MEDHURST (Walter Henry). &
XU (Guangqi).
Dissertation on the silk-manufacture, and the cultivation of the mulberry; translated from the works of Tseu-Kwang-K’he. Called also Paul Siu, a Colao, or minister of state in China.
A partial translation of Nonzheng quanshu (Complete treatise on agriculture, 1639), a large posthumously published work of the late Ming which included important information on the production of silk. It was written by Xu Guangqi (Latin name Paul Siù, 1562-1633), the famous agronomist, astronomer, mathematician, reformer and Christian convert during Ricci’s time in China. The potential importance of Medhurst’s translation to British commerce was recognized in its time, as it was reprinted again in Madras in 1858 (anon., Madras Exhibition of 1859) ‘to encourage Indian silk cultivators and reelers to employ these superior Chinese techniques’ (Ma, Debin. Textiles in the Pacific, 1500–1900. New York : Routledge, 2016, p. 123). Cordier, Sinica, 1513; Lust 1237.
