Xu Guangqi

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Statue of Xu Guangqi, photoed by Mountain, at Guangqi Park, Shanghai

Xu Guangqi (Simplified Chinese: 徐光启; Traditional Chinese: 徐光啟; pinyin: Xú Guāngqǐ) (1562–1633) was a Chinese agricultural scientist and mathematician born in Shanghai.

He received the equivalent of his bachelor's degree at 19, but did not receive higher degrees until his thirties. He lived in a period when Chinese mathematics had gone into decline. The earlier efforts at algebra had been almost forgotten. Xu blamed some of the failures on a decline interest in practical science in China and became something of a critic of Chinese society.

He was a colleague and coauthor of Matteo Ricci. This influence led to his being baptized Catholic in 1604. In 1607 Xu Guangqi and Matteo Ricci translated the first parts of Euclid's Elements into Chinese. His conversion to Roman Catholicism led him to change his name to Paul Xu. After this his criticism of Chinese intellectual life became harsher and he came to deem China to be inferior to the West, specifically in mathematics. He also believed that adopting Western military armaments would save them from the Manchu, but this idea failed after the Manchu themselves learned to make European cannons. His descendants remained staunchly Catholic into the nineteenth century.

His tomb still exists in Shanghai in Guangqi Park just a short walk from the Xujiahui Cathedral in the Xujiahui area on Nandan Road (南丹路).