明末清初之際，利瑪竇、熊三拔、高一志等耶穌會傳教士為了傳播基督教義，曾 將亞里斯多德四元素說以四行說之名引入，向五行說理論挑戰，企圖在中國建立一個四行說 理論。從科學史或思想史的角度來看，明清之際四行說與五行說相互遭逢，是一個值得探討 的課題，尤其是當時中國士人是如何面對此一課題，更是一個深具研究意義的問題。本文旨 在將焦點放在熊明遇 (1579-1649) 「這一位既接受傳統教有也接觸傳教士引入四行說的中 國儒士，以其著作《格致草》同時論及四行說與五行說為例，來了解當時中國士人對四行說 與五行說相互競爭的反應。

　　　　　During the transition between Ming and Qing, Jesuit missionaries Matteo Ricci, De Urisis, and Vagnoni introduced Aristotelian four-element theory (fire, air, water and earth) in terms of "four-phase theory"( 四行說 ) to challenge Chinese five-phase theory (五行說 metal, wood, water, fire and earth). From the viewpoints of intellectual history and history of science, the competition between these two theories and the reaction of Chinese literati to western four-element theory are topics worthy of inves tigation. In this paper I will focus on Xiong Mingyu's 熊明遇 Ge zhi cao, usingthis work as a case study of Chinese literati's response to western four-element theory, for he discusses both theories in it.