Currently, I am working on the Museum of the History of Science’s Heaven on Earth online exhibition.  Last year, a selection of the prints went on display as part of the Museum’s contribution to the UK’s ‘China Now’ festival.  Now, all 105 prints from Ferdinand Verbiest’s Xinzhi Yixiangtu (1673) are available online and I am completing the job of captioning and tagging all of them!

The Xinzhi Yixiangtu is based on Verbiest’s work at the Beijing Observatory.  He was a Jesuit missionary who went to China during the Qing dynasty (mid-17th century) to spread both Christianity and Western astronomy.  During his time in China, he proved the accuracy of western methods and instruments, corrected the Chinese calendar, became close friends to the emperor, did cartography, and, at times, worked as a diplomat, teacher, and translator.  The 105 prints that the Museum has put online cover a variety of subjects, ranging from astronomy to mechanics to construction techniques.

All of the captions and tags are not up yet … still a work in progress, but it will hopefully be done soon.