A Introduction to studies on the translations of the“Jihe yuanben”（『几何原本』）

Abstract

In an essay entitled An academic affections in Beijing(北京學術慕情), the Japanese historian and Linguist Sugimoto Tsutomu(杉本孜,emeritus professor of Waseda University) has made a conclusion by this piece of writing: However, Fang Yizhi’s EncyclopediaofPhysics(物理小識), Shen Kuo’s MengXiBiTan（夢渓筆談） and so on, has a close relationship with the Kaitai Shinsyo (解体新書). When criticising and comparing, it can be observed that the literature related to the Chinese Physics, Chemistry and Scientific studies of the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynaty, has given Japan the benevolence which can be described as deeply appreciated like the height of a mountain and like the depth of an ocean (Tōhō『東方』, 2006, Dec. Vol.) Putting aside the literary exaggerated depiction, the historical evidence mentioned, without doubt conforms to the historical fact. In this significance, not merely to later generations of Japan,moreovertotheEastAsiancountriesinanarrowsense,namelytheso-calledChinesecharacterculturecircleofvariouscountries,whichhasbeendeeplyandgreatly,influencedbyaseriesofbooks“TheChineseTranslationWorksofWesternLearning”,whereJihe yuanben is the representative of the series. Matteo Ricci (1552～1610) a well known Italian Jesuit and the Ming dynasty bureaucrat scholar and pioneer of Chinese modern science XuGuangqi（1562～1633） who cooperated together through repetitive revising of three times of the manuscripts in order to achieve the aim of the book, completed the first six volumes of the “Euclid’sElements”.WhichwasoncepraisedbyLiangQichaoas“everywordareperfectlydescribed,alegendpieceinhistory”(Chinese Academic History of the last 300 years，中国近三百年学術史).Even with books such as List Summary of Si Ku Quan Shu(四庫全書総目提要) related to Catholicism and the correlation has been demoted, where only Jihe yuanben（Euclid’s Elements） has been appraised fairly and just. From here it can be observed that the value and influence of which is significant. Furthermore, Jihe yuanben is the eminent literary work within the series. As known by everybody, which published in Peking in 1607, happen to welcome the 400thanniversarythisyearinwhichisworthcongratulating. This report is for the purpose of expounding Jihe yuanben foundational birth and its intellectual and social background, in which according to different kinds of literature historical evidence, seeks to investigate and discuss the formation of the latitude and longitude of the geometry concept through such ‘point’, ‘line’, ‘surface’ and so on. From this inducts in particularly the dissemination and the influential issues of axiomic method in EastAsia.