392 years ago today, on December 8, 1633 (November 8, 1633, the lunar calendar), Xu Guangqi, a scientist in the Ming Dynasty, passed away. Xu Guangqi, a native of Shanghai, was another outstanding scientist in the Ming Dynasty after Li Shizhen. He was born in the 41st year of Jiajing, in 1562 AD. His father was a small businessman and his family had some land, but his life was not prosperous. Therefore, Xu Guangqi was engaged in agricultural production since he was a child, which had a great impact on his later growth. Xu Guangqi entered the county school when he was about 20 years old and became a student. At the age of 35, he returned to his hometown to participate in the provincial provincial examination and won the first place in the provincial examination. He passed through the Yuan Dynasty. At the age of 42, he went to Beijing to participate in the central-level examination, won the Jinshi, and later became a minor official in the Hanlin Academy. At that time, due to the corruption of the imperial court, Xu Guangqi was very frustrated politically. During the Tianqi Period, which was only seven years in total, he entered and left the court three times. Although he achieved the position of right assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, he achieved nothing and finally resigned from his post and went home. This gave him more time to devote himself to scientific research. From Wanli to the Apocalypse, Italian missionary Limadou lived in Beijing. During this period, Xu Guangqi had close contact with him. The two studied mathematics, astronomy, calendar, geography, water conservancy and other knowledge together. The two cooperated to translate many scientific works, including "Geometric Original","Qin Western Law","Measurement Law and Yi", etc. Xu Guangqi thus became a pioneer in my country's introduction of Western scientific achievements. In 1629, after Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he appointed Xu Guangqi to be responsible for the work of repairing the calendar. In just four years, the "Chongzhen Calendar" was compiled. This book has more than 130 volumes. Although it was written collectively, Xu Guangqi, as editor-in-chief, planned and decided by him, from his thinking methods to editorial style, and most of the book was also revised and approved by him. This book is a major reform of the China calendar. Xu Guangqi used his profound knowledge of Chinese and Western astronomy to learn from each other's strengths and learn from each other. He broke through the scope of our country's tradition, brought the scientificity of calendars to a new height, and took a valuable step towards modern astronomy and mathematics. Xu Guangqi wrote many books throughout his life. In addition to translation, he also wrote many of his own academic works on natural sciences, such as "Measuring Similarities and Differences","Pythagorean Meaning", etc. However, he did his best to study and summarize the traditional agricultural science and technology of the motherland. He spent decades of effort collecting materials, analyzing and researching, and wrote a scientific and technological work called the Agricultural Encyclopedia by later generations-"Agricultural Zheng Quan Shu". This book has about 700,000 words and is divided into 60 volumes and 12 categories. Compared with other agricultural books, the most prominent feature of this book is "agricultural politics", which is why this book is named "Agricultural Zheng Quan Shu". This book ranges from farmland reclamation, planting, farming, water conservancy, agricultural tool manufacturing, tree arts, and animal husbandry, to pest control and famine management. It is a true encyclopedia of agriculture. "Agricultural Zheng Quan Shu" absorbs a large amount of information on agricultural works in our country from past dynasties, as well as Xu Guangqi's own writings. Historical data is not just a compilation, but also his own opinions, comments or practical verification at the end of each article. Xu Guangqi's new additions were all written by him after long-term observation and research and personal experiments. The special discussions in the book are of high scientific value. He has also made great achievements in mathematics, astronomy, calendar, biology, etc., and is an outstanding scientist in the history of science in our country. On December 8, 1633, Xu Guangqi died of illness in his apartment in Beijing at the age of 71.