25 Facts About Ferdinand Verbiest

Ferdinand Verbiest, was a Flemish Jesuit missionary in China during the Qing dynasty.

Ferdinand Verbiest was born in Pittem near Tielt in the County of Flanders.

Ferdinand Verbiest is known as Nan Huairen in Chinese.

Ferdinand Verbiest was an accomplished mathematician and astronomer and proved to the court of the Kangxi Emperor that European astronomy was more accurate than Chinese astronomy.

Ferdinand Verbiest then corrected the Chinese calendar and was later asked to rebuild and re-equip the Beijing Ancient Observatory, being given the roles of Head of the Mathematical Board and Director of the Observatory.

Ferdinand Verbiest became close friends with the Kangxi Emperor, who frequently requested his instruction in geometry, philosophy and music.

Ferdinand Verbiest was granted the posthumous name "Qinmin" by Kangxi Emperor.

Ferdinand Verbiest was the eldest child of Joos Verbiest, a bailiff and tax collector of Pittem near Kortrijk, Belgium.

Ferdinand 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.

Ferdinand Verbiest continued studying theology in Seville, where he was ordained as a priest in 1655.

Ferdinand Verbiest completed his studies in astronomy and theology in Rome.

Ferdinand Verbiest's intention had been to become a missionary in the Spanish missions to Central America, but this was not to be.

Ferdinand Verbiest's call was to the Far East, where the Roman Catholic Church was 'on a mission' to compensate for the loss of believers to the emerging Protestantism in Europe.

Unlike Yang, Ferdinand Verbiest had access to the latest updates on the Rudolphine Tables, and was assisted by telescopes for observation.

Ferdinand Verbiest succeeded in all three tests and was immediately installed as the Head of the Mathematical Board and Director of the Observatory.

Ferdinand Verbiest suggested the errors should be corrected, including removing the extra month.

Ferdinand Verbiest was frequently invited to the palace and to accompany the Emperor on his expeditions throughout the empire.

Ferdinand Verbiest translated the first six books of Euclid into Manchu and took every opportunity to introduce Christianity.

Ferdinand Verbiest created star charts for the Kangxi Emperor in order to tell the time at night.

The existing equipment was obsolete, so Ferdinand Verbiest consigned it to a museum and set about designing six new instruments:.

Ferdinand Verbiest died in Beijing shortly after receiving a wound from falling off a bolting horse.

Ferdinand Verbiest was succeeded as the chief mathematician and astronomer of the Chinese empire by another Belgian Jesuit, Antoine Thomas.

Ferdinand Verbiest was the only Westerner in Chinese history to ever receive the honour of a posthumous name by the Emperor.

Ferdinand Verbiest describes it in his manuscript Astronomia Europea that was finished in 1681.

Since the steam engine was still not known at that time, Ferdinand Verbiest used the principle of an impulse turbine.