Diagrams and explanations of the wonderful machines of the Far West (Chinese: Yuanxi qiqi tushuo luzui, 遠西奇器圖說錄最, often abridged as Qiqi tushuo, 奇器圖說) was an encyclopedia of Western mechanical devices translated into Chinese by the Jesuit Johann Schreck

Johann Schreck

Johann Schreck, also Terrenz or Terrentius Constantiensis, Deng Yuhan Hanpo, Deng Zhen Lohan, was a German Jesuit, missionary to China and polymath...

 (1576-1630), and the Chinese scholar Wang Zheng

Wang Zheng

Wang Zheng is a male Chinese sports shooter. He competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics.He won the bronze medal in the men's double trap competition.Wang became part of the Chinese national shooting team in 2001.-External links:* *...

 (王徵 1571–1644). This book was the first to present Western mechanical knowledge to a Chinese audience. The book was published in 1627.

Particularly, the works of the Italian engineers Agostino Ramelli

Agostino Ramelli

Agostino Ramelli was an engineer who designed the "book wheel" or "reading wheel".During the Siege of La Rochelle , Agostino successfully engineered a mine under a bastion and breached the fortification, making him popular with his commander, Henri d'Anjou, who later became Henri III of France.In...

 or Vittorio Zonca

Vittorio Zonca

Vittorio Zonca was an Italian engineer and writer. He wrote the Theater of machines, which was published in Padua in 1607, four years after his death....

 were reproduced in this translation, as well as those of the French engineer Jacques Besson

Jacques Besson

Jacques Besson was a French Protestant inventor, mathematician, and philosopher, chiefly remembered for his popular treatise on machines Theatrum Instrumentorum , which saw many reprints in different languages.-Life:...

. Plates depicted European machine were reproduced quite precisely, although in a Chinese pictorial style.