Xu Baoguang

Xu Baoguang

Xu Baoguang (1671-1740) was born in Changzhou (now Wuxian County, Jiangsu Province) of Suzhou Prefecture in the south of the Yangtze River. In 1712, renchenke Wang Shichen was the third person in the list of Jinshi.

Basic information

Xu Baoguang ranks first in talent and quality. Former Deputy Prosecutor. After Xu Baoguang was admitted as a scholar, he already enjoyed a reputation. During Emperor Kangxi's tour to the south, Xu Baoguang paid a visit to Xianshi, and then he was elected in the Beijing Zhaoxiang examination. After the mid-term examination, it is even more famous. However, he took part in the ceremony examination of Renchen branch. There were 77 Chinese people in the ceremony examination of Renchen branch. The meeting yuan was Bu Junmin, but Xu Baoguang didn't pass. After special gift, Xu Baoguang finally took part in the palace examination. Among the 15 people specially granted for the palace examination, he was selected as the first and third Jinshi by Emperor Kangxi, and was awarded the title of editor of Imperial Academy.

brief account of the author's life

Xu Baoguang, a native of Changzhou, was born in 1671 and died in 1740 (Volume 71 of the biographies of the Qing Dynasty says that he died in 1723, the first year of Yongzheng, but in the eleventh year of Yongzheng, he published the collection of Haibo. Wang Dong wrote the preface, saying that he had invited the manuscript of poetry to read last year, and Ke Yuchun's summary of the collection of Qing poetry and prose verified that it was 1740). His characters are Liangzhi and Chengzhai, and they are called er you old man and Haidong servant. His surname is pan, and his surname is Wu Jiang Ji took part in the scientific examination. In 1705, when Kangxi went to Jiangnan for the fifth time, Xu Baoguang was summoned for his poems. After passing the local examination and becoming a Juren, he took part in the imperial examination in 1712, but failed, but was granted by Kangxi to take part in the imperial examination. Emperor Kangxi selected him as the third in the first place, that is, Tanhua, and granted him the title of editor of Hanlin Academy. His surname is Xu. In 1713 and 1715, he was the same examiner in the joint examination twice. He has six volumes of zhongshanzhuanxinlu, twelve volumes of eryouzhai anthology, twenty volumes of eryouzhai poetry anthology, three volumes of haiboji and ten volumes of chunhuage tiekao. In the 52nd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi, Xu Baoguang was appointed as the same examiner. Xu Baoguang, with outstanding talent and elegant character, was prominent among the officials in the inner court. Emperor Kangxi attached great importance to him. At that time, when the king of Ryukyu succeeded to the throne, Xu Baoguang was sent to Ryukyu as the Deputy envoy of the king of Ryukyu. Xu Baoguang was awarded a Lin mang suit. Soon after, Xu Baoguang went home on leave. Here, he wrote six volumes of biography of Zhongshan, describing the customs he saw abroad. After the 57th year of Kangxi, Xu Baoguang spent several years at home. In the early years of Yongzheng, Xu Baoguang was known as a censor. Before long, he died before he was appointed an official.

Mission to Ryukyu

In 1718 (the 57th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty), Xu Baoguang was appointed as the Deputy envoy of Ryukyu Kingdom and was ordered to go to Ryukyu. In order to further clarify the boundary between China and Ryukyu, Emperor Kangxi specially ordered Xu Baoguang to take astronomical students to Ryukyu to survey the sea charts. Later, he accurately indicated the names and locations of the Ryukyu Islands in the attached map of zhongshanzhuanxinlu, and specially noted that "gumishan is shangzhenshan in the southwest of Ryukyu.". The significance of Xu Baoguang's territorial division lies in that it is a common territorial division between China and Ryukyu. in Ming and Qing Dynasties, Ryukyu was a vassal of China; after the death of the king of Ryukyu, the Chinese emperor sent envoys to pay homage to him and then canonized the new king. The envoys were chosen to represent the emperor, and the Qing government chose those who were "excellent in learning and good in manners". In the 57th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, he was going to choose a canonized envoy to Ryukyu. In his preface to chuanxinlu, Wang Shihuang said that Xu Baoguang "wrote articles about China and government affairs to govern the country. He also had a great appearance and smart words. He is one of the best candidates for the title of "Baoguang caipin" in Volume 71 of the biographies of Qing Dynasty, and "Liu of volume 68 of Wu county annals". In June of that year, Xu Baoguang was appointed Deputy envoy of the canonization, and Haibao, the official envoy of the canonization, went to Rehe to meet Kangxi. He was granted Dongzhu and was allowed to wear first-class official clothes. Fang Bao, a writer of Tongcheng school, wrote a preface to Xu Liangzhi's canonization of Ryukyu to see him off, saying that he was "well-known for literature.". I wish him that the article will be published. Xu Baoguang left Beijing on August 21 and arrived in Suzhou on October 18. With the permission of Kangxi, he celebrated his mother's 70th birthday and celebrated the Spring Festival in his hometown. Set off for Fujian on February 12. On May 22, wuhumen went to Ryukyu with Haibao. The Deputy envoy can take 15 members of his family with his younger brother Xu Zunguang. Eight days later, it arrived in June (July 17, 1719). Xu Baoguang and others stayed in Ryukyu for eight months. The next year, on February 16 of the lunar calendar (March 24, 1720), they set out to return home and traveled 5400 miles by sea. Before that, Emperor Kangxi asked western missionaries to train a large number of personnel. From 1708, he began to use western methods to map the whole country, stipulating that the arc length of one degree on the longitude of the earth was 200 Li. In 1718, it was basically completed. This is the first national scale Astrogeodetic survey in China. Dr. Needham pointed out in his book the history of science and technology in China Geosciences volume that the map "was the best of all maps in Asia at that time, and it was better and more accurate than all maps in Europe at that time.". "But there is no Ryukyu among them. So Kangxi sent the eight grade officials Ping'an and jianshengfenge to Ryukyu with the mission to measure the local latitude and longitude and draw the map of Ryukyu. These two surveys were carried out for the first time in the history of Ryukyu.

Academic works

After the imperial edict and canonization of Ryukyu, Xu Baoguang returned to China and summed up the biography of Zhongshan. "Though not daring to say that there are no mistakes, we should use the cloud to 'spread the message'. "The book has three prefaces, 47 of which are divided into six volumes with pictures and texts, with a total of 168000 words. The first volume of chuanxinlu contains 12 articles about the maritime traffic between China and Ryukyu, such as the seal of the boat, the military service of crossing the sea, the watch (needle plate, glass leak), the needle route, the diary of traveling to and from the sea, the date of previous seal of the boat and crossing the sea, the memory of the heavenly concubine, and the article of offering sacrifices to the God of the sea. From the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, Xu rented two Ningbo merchant ships, which cost money and time. Attached with the seal drawing, indicating its size and component name.
2. In the chapter of military service across the sea, a list of 318 attendants and soldiers was drawn up, including five cooks and pastry divisions. Leading the troops is to prevent pirates along the way and also to make a strong momentum. However, the Ryukyu side said that 600 people came to China, and the 300 more were probably overstaffed personnel and businessmen following the mission. 3. "Chapter of needle and road" introduces the course and course along the way. Quoting the general guide of Ryukyu state, it is said that the Gumi mountain that Diaoyutai passes eastward is "shangzhenshan mountain on the southwest boundary of Ryukyu.". "This shows that Gumi mountain is the boundary of Ryukyu and Diaoyutai is in China's territorial sea. In fact, it can be seen from the needle road that Diaoyu Island is not at the border. To the east of Diaoyu Island lies Huangwei island and Chiwei Island, and to the Ryukyu trench between Chiwei island and Kumi island is the Sino Ryukyu border. (4) "Diary of qianhaixing" records the wind direction and passing place along the way, and points out that "the trouble of using too many Mao needles and falling north every time" in guide Guangyi. "If you follow the guide, you will float to yebishan to the north of Ryukyu. 5. "Geng Pian" is attached with glass leakage and compass pattern. The glass hourglass, or hourglass, was brought into China by missionaries. On land, the timing accuracy of the hourglass is inferior to that of our timing instrument. However, it is not suitable to use the mark on the ship, because when the sea is stormy, the water surface inside the mark will fluctuate, so it is difficult to time accurately. At sea, it is difficult to control dry and wet, and the burning rate is unstable. The sand in the hourglass is a leak, then hang upside down and continue to count. One leak is equivalent to one hour now. Every two and a half leaks is a watch. The average speed of the ship is 60 miles per watch. The compass is a combination of Chinese and Western: the orientation is Chinese, the eight trigrams of heavenly stems and earthly branches are carved on the surface of the compass to indicate the orientation, and the magnetic needle is western. In Chapter 6, "fengxinpian", it is introduced that "if the wind is strong and strong, it is a hurricane; and even worse, it is Taiwan". In "may, June, July and August, it is Taiwan", "when Taiwan is about to develop, the north wind will come first, turn southeast, turn south and turn southwest.". "The strong wind blows continuously for several days and turns gradually, which is really the characteristic of typhoon. 7, "Xingye chapter" said: "today's survey, the north pole of Ryukyu is 26 degrees 2 / 3 (latitude)," Ryukyu "is 8 degrees 30 (longitude) away from Fuzhou. According to the calculation of 200 Li per degree, it is 1700 Li straight to the sea. Compared with modern data: Fuzhou 119 degrees 09 east longitude, NABA 127 degrees 39 east longitude, 26 degrees 12 north latitude. The difference between the longitudes of the two places is 8 degrees and 30 minutes. The latitude of Ryukyu is also in line with the modern data. The understanding of Ryukyu by Europeans in the 18th century and Japan before the Meiji Restoration all depended on these three books. In the middle of the 18th century, Japan published two versions of Sun Yat Sen biography. Chuanxinlu truly and comprehensively preserves the social features of Ryukyu 300 years ago. Just like an encyclopedia, it is now treasured by the world. It is also an important historical material for later generations to study the ancient Ryukyu Kingdom, the relationship between China and Ryukyu, the status of ancient Chinese shipbuilding and navigation, and to demonstrate the ownership of Diaoyu Islands. For Ryukyu, which lost many documents in World War II, chuanxinlu is more important.

Historical records

Xu Baoguang is good at calligraphy. It is recorded in Wu Xiu's Zhaodai Zhizhuan in Qing Dynasty that (Xu) Baoguang Gongshu In his later years, Xu Baoguang had a long beard and long hair. It's pretty. Xu Baoguang writes ancient prose with clear and pure diction, while his poems are especially vigorous and vigorous, just like going between Emei and Jiannan. In Xu Baoguang's poem "from Fengling mountain to Liling mountain", there is a good sentence: "the wind and spring are noisy, the pillow is on the trip, and the wall lamp is on the guest." It's very popular.

Contribution Summary

He is the author of zhongshanzhuanxinlu, eryouzhai anthology, eryouzhai poetry anthology, Haibo anthology and Fengshi Liushi anthology

Chinese PinYin : Xu Bao Guang