Ferdinand Verbiest Totally Explained

Everything about Ferdinand Verbiest totally explained

Father Ferdinand Verbiest (October 9 1623 – January 28 1688) was a Flemish Jesuit missionary in China during the Qing dynasty. He was born in Pitthem near Courtrai, in modern Belgium. He is known as Nan Huairen (南懷仁) in Chinese. He was an accomplished mathematician and astronomer and proved to the court of Kangxi Emperor that European astronomy was more accurate than Chinese astronomy (at the time). He then corrected the Chinese calendar and was later asked to rebuild and re-equip the Beijing Ancient Observatory, being given the role of Head of the Mathematical Board and Director of the Observatory.
   He became close friends with the Kangxi Emperor, who frequently requested his teaching, in geometry, philosophy and music.
   Verbiest worked as a diplomat and cartographer, and also as a translator, because he spoke Latin, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian and Manchu. He wrote more than thirty books.
   During the 1670s, Verbiest designed what some claim to be the first ever self-propelled vehicle – many claim this as the world's first automobile, ignoring its small size and the lack of evidence that it was actually built.

Biography

Early life

Ferdinand Verbiest was the eldest child of Joos Verbiest, bailiff and tax collector of Pittem near Kortrijk, Belgium. Verbiest studied humanities with the Jesuits, in Bruges and Kortrijk, and next went to the Lelie College in Leuven, for a year, to study philosophy and mathematics. Verbiest continued studying theology in Seville, where he was ordained as a priest in 1655. Verbiest took up his first posting in Shanxi, leading the mission until 1660 when he was called to assist – and later, replace – Father Adam Schall von Bell, the Jesuit Director of Beijing Observatory and Head of the Mathematical Board, in his work in astronomy. Unfortunately for them, the political situation shifted dramatically in 1661, on the death of the young Shunzhi Emperor, aged 23. His son and successor, Kangxi, was only 7, so the government was placed in the hands of four regents. Unlike Shunzhi, the regents were not in favour of the Jesuits, Fortunately for them, on 16 April 1665, a violent earthquake destroyed the part of the prison chosen for the execution. This was seen as an omen and all the prisoners were released. However, they still had to stand trial, and all the Jesuits, but Verbiest, Schall, and two others were exiled to Canton. Schall died within a year, due to the conditions of his confinement.. Other inventions included a steam engine to propel ships.

Instruments for Beijing Observatory

Having resolved the issues surrounding the calendar, Verbiest went on to compose a table of all solar and lunar eclipses for the next 2000 years. Delighted with this, the emperor awarded him complete charge of the imperial astronomy observatory, which he rebuilt in 1673. The existing equipment was obsolete, so Verbiest consigned it to a museum and set about designing six new instruments:

Celestial globe, six feet in diameter, used to map and identify celestial objects.

Ecliptic armilla, armillary sphere, six feet in diameter, used to measure the ecliptic longitude difference and latitudes of celestial bodies. (This was the traditional European device while the Chinese developed the equatorial armilla.)

Equatorial armilla, armillary sphere, six feet in diameter, used primarily for measuring true solar time as well as right ascension difference and declination of celestial bodies.

Quadrant Altazimuth, six feet in radius, for measuring altitudes or zenith distances of celestial bodies.

Sextant, eight feet in radius, used to measure the angle of elevation of a celestial object above the horizon. It is used to calculate the angle between two objects, although it's limited to 60 degrees of arc. In navigation, it's used to to take a measure of the angle of the sun at noon to determine latitude. These were all very large, made of brass and highly decorated, with bronze dragons forming the supports. Despite their weight, they were very easy to manipulate, demonstrating Verbiest's aptitude for mechanical design.

Final days

Verbiest died in Beijing shortly after receiving a wound from falling off a bolting horse. He was succeeded as the chief mathematician and astronomer of the Chinese empire by another Belgian Jesuit, Antoine Thomas (1644-1709). His remains were buried near those of two other famous Jesuits – Matteo Ricci and Adam Schall – on March 11, 1688. Visiting their tomb isn't easy, since it's on the campus of a College of Political Science, but it's well-maintained. Verbiest describes it in his work Astronomia Europea. As it was only 60cm long, and therefore effectively a scale model, not designed to carry human passengers, nor a driver, it isn't strictly accurate to call it a 'car'.
Steam was generated in a ball-shaped boiler, emerging through a pipe at the top, from where it was directed at a simple, open 'steam turbine' (rather like a water wheel) that drove the rear wheels.
It isn't known if Verbiest's model was ever built at the time, although he'd access to China's finest metal-working craftsmen who were constructing precision astronomical instruments for him.

The Brumm model

The Italian model manufacturer Brumm produced a non-working 1:43 scale model of the Veicolo a turbina de Verbiest (1681) [sic], in their "Old Fire" range of 2002. This model was 9cm long, which, when scaled-up, would have suggested that Verbiest's original would have been nearly 4 metres in length.
However, comparison with drawings in Hardenberg's study show that this model isn't the same as Verbiest's. It is actually modelled on a small steam turbine car built in the late 18th century (presumably 1775) by a German mechanic. Unfortunately, the original was probably destroyed during a bombing raid on the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe during World War II. However, a photo of the original car can be seen at the Deutsches Museum. Hardenberg notes that this steam turbine car operated on the same principle as Verbiest's carriage (the impulse turbine), but employed a more modern arrangement of the drive train.

Major works

In Chinese

Yixiang zhi, 1673 (on astronomical instruments and apparatus)

Kangxi yongnian lifa, 1678 (on the calendar of the emperor Kangxi)

Jiaoyao xulun (explanation of the basics of the faith)

Latin

Astronomia Europea, 1687

Memorials

Verbiest is commemorated on several postage stamps. One, featuring his face, was issued in Belgium, October 24 1988, to mark the tri-centenary of his death, with a matching pictorial cancellation postmark. Several more stamps were issued in Macau, in 1989 and 1999, featuring a sketch by Verbiest of the Observatory in Peking, where he worked.Further Information

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