mathematics

Li Yingshi

Li Yingshi is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Li Yingshi rather than just read about it. In short: Li Yingshi (traditional Chinese: 李應試; simplified Chinese: 李应试, referred to by Jesuits as Li Paul; fl. ca. 1600) was a Ming Chinese military officer, scientist, astrologer and feng shui practicer that was converted to Christianity. He was converted to Catholicism by Matteo Ricci and Diego de Pantoja, the first two Jesuits to establish themselves in Beijing.

Key takeaways

Li Yingshi belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Li Yingshi to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Li Yingshi from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Li Yingshi (traditional Chinese: 李應試; simplified Chinese: 李应试, referred to by Jesuits as Li Paul; fl. ca. 1600) was a Ming Chinese military officer, scientist, astrologer and feng shui practicer that was converted to Christianity. He was converted to Catholicism by Matteo Ricci and Diego de Pantoja, the first two Jesuits to establish themselves in Beijing. He then became a zealous Christian.

Early life Li Yingshi was a member of the Chinese literati class. He commanded a unit of 500 soldiers during the Korean War of 1592–98. He was awarded a lifetime pension by the Wanli government, which was to continue to be paid to his heirs in perpetuity. During peacetime, he studied astrology and geomancy.

Conversion In the meantime, in 1601 the Jesuits Matteo Ricci and Diego de Pantoja became the first Christian missionaries to be settled in the Ming capital. They appreciated Confucian learning and wanted to establish good relations with the Chinese literati, but strongly disparaged the "ridiculous wizardry" of Chinese occult practices. This is why, perhaps, Ricci described the Jesuits' conversion of Li Yingshi to Christianity – which was accomplished on the Feast of St Matthew (i.e., September 21) of 1602 – as nothing less than "extraordinary". Once Li became a Christian, it took him, Ricci, and de Pantoja three days to go through his "beautiful and well stocked library" to identify all books and manuscripts "forbidden by ecclesiastical regulations". The forbidden books and manuscripts, mostly dealing with the "art of divination" were then burned, some at Li's own courtyard and others at the Beijing Mission House, to demonstrate Li's commitment to Christianity. This apparently was not an uncommon practice in Ricci's day: when another celebrated convert, the mathematician Ignatius Qu Taisu (瞿太素; Chiutaiso in Ricci's transcription) became Christian, he also sent his library of books on "the dogma of the sects" to the Nanjing Mission House to be burned, along with book printing plates and non-Christian religious statues. Li Yingshi became a zealous member of the Catholic church. He proselytized among his friends and relatives, and got all his servants to join the church as well. He had a chapel built at his home and had his son study at the Beijing Mission House, so that soon enough the young Li was able to celebrate Mass himself. As a person highly knowledgeable about the "sect of idol worshippers", Li was able to supply the Jesuits with a large amount of information that they found helpful in converting other non-Christians.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Li Yingshi

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Li Yingshi claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Li Yingshi before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Li Yingshi ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Li Yingshi

In research: Li Yingshi appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Li Yingshi in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Li Yingshi is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 16th-century Chinese mathematicians, 17th-century Chinese mathematicians, Chinese Roman Catholics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Li Yingshi outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Li Yingshi in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Li Yingshi means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Li Yingshi out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Li Yingshi in simple terms?

Why does Li Yingshi matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Li Yingshi?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Li Yingshi.