Xú Guāngqǐ 徐光啟 (1562–1633), zì Zǐxiān 子先, hào Xuánhù 玄扈, posthumously Wéndìng 文定, Christian baptismal name Paul (受洗名 Bǎolù 保祿), was the foremost Late-Míng official-scholar of the Chinese-Western intellectual encounter. Jìnshì of Wànlì 32 (1604); rose to Lǐbù shàngshū and Wényuāngé dàxuéshì. Converted to Christianity in 1603 under Matteo Ricci’s instruction and became one of the Sān zhùshí 三柱石 (“Three Pillars of the Catholic Faith in China” — with 李之藻 Lǐ Zhīzǎo and Yáng Tíngyún 楊廷筠).
Major works of Chinese-Jesuit collaboration: with 利瑪竇 Ricci, the partial translation of Euclid’s Elements as Jǐhé yuánběn 幾何原本 (1607), the celebrated foundational text of pre-modern Chinese mathematics-of-shape; the preface to 熊三拔 Sabatino de Ursis’s Jiǎnpíng yí shuō 簡平儀說 (KR3f0011, Wànlì xīnhài 1611) — one of the most consequential intellectual-historical documents of the late Míng. With Sabatino de Ursis (Xióng Sānbá 熊三拔), the Tàixī shuǐfǎ 泰西水法 (KR3d0008).
Calendar reform (1629–1633): in Chóngzhēn 2 (1629), after the Bureau of Astronomy’s failure to predict that year’s solar eclipse, Xú Guāngqǐ was named Director (tídū 提督) of the Calendar-Reform Bureau (Lìjú 曆局), with 李之藻 Lǐ Zhīzǎo as co-Director. Working with the Western collaborators 龍華民 Longobardo, 鄧玉函 Schreck, 羅雅谷 Rho, and 湯若望 Schall, he supervised the compilation of the Chóngzhēn lìshū 崇禎曆書 (KR3f0013 Xīnfǎ suànshū) — the great synthesis of Chinese mathematical-astronomical practice with the Tycho-Brahe geo-heliocentric system. He composed the foundational Lìshū zǒngmù biǎo 曆書總目表 (overall table-of-contents memorial) and the polemical Xuélì xiǎobiàn 學厯小辨 (refuting Wèi Wénkuí’s 魏文魁 conservative Lìyuán and Lìcè); presented multiple installments of the Lìshū to the throne 1631–1633. Died in office 1633, succeeded as Director by 李天經 Lǐ Tiānjīng. Posthumously canonized Wéndìng 文定 by the Chóngzhēn court in recognition of his calendar-reform service.
Independent works: the Nóng zhèng quán shū 農政全書 (KR3d0007, his 60-juan agricultural encyclopedia, posthumously published 1639). Biography: Míng shǐ j. 251. CBDB id 30598, dates 1562–1633.