Female scientist in the Qing Dynasty: Knowledgeable in mathematics and astronomy, possessing a mindset far beyond the times

The internationally-renowned website Nature introduced a female scientist from China's Qing Dynasty named Wang Zhengyi in a promotional video for the nomination for the 2019 "Inspiring and Innovative Scientific Research" Award as a title character. how to be an "old" female scientist in a previous era.

In the introduction of Nature, Vuong Trinh Nghi is an all-powerful woman, adept in astronomy, mathematics, geography, medicine, and poetry.

In fact, as early as 1994, the Working Group on the Catalog of Planetary Systems of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) named the newly discovered dome on Venus after "Vuong Trinh Nghi". Thereby, it can be seen that her influence in the international scientific community is far beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Thanks to the new 3rd season of the program "National Treasure" on CCTV, many Chinese people know who Vuong Trinh Nghi is.

Shaping Vuong Trinh Nghi in the program "National treasure".

1. Immerse yourself in the pool of knowledge since childhood

In the 33rd year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign (1768), Wang Zhengyi was born into a well-educated family in Jiangsu.

Her paternal grandfather, Wang Jia Fu, used to work as a tri government with the golden rule: 'The official is honest, loves the people like his children, and treats the government like his home'.

Her father, Vuong Tichsen, used to be an official of the county, because he failed many times in the imperial exams, he turned to medical research and became a famous doctor in one area.

Growing up in a religious family, Vuong Trinh Nghi from a young age was fortunate to receive a very good education. However, in the period of ancient Chinese feudal society, such a home study environment was not enough to produce female scientists with extraordinary knowledge. Without these later experiences, Vuong Trinh Nghi would probably have become a character like Lam Dai Ngoc in "Hong Lau Mong".

The image of Vuong Trinh Nghi in a 1996 work by Chinese contemporary painter, Peng Lienxi.

In 1779, Wang Jiafu died in the Northeast while being exiled to Jilin for blasphemy, leaving an intellectual treasure of 75 huge bookcases to Vuong Trinh Nghi, when she was only 11 years old. age.

There are not only rich literary works, but also books by ancient masters of science such as To Chong Chi, Tang Nhat Hanh, Quach Thu Kinh (an astronomer, irrigation engineer, mathematician, etc.). and a Chinese politician, living in the Yuan Dynasty)… In which, To Chongzhi's books are of great value because he was a famous scientist of the Northern and Southern Dynasties in Chinese history, also the first person in Chinese history. in the world calculate pi to 7 decimal places and many other excellent scientific inventions.

This is closely related to the research interests of the Royal Palace itself. He has achieved certain achievements in calendar calculations and mathematics, and even participated in compiling and editing the Qing Dynasty math book "Mai Thi Tung Sinh" by Mai Van Dinh (mathematical family). famous in the Qing Dynasty). In addition, Vuong Trinh Nghi's father later "retired from writing to become a doctor". It can be seen that the Vuong family themselves have a strong will for scientific and academic research.

Under the tutelage of his grandfather and father, Vuong Trinh Nghi did not let them down. With a huge collection of books left by her grandfather, she was immersed in the knowledge pool day and night. She even wrote the sentence 'There is no poverty in studying life, while holding knowledge is a precious treasure' to encourage herself.

Therefore, to achieve success, you need not only the support of your home environment, but also your own efforts.

2. Traveling and contemplating, breaking the rut in ancient women's thinking

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, an astronomer, mathematician, and calenderist, Mai Van Dinh was extremely famous. "Mai Thi Tung Sinh" is a series of books summed up by his descendants from his academic research.

Mai Van Dinh, a mathematician of the Qing Dynasty.

Five years after his grandfather's death, Vuong Trinh Nghi almost read all the book treasure he left behind. At the age of 16, she returned from the Northeast to her hometown in Jiangsu with her parents, then followed her father and grandmother to practice medicine everywhere.

From the Northeast to Jiangsu, again from Nanjing to Beijing, then to Shaanxi, Hunan, and even to the East of Guangdong. For more than 2 years, she has traveled in all directions, the journey is so long that it is impossible to count.

Half of her life is a perfect testament to the old adage: "Read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles".

Experiencing the human condition, customs and culture in many localities has helped Vuong Trinh Nghi completely break the limitations in the way of thinking of ordinary women.

She bravely wrote verses such as 'Walking thousands of miles of books, her mind is stronger than her husband', 'Who said women are not heroes'.

It can be said that Vuong Trinh Nghi is the earliest representative character fighting for equality of women in the Qing Dynasty.

3. Acquiring Western knowledge, going from math to astronomy

Vuong Trinh Nghi's image in the 2018 foreign women-themed calendar.

After 'reading ten thousand books and walking ten thousand miles', Wang Trinh Nghi, now 18 years old, returned to Nanjing to set up a business.

It must be known that the 18-year-old daughter in the old era began to be urged by her family to get married. Although there is no record left, it is not difficult to guess that Vuong Trinh Nghi's family did not put too much pressure on her in this matter. If yes, based on the value of knowledge and existing personality, she cannot be subdued and will definitely fight to the end.

Don't forget, Wang Zhengyi spent five years in Jilin, both studying the books left by his grandfather and learning horseback riding and martial arts from a woman in the local Mongolian army. She even reached the level of "riding a rope, galloping like flying".

So, back in Nanjing, she began to freely research and explore her own science.

Starting with the math that my grandfather taught me from a young age. From the 13 volumes of Vuong Trinh Nghi's 'Duc Phong communal house' left by Vuong Trinh Nghi, we can discover her research related to trigonometric functions and the Pythagorean theorem.

"The solution of the Pythagorean Triangle" made up a significant part of her research, analyzing in detail the formulas of trigonometric functions from the West that no one else understood at the time. These studies were of great significance to the development of Chinese numerology.

Vuong Trinh Nghi is deeply aware of this point, so she not only tried to explain "Western studies", but also simplified and edited Mai Van Dinh's "Mathematics Mai Thi", a set of research works that were originally published in the journal Science. respected by his grandparents.

She synthesized "Calculation" into "Simplified Calculus" and adjusted Mai Van Dinh's "Original Calculation" (Arithmetic in sticks) to "Explaining Calculus". Unfortunately, these two works, a total of 7 books, were lost.

Only the book "Duc Phong Dinh Chu Tap" remained, in which she complained about the complicated and cumbersome presentation of arithmetic in Mai Van Dinh's book and clearly stated the purpose of editing his research. is to simplify for future generations to learn.

A special thing is that in the book 'Calendar' by Mai Van Dinh, there are astronomical phenomena such as: Solar eclipse, Lunar eclipse. How, then, can a mathematician extend his understanding of astronomy?

In fact, almost all mathematics in ancient China was applied mathematics. Thus, ancient mathematics was closely related to the calculation of the lunar calendar, astronomical observations, and even the manufacture of musical instruments.

Thus, mathematicians are often also academic researchers, and possibly even astronomical observers. Vuong Trinh Nghi, a woman who is passionate about research and discovery is no exception. She studied both mathematics and explored astronomy.

In the field of astronomy, Vuong Trinh Nghi left works such as 'Axis Precession Axiom' (or Axis Precession, the very slow and continuous variation of the orientation of the axis of rotation of a celestial body). , 'Distinguishing the Zodiac and the Equator' and 'Treatise on the round earth'.

To the ancients, the concept of axial precession meant that the position of the same star changed slightly on the same day every year. After decades of accumulation, this change will have a major impact on the weather and the calendar.

What Vuong Trinh Nghi did was synthesize the theories of Yu Hy, Cho Chong Chi, Zeng Nhat Hanh, Guo Shujing and other predecessors, and combine the Chinese and Western calendars, finally bringing the A more accurate conclusion is that 'every 70 years, the winter solstice moves back by 1 degree'.

A postcard with the image of Madame Vuong Trinh Nghi.

More importantly, Vuong Trinh Nghi confirmed the correctness of the 'spherical earth' theory through various "earth experiments" while the "round sky and square earth" theory was still popular at that time. . This was a very advanced scientific understanding in the middle of the Qing Dynasty.

It is for this reason that in the next work, Vuong Trinh Nghi has correctly explained the relationship between the positions of the sun, the earth and the moon when the solar and lunar eclipses occur along with the causes. of these astronomical phenomena. She then wrote the book "Explaining the Lunar Eclipse" for posterity to learn.

Remember, Chinese folk at that time always believed: "The tengu eating the moon is a bad omen". From there, it can be seen that Vuong Trinh Nghi's thoughts and research results are beyond the limits of time and space.

In that context, Vuong Trinh Nghi's research achievements were spread to distant Western lands through missionaries. Thanks to that, she became a bright star in the field of science, being dubbed the "Marie Curie of China".

However, unfortunately, Vuong Trinh Nghi died of illness at the age of 29. A large number of manuscripts of scientific research results were also lost afterwards, only a very small part remained, but it was enough for them. We see her greatness.

Looking back at Vuong Trinh Nghi's life, many people may think that she has not had any breakthrough scientific research results. However, we also need to consider that due to the limited circumstances of the times, Vuong Trinh Nghi, a woman in the feudal period, produced many research results at the age of 29, which was enough to prove her ability. her extraordinary.

Vuong Trinh Nghia's spirit gives us an example of limitless hope for future generations. Regardless of her status as a Qing Dynasty, woman or Chinese, she left a sentence as a testament to the spirit of equality and the desire to research regardless of gender:

"Same people, same heart".