康熙 （愛新覺羅·玄燁） 著

【原文】

《清圣祖實錄》

爾等惟知朕[1]算術(shù)之精，卻不知我學(xué)算之故。朕幼時，欽天監(jiān)[2]漢官與西洋人不睦，互相參劾，幾至大辟。楊光先、湯若望*于午門外九卿[4]前當(dāng)面賭測日影，奈九卿中無一知其法者。朕思己不知，焉能斷人之是非，因自憤而學(xué)焉。

【今譯】

你們只知道我數(shù)學(xué)很好，但不知道我學(xué)數(shù)學(xué)的原因。我小時候，欽天監(jiān)的漢族官員和西洋人不和，互相指責(zé)得很厲害，幾乎鬧出人命！后來，楊光先和湯若望*在午門外當(dāng)著九卿的面前預(yù)測太陽的影子，而他們九卿沒有一個人懂計算的方法。我想如果自己都不知道，又怎么能判斷誰對誰錯呢？因此，我開始發(fā)奮學(xué)習(xí)西方數(shù)學(xué)了。

【英譯】

Records of Emperor Kangxi

You all only know that I am good at mathematics but you do not know why ?I study mathematics. When I was young, the Han officials at the Imperial ?Bureau of Astronomy did not get along with the Westerners. They accused each ?other to the point that someone could have been executed! Later, Yang ?Guangxian and Tang Ruowang (Johann Adam Schall von Bell)* ?predicted the sun's shadow in front of the Nine Ministers outside the ?Meridian Gate, and not one of them understood the calculation methods. I then ?thought, if I don't know, how can I judge who is right and who is wrong? This ?is why I put great effort in learning mathematics.

*應(yīng)該是南懷仁。Should be Ferdinand Verbiest (Nan Huairen).

【注釋】

[1] 朕 zhèn：皇帝的人稱代詞。Personal pronoun of the Chinese emperor.

[2] 欽天監(jiān) qīn tiān jiàn：明清兩朝觀察天文、天象、歷法的機構(gòu)。Imperial Bureau of Astronomy.

[3] 午門 wǔ mén：紫禁城的正門。Meridian Gate (main gate of the Forbidden City).

[4] 九卿 jiǔ qīng：中國古代朝廷的九個高級官職。Nine high-ranking officials of Imperial China.

Article by Tao Steven Zheng（鄭濤）?