徐光启

徐光啟

Xú Guāngqǐ

proper noun

Meanings

1 Xu Guangqi (1562–1633), Ming dynasty scholar-official, scientist and Catholic convert

Characters

to open; to enlighten

Examples

HSK 4

徐光启是明朝的科学家。

Xú Guāngqǐ shì Míngcháo de kēxuéjiā.

Xu Guangqi was a scientist of the Ming dynasty.

HSK 7-9

徐光启和利玛窦一起把《几何原本》翻译成了中文。

Xú Guāngqǐ hé Lì Mǎdòu yìqǐ bǎ 《 Jǐhé yuánběn 》 fānyì chéng le Zhōngwén.

Together with Matteo Ricci, Xu Guangqi translated Euclid's Elements into Chinese.

Tips

history

A Shanghai man, he was baptized in 1603 and rose to grand secretary. With 利玛窦 he translated the first six books of Euclid in 1607, coining the word 几何. He also wrote 《农政全书》, a great work on farming, and urged the growing of sweet potatoes against famine.

culture

Shanghai's 徐家汇 is named after his family, whose estate lay where two creeks met, and the district 徐汇 takes its name from it. His tomb is in a park there.

Stroke Order

徐 xú

光 guāng

启 qǐ