| Since the break out of Opium War in 1840,China was forced to open its door to the outside world.And many foreign missionaries came to China to preach their religion,becoming the start of the second Entrance of the Western Culture.To better preach,the London Missionary Society established the earliest modern publishing institution in Shanghai——the London Missionary Society Press,which translated and published numerous religious and science books.William Muirhead is one of the most influential missionaries of London Missionary Society in China,where he has been dedicated to preaching and publishing books for more than 50 years.William Muirhead’s masterpiece Universal Geography was published by London Missionary Society Press in 1853.The book is divided into two Volumes,the Volume1 is about the human geography,the and Volume 2 is about the introduction of natural science.It is very rich in content.In the Volume 2,the Theory of Qi and Guang is the earliest Western meteorology and climatology knowledge introduced to China after the Opium War.This paper,from the perspective of meteorological history,studied Universal Geography and enriched the study of modern Chinese meteorological history.It also analyzed the author of the book and the transmission of the book to complete the historical value of Universal Geography.It is divided into four parts.The first part is about the author and the background of the book and introduced the social background under the influence of the second Entrance of the Western Culture and the publishing process of Universal Geography.The author summarized the William Muirhead’s life time and drew the conclusion that there may be Chinese translators contributing to the completion of the book’s publish by referring to the historical data.The second part focused on the analysis of various meteorological phenomena in the book,and analyzed and evaluated the value of the book by comparing the Universal Geography with the same kind of book in history and at his times.The third part,on the basis of the climatology of the book,analyzed the climatology knowledge introduced in the book from the perspective of heat distribution,temperature zone and climate change,and made a comparison between the development of Climatological science in China and the West.The fourth part discusses the book’s dissemination,impact,and historical value.It studied the book’s transmission in China and Japan,then made a comparative analysis,and discuss the causes of the different transmission between China and Japan.Finally,summarizethe historical value of the book.The study drew the following conclusions by collecting and analyzing historical data and comparative research: First,there is Chinese translators except William Muirhead in completing Universal Geography.Second,the meteorological content of the book is advanced,scientific and comprehensive.It is the book that introduced the western climatology knowledge to China.Third,William Muirhead’s adjustment on the book is mainly for the better dissemination of the book in China because the social background,transmission way and targeted audience are different.These factors accounted for the transmission difference between the China and Japan. |
