Opens in 17 days#History & heritage
Mathematics and the Universe: Mathematical Knowledge in the National Palace Museum’s Rare Book Collection (I)
Chinese original:
數理乾坤:故宮古籍中的數學 (I)
Mathematical books from the National Palace Museum's collection are laid out in order of time, from the Hetu and Luoshu diagrams and the Ten Mathematical Classics, through the Song and Yuan method of tianyuan shu, to the Western mathematics that reached China in the late Ming. On view are the Song-dynasty Yang Hui suanfa, Zhu Shijie's Siyuan yujian (Yuan) and the Tianxue chuhan, which includes Euclid's Elements in the translation by Xu Guangqi and Matteo Ricci, along with the Kangxi-era Yuzhi shuli jingyun and Western survey instruments from the emperor's desk. In Exhibition Hall I, Gallery N104, Northern Branch.
Featured in: Taipei Anthology: December
- Dates
- Nov 25, 2026 – Feb 28, 2027
- Venue
- National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院) · National Palace Museum
- Address
- 臺北市士林區至善路二段221號MRT Shilin Station Exit 1, then about 15 min by bus (Red 30 goes to Exhibition Area I, B1)Open in Google Maps
- Hours
- 09:00–17:00Closed: Mon
- Admission
- Full price NT$350Original: 全票 350 元
Visit planning
The calendar entry starts on the opening day and covers the whole run. Please check opening hours and closing days before your visit.
Entry notes
In Room 104 of Exhibition Hall 1 at the Northern Branch. The hall is open Tuesday to Sunday 9:00–17:00, with ticket sales stopping at 16:30. It is closed on Mondays except on special opening days: 7 Dec 2026, and 18 Jan, 1 Feb, 8 Feb and 22 Feb 2027.
- In Room 104 of Exhibition Hall 1 at the Northern Branch. The hall is open Tuesday to Sunday 9:00–17:00, with ticket sales stopping at 16:30. It is closed on Mondays except on special opening days: 7 Dec 2026, and 18 Jan, 1 Feb, 8 Feb and 22 Feb 2027. (Source: 國立故宮博物院:開放時間, 2026)
From the organizer's announcements and press reports. Arrangements can change; please check the official site before your visit.
Guided tours
'Curator Guides You Through the Exhibition' tour, 4 Dec 2026 (Fri) 10:00, first session for 'Mathematics in the Palace Museum's Rare Books (I)'; in Mandarin, 20 participants, online registration 23 Nov 10:00 to 27 Nov 12:00. Bring that day's admission ticket; the guide receiver rental is NT$50.
- TalkDec 4 (Fri)'Curator Guides You Through the Exhibition' tour, 4 Dec 2026 (Fri) 10:00, first session for 'Mathematics in the Palace Museum's Rare Books (I)'; in Mandarin, 20 participants, online registration 23 Nov 10:00 to 27 Nov 12:00. Bring that day's admission ticket; the guide receiver rental is NT$50.
Source: 國立故宮博物院 「策展人陪我看展覽」導覽活動. From the venue's and organizer's announcements. Schedules, languages and fees can change; please check the official site before your visit.
Nearby, after this one
Same venue · National Palace Museum
Same neighborhood · National Palace Museum
Shows open on the same days as this one are listed first (regular closing days only).
Related exhibitions
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Credits
- Organized by
- National Palace Museum
Knowledge cards
Euclid's Elements in China《幾何原本》傳入中國The first six books of Euclid's Elements were put into Chinese in the late Ming by Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi, bringing Western geometry into Chinese books.Read moreClose
01About
Euclid's Elements, the ancient Greek work that organizes geometry, was first put into Chinese in 1607, when the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci translated aloud and Xu Guangqi wrote the Chinese down. They rendered the first six books, working from the fifteen-book Latin edition revised and expanded by Clavius. They gave the existing Chinese word jihe (幾何) a new meaning, and in time it became the standard Chinese word for geometry. The last nine books were translated only in the 1850s, by Alexander Wylie and Li Shanlan. The Elements was also included in the Tianxue chuhan, compiled by Li Zhizao. Later, under the Kangxi emperor, the Qing court compiled the Yuzhi shuli jingyun, whose first part contains an Elements, but not Euclid's own text: it is based on a geometry textbook by the French Jesuit Ignace-Gaston Pardies, published in Paris in 1671, which aims at brevity and pays little attention to logical proof.
02In the gallery
Check the title on the label: Xu Guangqi and Ricci's translation, the Tianxue chuhan that collects it, or the Qing court's own Shuli jingyun. Then find the diagrams on the page and compare them with the geometry you learned.
Wall label terms in Chinese
- 《幾何原本》
- Elements (Jihe yuanben)
- 《天學初函》
- Tianxue chuhan
- 《御製數理精蘊》
- Yuzhi shuli jingyun
03Notes
With the Elements in China, what to look at is how a foreign book was turned into Chinese.
This time, at Mathematics and the Universe: Mathematical Knowledge in the National Palace Museum’s Rare Book Collection (I) —
Is there a word on the page that you already learned at school?



