Official service and practical learning
Xu Guangqi, courtesy name Zixian, came from Shanghai. The Ming History records that he placed first in the provincial examination at Yingtian in 1597 and passed the metropolitan examination seven years later. He entered the Hanlin Academy while pursuing studies in astronomy, mathematics, farming, water management, salt administration and military equipment.
After the deterioration of the northeastern military situation, Xu proposed training troops, financing defense and improving firearms. He supervised training at Tongzhou, but proposals met obstacles involving personnel, resources and changing decisions at court. Later appointments returned him to central government, including senior responsibility in the Ministry of Rites and, toward the end of his life, the Grand Secretariat. He died in 1633.
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Collaboration and the language of geometry
Through contact with Matteo Ricci and other Jesuits, Xu engaged with European mathematics. Their collaboration on the Jihe yuanben rendered Euclidean definitions and demonstrations in Chinese. The work required explanation, discussion and decisions about written expression; Xu participated in producing the text rather than merely receiving an already complete Chinese book.
Ricci's mathematical training under Christopher Clavius formed part of the background. At the Roman College, geometry belonged to an educational tradition that also included astronomical instruments and practical mathematical manuals. The translation connected those materials with the concerns and literary practices of a Chinese scholar-official. It therefore depended on both the imported mathematical text and the work of its Chinese collaborator.
Calendar reform and agricultural compilation
A failed eclipse prediction early in the Chongzhen reign brought calendar errors before the court. Xu argued for a systematic reform and obtained authority to organize new work with Chinese specialists and European missionaries. His biography records the successive presentation of calendrical books and tables. The enterprise required official support, calculation and translation distributed among several participants.
Agriculture was another sustained concern. The sixty-juan Nongzheng quanshu assembled earlier and contemporary agricultural writings with commentary, covering land institutions, water management and cultivation while also incorporating knowledge from Europe. The Ming History records its presentation by Xu's son after his death. The compilation brings his mathematical and administrative interests into the practical questions of land, food supply and rural production.