João Rodrigues Tçuzu: Difference between revisions

Following [[imperial memorial|memorials]] by the converts [[Paul Xu]] and [[Leo Li]] in 1629,<ref name=bluemoonofkentuckykeeponshining>{{harvp|Blue|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dHLbB2OVYQYC&pg=PA44 44]}}</ref> Rodrigues—now 68—served as the interpreter for a second expedition<ref name=chanc/> under [[Gonçalo Teixeira-Correa]] ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|公|沙}}·{{linktext|的|西|勞}}}}, ''Gōngshā Dixilao'', or {{lang|zh|{{linktext|効忠}}}}, ''Xiàozhōng'')<ref name=needy/> intended for Beijing.<ref name=chanc/> The group was permitted to bring ten artillery pieces and four "excellent bombards" through China to the capital.<ref name=bluemoonofkentuckykeeponshining/> They reached [[Zhuozhou]] on 5 January 1630, but were first delayed from reaching the capital and then quickly sent from it to [[Dengzhou, Shandong|Dengzhou]] (now Penglai) in [[Shandong]],<ref name=chanc/> where they trained troops under its Christian governor [[Sun Yuanhua|Ignatius Sun]] ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|孫|元|化}}}}, ''Sun Yuanhua'') in the use of [[hongyipao|modern cannon]].<ref name=needy>{{harvp|Needham & al.|1986|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tGoZYSWNht8C&pg=PA176 176]}}.</ref> While there in early 1631,{{sfnp|Needham & al.|1986|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tGoZYSWNht8C&pg=PA175 175]}} Sun and Rodrigues were visited by [[Jeong Duwon]], a [[Joseon|Korean]] [[Yangban|mandarin]] traveling with a diplomatic mission from [[Seoul]] to Beijing.{{efn|This meeting is sometimes erroneously reported as having occurred in [[Beijing]] or [[Nanjing]].}} Rodrigues introduced him to the Jesuits' work on [[Chinese astronomy#Jesuit activity in China|astronomy]] and [[History of science and technology in China#Jesuit activity in China|other sciences]] and made a personal gift of his [[telescope]], which Jeong highly praised for [[reconnaissance|its use in warfare]]. He also provided Jeong with a small [[fieldgun]], a treatise on cannon and their use, and a book on European customs and manners.<ref name=needy/> Jeong also had Rodrigues speak with his assistants [[Yi Yeonghu]] ({{lang|ko|{{linktext|이|영|후}}}}, {{lang|zh|{{linktext|李|栄|後}}}}) and Colonel [[Jeong Hyogil]] ({{lang|ko|{{linktext|정|효|길}}}}, {{lang|zh|{{linktext|鄭|孝|吉}}}}) in greater detail, Yi about geography and Col. Jeong about [[hongyipao|Western firearms and cannon]]. A record survives of his conversation with Yi, who was most curious about whether or not China—whose native name ''[[Names of China#Zhongguo|Zhōngguó]]'' ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|中國}}}}) literally means "The Central Realm"—did in fact occupy the middle of the earth. Rodrigues replied that, since the earth was a sphere, every country could truthfully claim their land as its center.{{sfnp|Park|2000|p=33}}