Manuel Dias Jr.

Manuel Dias
Born	1574 Castelo Branco, Portugal
Died	4 March 1659 China
Nationality	Portuguese
Occupation	Jesuit missionary
Known for	Introduction of the telescope in China

Father Manuel Dias Jr.^[1] (陽瑪諾, Yang Manuo) (1574 – 4 March 1659)^[2] also known as Emmanuel Diaz, was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary who introduced in China the telescope in the early 17th century, just a few years after it had been developed in the Netherlands in 1608. The telescope was first mentioned in his Tian Wen Lüe (Explicatio Sphaerae Coelestis) in 1615.^[3] Father Manuel Dias arrived at China in 1610, reaching Beijing in 1613. In the Tian Wen Lüe he presented the latest European astronomy knowledge in the shape of questions and answers to the Chinese queries. It was studied and published until the 19th century.

See also

• Wenceslas Pantaleon Kirwitzer

References

1. "Junior" (Jr.) is usually appended to his name to differentiate him with his contemporary, Manuel Dias the senior (ca. 1561-1639). See Jami & Saraiva (2008), p. 99 note 1
2. João Manuel Esteves Pereira, Guilherme Rodrigues, "Diccionario historico, chorographico, heraldico, biographico, bibliographico, numismatico e artistico ...", J. Romano Torres, 1907
3. Needham, Volume 3, 444.

Bibliography

• Catherine Jami, Luís Saraiva, "The Jesuits, the Padroado and East Asian science (1552–1773)", World Scientific, 2008, ISBN 981-277-125-5
• Liam Matthew Brockey, "Journey to the East: the Jesuit mission to China, 1579–1724", Harvard University Press, 2007, ISBN 0-674-02448-6
• Joseph Needham, "Chinese astronomy and the Jesuit mission: an encounter of cultures", China Society, 1958
• Francisco Rodrigues, "Jesuitas portugueses astrónomos na China, 1583–1805", Tipografia Porto Medico, 1925
• Joseph Needham, Ling Wang, "Science and Civilisation in China", ISBN 978-0-521-05801-8