used the new Western method to accurately predict the solar eclipse on the first day of the eighth lunar month in the first year of Shunzhi.

In the seventh year of Shunzhi, the Qing government gave a piece of land to the missionaries, and John Tang rebuilt a new church next to the Xuanwumen Catholic Church, and expanded the Catholic church originally built by Matteo Ricci, so that the Xuanwumen church became the largest church in Beijing, later called the South Church. This south hall was also the residence of priests such as John Tong, who usually lived here.

Their place of work is to have an observatory called the Ancient Observatory at Jianguomen. There were about 50 missionaries working at the Ancient Observatory, and John Tang was the main person in charge of them, and he served as the supervisor of the Qintianjian.

John Tong used the calendar and astronomical instruments to win the trust of the ministers of the DPRK and China, and achieved amazing success. He became a good friend of Emperor Shunzhi and established a very close personal relationship with Emperor Shunzhi. At that time, the young Shunzhi Emperor affectionately called John Tang Marfa, a Manchu who was an amiable and respectable elder who could enter the palace to meet the emperor at any time.

Moreover, the Shunzhi Emperor also visited John Tang's residence many times to talk with him and ask for advice on the Western calendar, and only in the thirteenth and fourteenth years of Shunzhi, the Shunzhi Emperor personally visited the door twenty-four times. John Tang was very moved, knew everything, said everything, followed the good guidance in learning, and was loyal and straightforward in state affairs, which made the young Shunzhi Emperor feel amiable and respectable. Emperor Shunzhi was relatively young at that time, his desire for knowledge was very strong, and the power in the court was controlled by the regent, his heart was relatively empty, and he was more curious about the West, so he often came to Tang Ruowang.

The reason why John Tang was close to Emperor Shunzhi and the ministers of the regent was, of course, his purpose was to win the support of these people, and the ultimate goal was to proselytize. Therefore, from this period, some of the words and actions of Emperor Shunzhi can be glimpsed of his influence, and the influence of John Tang on him. Emperor Shunzhi's favor to John Tang continued to escalate, and he expressed obvious favor for the Western religion and Western learning spread by John Tang.

Emperor Shunzhi personally gave Tang Ruowang Tongxuan teacher such an honorary title, and issued an edict to praise Tang Ruowang, and personally gave the Catholic Church to set up a monument, the imperial inscription, the South Church, their Catholic Church made an inscription, the inscription made by Emperor Shunzhi to him, and gave the church plaque for the Xuanjia realm.

In the edict given to John Tang Tongxuan, Emperor Shunzhi did not mention religious matters at all, but affirmed the merits of John Tang's calendar. Because the regent and the ministers of the court agreed that it was not possible to rule China by relying on foreign religion, but also on Confucian culture.

Just when John Tang was favored, bad luck was coming towards him step by step. As early as the sixteenth year of Shunzhi, there was a minister named Wu Mingxuan in the court, and this person said that John Tang's calendar was not good, it didn't work, and there were many mistakes.

Why did Wu Mingxuan go up to the top of the house? He and Tang Ruowang formed a grudge, because before that, Wu Mingxuan was the original person, and he served in the Qintian Prison, and he pushed back to the Hijri calendar. This man is pushing their Hijri calendar, but he can't get it right. John Tang pointed out his mistakes, so this person was more annoyed, and he was dismissed and went home.

In the sixteenth year of Shunzhi, he impeached John Tang, saying: "You John Tang can't do this calendar." ”

As a result, Shunzhi asked his ministers to go to the observatory to verify, but Wu Mingxuan's calculation was wrong, according to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, he should have been killed, but Shunzhi pardoned him and did not punish him. In the seventeenth year of Shunzhi, the official of Qin Tianjian was also a Huihui person, named Yang Guangxian, and he criticized Tang Ruowang, saying that Tang Ruowang and other missionaries had three major crimes, conspiracy to rebel, heresy to confuse the public, and absurd calendar.

Yang Guangxian also said: "John Tang has a lot of troops stationed in Macao, and John Tang is the leader of these troops, so he must be guarded against. With so many troops stationed in Macao, it is imperative to guard against it. ”

These three charges are all very ruthless, and any one of them can put John to death. But after Emperor Shunzhi read this recital, he felt that Yang Guangxian's recital was a bit too reluctant, so he ignored his nonsense, so Yang Guangxian did not succeed this time.

Shunzhi died, the eight-year-old Kangxi ascended the throne, and the government was in the hands of the four auxiliary ministers. These four people were relatively conservative, none of them were enlightened, they were not interested in the West, and they even opposed Western doctrines, so that the forces of both sides of the calendar dispute between Korea and China underwent a major change. When Kangxi was three years old, Yang Guangxian was sparse again, because he felt that he had a greater grasp, and accused Tang Ruowang and others of plotting rebellion for officials, and creating demon books to confuse the public.

In addition to vigorously denouncing Catholic doctrine and the new calendar, Yang Guangxian also seized on the fact that Prince Rong's funeral date was chosen. At that time, Prince Rong died, to see which day it would be better to be buried, and the relevant personnel asked Tang Ruowang for advice, but Tang Ruowang did not get it right, which did not conform to the habits of the Chinese, and was accused of choosing a very bad burial period, so that Prince Rong's mother and the Shunzhi Emperor died one after another.

This is a terrible case, which has led to a major case involving major issues, and the emperor, Prince Rong and his mother died because John Tang did not get it right. Suke Saha and Ao Bai were also dissatisfied with Shunzhi's policies during his lifetime, but they had no choice, so this time they took advantage of Yang Guangxian's superiority to order the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials to interrogate John Tang.

The Qing court interrogated John Tang and arrested the foreign missionaries who were serving in the Qin Tianjian prison. In the winter of that year, Ao Bai abolished the new calendar, arrested and imprisoned John Tong, who had been paralyzed by a stroke, and some missionaries who were also imprisoned, such as Lisis and Anwensi.

The Catholic East Church in Wangfujing, Beijing, was built by these two men, along with some Chinese in Qin Tianjian, such as Li Zubai and Xu Zhixuan, who were trained by Xu Guangqi. At this time, Tang Ruowang was paralyzed and could not speak clearly, and the famous missionary Nan Huairen defended him, and Tang Ruowang was sentenced to death in the first trial.

Later, another experiment was carried out, using the Chinese, Huihui and Western calendars to observe and predict the time of the eclipse. As a result, the time of the eclipse predicted by Nan Huairen and others according to the Western calendar was consistent with the facts, and his prediction was very accurate and the most accurate, if it was said that this incident should bring good luck to John Tang, the result was that it did not bring good luck, but aggravated his criminal law, and changed from hanging to the most cruel Ling Chi.

But on the day of the verdict, there was an earthquake in Beijing, and then there was a fire in the palace, and at the same time a comet appeared in the sky, and the Chinese were superstitious, saying that the comet was not good, so the people and ministers of the capital talked about it, and many ministers in the DPRK thought that this was a warning from heaven, which may be something bad that the imperial court had done. This is to save the life of Tang Ruowang, when the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang was still alive, the four ministers reported the case to Xiaozhuang, who knew that Xiaozhuang was furious, and reprimanded the four ministers for not treating the emperor's favorite ministers like this.

So the four ministers changed the original verdict, let Tang Ruowang be acquitted, and Li Zubai and other five officials of the Qintianjian were beheaded. A group of Han Chinese and Western astronomical experts trained by Xu Guangqi during the Chongzhen period were killed, but fortunately, the Chinese official Xu Zhijian and others were deposed and their heads were saved. This is the famous Kangxi prison in history, and now the activities of missionaries in China have fallen to a low point, and cultural exchanges between China and the West are in danger of being interrupted.

Although John Tang, who was over the age of old, was released and returned to his church in Xuanwumen to recuperate, he was not in good health, and after this toss, his physical condition became worse and worse, and after being released from prison, about two months later, John Tang, who had lived in China for more than 40 years, died in pain at the age of 75. Because the cemetery he had given him had been confiscated at that time, and there was nowhere to put his body, the other missionaries did not know where to bury him, and they did not dare to bury it blatantly anyway.

Soon after this case, Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan were appointed as the supervisors and deputy supervisors of the Qin Tianjian, and the Hijri calendar replaced the Western calendar. However, if you do too much injustice, you will kill yourself, and just when Yang Guangxian and others were triumphant, the political situation in the DPRK and China was quietly changing.

In the sixth year of Kangxi, the fourteen-year-old Emperor Kangxi was in power, and Kangxi was dissatisfied with the arbitrariness of the four ministers such as Aobai, but these people are still quite uninteresting, especially Aobai, which is very arrogant. Kangxi was very disgusted with them, so he often heard Xiaozhuang and the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces say how good Tang Ruowang was; Tang Ruowang fell to this point, and he died without a place to be buried, and he was framed by others, Kangxi decided to find out about this matter in person and rehabilitate Tang Ruowang.

The cabinet informed Yang Guangxian, Wu Mingxuan, and Nan Huairen, and asked them all to come over and try to measure the sun shadow to see who was accurate. The method was to erect a straight log on the ground and predict where the noon sun shadow would go, and it was measured for three days, all of which were the result of Nan Huairen's accurate prediction, and the so-called noon sun shadow was the result of the boundary drawn by the so-called noon sun shadow, which was the victory of the Western calendar.

And Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan had a lot of mistakes, and these mistakes were pointed out by Nan Huairen one by one, because Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan were not convinced. In this way, the DPRK and China organized more than 20 Manchu and Han ministers to re-test the results of the calculations of the two sides for several days, and finally reported to Kangxi: "Nan Huairen's test and all the instruments tested, each one is in line, Wu Mingxuan is not good, there are mistakes." ”

This was very unfavorable to Yang Guangxian, who knew that the big things were not good, but he still had to struggle, and he hurried up: "The Chinese calendar is left by Yao Shun, how can the Chinese use the Catholic calendar? China calculates by 100 ticks, and the Gregorian calendar by 96 ticks. ”

Kangxi was very angry after seeing it, and ordered Yang Guangxian, Wu Mingxuan and others to be dismissed and investigated, Yang Guangxian was executed for the crime, and his wife and children were exiled to Ningguta.

At this point, Yang Guangxian's faction suffered a major setback, and the Qing government officially reused the Western calendar, and at the same time, Yang Guangxian had long ceased to be an official, so that Nan Huairen served as the supervisor of the Qintianjian, and since then until the Daoguang period, the Qintianjian was controlled by Westerners.

In May of this year, Kangxi restrained Aobai, the political situation in the DPRK and China changed greatly, and Kangxi controlled the court. At this time, Nan Huairen saw that the timing was in his favor, and he wrote three excerpts in a row. accused Yang Guangxian of clinging to Ao Bai and other powerful people, and fought back against Yang Guangxian's three major crimes. In the end, Nan Huairen called for Tang Ruowang's rehabilitation of Zhaoxue, and soon Emperor Kangxi accepted his request and discussed the matter of Tang Ruowang's rehabilitation in the court as usual.

The victims of the unjust case were all rehabilitated, and John Tang also resumed his original official position, returned his cemetery, and gave more than 500 taels of silver to hold a grand funeral for John Tang. At the funeral, the emperor's special official read out his own personal memorial text: "John Tang bowed to his best, compassionate to his death, mourned his long death, special mercy, sent officials to sacrifice, if you know in heaven, you should also be a little more at ease." ”

In the face of the emperor's eulogy, Western missionaries such as Nan Huairen, Lis, and Anwens knelt on the ground and wept gratefully, and the disaster and bad luck finally passed. Soon Emperor Kangxi felt that it was not enough to express his feelings by sending someone to give some silver, so he and the Empress Dowager of the Holy Ancestor, that is, Xiaozhuang, brought the ministers of the court to the cemetery in person, and brought a group of ministers to the cemetery again.

According to Chinese etiquette and customs, it was very solemn, and the people in the court and the missionaries thought that this act of the Chinese emperor was almost unbelievable, and which minister enjoyed such a high treatment?

John Tang first became an official in the Chinese Imperial Palace to enjoy grace, and then was sentenced to be tortured by dismemberment, that is, Ling Chi, and then miraculously rescued. After John Tang's unjust case was rehabilitated, the Nantang of Xuanwumen was returned to Nan Huairen and returned to Western missionaries, and the 25 missionaries who were originally detained in Guangzhou were also allowed to return to their original missionary areas, and the prison in the early Qing Dynasty was finally resolved.