Ancient Chinese scientists and engineers made
significant scientific innovations, findings
and technological advances across various
scientific disciplines including the natural
sciences, engineering, medicine, military
technology, mathematics, geology and astronomy.
Among the earliest inventions were the abacus,
the "shadow clock," and the first items such
as Kongming lanterns.
The Four Great Inventions,the compass, gunpowder,
papermaking, and printing – were among the
most important technological advances, only
known to Europe by the end of the Middle Ages
1000 years later.
The Tang dynasty (AD 618–906) in particular
was a time of great innovation.
A good deal of exchange occurred between Western
and Chinese discoveries up to the Qing dynasty.
The Jesuit China missions of the 16th and
17th centuries introduced Western science
and astronomy, then undergoing its own revolution,
to China, and knowledge of Chinese technology
was brought to Europe.
In the 19th and 20th centuries the introduction
of Western technology was a major factor in
the modernization of China.
Much of the early Western work in the history
of science in China was done by Joseph Needham.
== Mo Di and the School of Names ==
The Warring States period began 2500 years
ago at the time of the invention of the crossbow.
Needham notes that the invention of the crossbow
"far outstripped the progress in defensive
armor", which made the wearing of armor useless
to the princes and dukes of the states.
At this time, there were also many nascent
schools of thought in China — the Hundred
Schools of Thought (諸子百家), scattered
among many polities.
The schools served as communities which advised
the rulers of these states.
Mo Di (墨翟 Mozi, 470 BCE–ca. 391 BCE)
introduced concepts useful to one of those
rulers, such as defensive fortification.
One of these concepts, fa (法 principle or
method) was extended by the School of Names
(名家 Ming jia, ming=name), which began
a systematic exploration of logic.
The development of a school of logic was cut
short by the defeat of Mohism's political
sponsors by the Qin dynasty, and the subsumption
of fa as law rather than method by the Legalists
(法家 Fa jia).
Needham further notes that the Han dynasty,
which conquered the short-lived Qin, were
made aware of the need for law by Lu Chia
and by Shu-Sun Thung, as defined by the scholars,
rather than the generals.
You conquered the empire on horseback, but
from horseback you will never succeed in ruling
it.
Derived from Taoist philosophy, one of the
newest longstanding contributions of the ancient
Chinese are in Traditional Chinese medicine,
including acupuncture and herbal medicine.
The practice of acupuncture can be traced
back as far as the 1st millennium BC and some
scientists believe that there is evidence
that practices similar to acupuncture were
used in Eurasia during the early Bronze Age.Using
shadow clocks and the abacus (both invented
in the ancient Near East before spreading
to China), the Chinese were able to record
observations, documenting the first recorded
solar eclipse in 2137 BC, and making the first
recording of any planetary grouping in 500
BC.
These claims, however, are highly disputed
and rely on much supposition.
The Book of Silk was the first definitive
atlas of comets, written c. 400 BC.
It listed 29 comets (referred to as sweeping
stars) that appeared over a period of about
300 years, with renderings of comets describing
an event its appearance corresponded to.In
architecture, the pinnacle of Chinese technology
manifested itself in the Great Wall of China,
under the first Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang
between 220 and 200 BC.
Typical Chinese architecture changed little
from the succeeding Han dynasty until the
19th century.
The Qin dynasty also developed the crossbow,
which later became the mainstream weapon in
Europe.
Several remains of crossbows have been found
among the soldiers of the Terracotta Army
in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang.
== Han Dynasty ==
The Eastern Han Dynasty scholar and astronomer
Zhang Heng (78–139 AD) invented the first
water-powered rotating armillary sphere (the
first armillary sphere having been invented
by the Greek Eratosthenes), and catalogued
2,500 stars and over 100 constellations.
In 132, he invented the first seismological
detector, called the "Houfeng Didong Yi" ("Instrument
for inquiring into the wind and the shaking
of the earth").
According to the History of Later Han Dynasty
(25–220 AD), this seismograph was an urn-like
instrument, which would drop one of eight
balls to indicate when and in which direction
an earthquake had occurred.
On June 13, 2005, Chinese seismologists announced
that they had created a replica of the instrument.The
mechanical engineer Ma Jun (c.200–265 AD)
was another impressive figure from ancient
China.
Ma Jun improved the design of the silk loom,
designed mechanical chain pumps to irrigate
palatial gardens, and created a large and
intricate mechanical puppet theatre for Emperor
Ming of Wei, which was operated by a large
hidden waterwheel.
However, Ma Jun's most impressive invention
was the south-pointing chariot, a complex
mechanical device that acted as a mechanical
compass vehicle.
It incorporated the use of a differential
gear in order to apply equal amount of torque
to wheels rotating at different speeds, a
device that is found in all modern automobiles.Sliding
calipers were invented in China almost 2,000
years ago.
The Chinese civilization was the earliest
civilization to experiment successfully with
aviation, with the kite and Kongming lantern
(proto Hot air balloon) being the first flying
machines.
== "Four Great Inventions" ==
The "Four Great Inventions" (simplified Chinese:
四大发明; traditional Chinese: 四大發明;
pinyin: sì dà fāmíng) are the compass,
gunpowder, papermaking and printing.
Paper and printing were developed first.
Printing was recorded in China in the Tang
Dynasty, although the earliest surviving examples
of printed cloth patterns date to before 220.
Pin-pointing the development of the compass
can be difficult: the magnetic attraction
of a needle is attested by the Louen-heng,
composed between AD 20 and 100, although the
first undisputed magnetized needles in Chinese
literature appear in 1086.By AD 300, Ge Hong,
an alchemist of the Jin dynasty, conclusively
recorded the chemical reactions caused when
saltpetre, pine resin and charcoal were heated
together, in Book of the Master of the Preservations
of Solidarity.
Another early record of gunpowder, a Chinese
book from c. 850 AD, indicates:
"Some have heated together sulfur, realgar
and saltpeter with honey; smoke and flames
result, so that their hands and faces have
been burnt, and even the whole house where
they were working burned down."
These four discoveries had an enormous impact
on the development of Chinese civilization
and a far-ranging global impact.
Gunpowder, for example, spread to the Arabs
in the 13th century and thence to Europe.
According to English philosopher Francis Bacon,
writing in Novum Organum:
Printing, gunpowder and the compass: These
three have changed the whole face and state
of things throughout the world; the first
in literature, the second in warfare, the
third in navigation; whence have followed
innumerable changes, in so much that no empire,
no sect, no star seems to have exerted greater
power and influence in human affairs than
these mechanical discoveries.
One of the most important military treatises
of all Chinese history was the Huo Long Jing
written by Jiao Yu in the 14th century.
For gunpowder weapons, it outlined the use
of fire arrows and rockets, fire lances and
firearms, land mines and naval mines, bombards
and cannons, two stage rockets, along with
different compositions of gunpowder, including
'magic gunpowder', 'poisonous gunpowder',
and 'blinding and burning gunpowder' (refer
to his article).
For the 11th century invention of ceramic
movable type printing by Bi Sheng (990–1051),
it was enhanced by the wooden movable type
of Wang Zhen in 1298 and the bronze metal
movable type of Hua Sui in 1490.
== China's scientific revolution ==
Among the engineering accomplishments of early
China were matches, dry docks, the double-action
piston pump, cast iron, the iron plough, the
horse collar, the multi-tube seed drill, the
wheelbarrow, the suspension bridge, the parachute,
natural gas as fuel, the raised-relief map,
the propeller, the sluice gate, and the pound
lock.
The Tang dynasty (AD 618–907) and Song dynasty
(AD 960–1279) in particular were periods
of great innovation.In the 7th century, book-printing
was developed in China, Korea and Japan, using
delicate hand-carved wooden blocks to print
individual pages.
The 9th century Diamond Sutra is the earliest
known printed document.
Movable type was also used in China for a
time, but was abandoned because of the number
of characters needed; it would not be until
Johannes Gutenberg that the technique was
reinvented in a suitable environment.In addition
to gunpowder, the Chinese also developed improved
delivery systems for the Byzantine weapon
of Greek fire, Meng Huo You and Pen Huo Qi
first used in China c. 900.
Chinese illustrations were more realistic
than in Byzantine manuscripts, and detailed
accounts from 1044 recommending its use on
city walls and ramparts show the brass container
as fitted with a horizontal pump, and a nozzle
of small diameter.
The records of a battle on the Yangtze near
Nanjing in 975 offer an insight into the dangers
of the weapon, as a change of wind direction
blew the fire back onto the Song forces.
=== Song Dynasty ===
The Song dynasty (960–1279) brought a new
stability for China after a century of civil
war, and started a new area of modernisation
by encouraging examinations and meritocracy.
The first Song Emperor created political institutions
that allowed a great deal of freedom of discourse
and thought, which facilitated the growth
of scientific advance, economic reforms, and
achievements in arts and literature.
Trade flourished both within China and overseas,
and the encouragement of technology allowed
the mints at Kaifeng and Hangzhou to gradually
increase in production.
In 1080, the mints of Emperor Shenzong had
produced 5 billion coins (roughly 50 per Chinese
citizen), and the first banknotes were produced
in 1023.
These coins were so durable that they would
still be in use 700 years later, in the 18th
century.There were many famous inventors and
early scientists in the Song Dynasty period.
The statesman Shen Kuo is best known for his
book known as the Dream Pool Essays (1088
AD).
In it, he wrote of use for a drydock to repair
boats, the navigational magnetic compass,
and the discovery of the concept of true north
(with magnetic declination towards the North
Pole).
Shen Kuo also devised a geological theory
for land formation, or geomorphology, and
theorized that there was climate change in
geological regions over an enormous span of
time.
The equally talented statesman Su Song was
best known for his engineering project of
the Astronomical Clock Tower of Kaifeng, by
1088 AD.
The clock tower was driven by a rotating waterwheel
and escapement mechanism.
Crowning the top of the clock tower was the
large bronze, mechanically-driven, rotating
armillary sphere.
In 1070, Su Song also compiled the Ben Cao
Tu Jing (Illustrated Pharmacopoeia, original
source material from 1058–1061 AD) with
a team of scholars.
This pharmaceutical treatise covered a wide
range of other related subjects, including
botany, zoology, mineralogy, and metallurgy.
Chinese astronomers were the first to record
observations of a supernova, the first being
the SN 185, recorded during the Han dynasty.
Chinese astronomers made two more notable
supernova observations during the Song Dynasty:
the SN 1006, the brightest recorded supernova
in history; and the SN 1054, making the Crab
Nebula the first astronomical object recognized
as being connected to a supernova explosion.
==== Archaeology ====
During the early half of the Song dynasty
(960–1279), the study of archaeology developed
out of the antiquarian interests of the educated
gentry and their desire to revive the use
of ancient vessels in state rituals and ceremonies.
This and the belief that ancient vessels were
products of 'sages' and not common people
was criticized by Shen Kuo, who took an interdisciplinary
approach to archaeology, incorporating his
archaeological findings into studies on metallurgy,
optics, astronomy, geometry, and ancient music
measures.
His contemporary Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072)
compiled an analytical catalogue of ancient
rubbings on stone and bronze, which Patricia
B. Ebrey says pioneered ideas in early epigraphy
and archaeology.
In accordance with the beliefs of the later
Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886), some Song
gentry—such as Zhao Mingcheng (1081–1129)—supported
the primacy of contemporaneous archaeological
finds of ancient inscriptions over historical
works written after the fact, which they contested
to be unreliable in regard to the former evidence.
Hong Mai (1123–1202) used ancient Han Dynasty
era vessels to debunk what he found to be
fallacious descriptions of Han vessels in
the Bogutu archaeological catalogue compiled
during the latter half of Huizong's reign
(1100–1125).
==== Geology and climatology ====
In addition to his studies in meteorology,
astronomy, and archaeology mentioned above,
Shen Kuo also made hypotheses in regards to
geology and climatology in his Dream Pool
Essays of 1088, specifically his claims regarding
geomorphology and climate change.
Shen believed that land was reshaped over
time due to perpetual erosion, uplift, and
deposition of silt, and cited his observance
of horizontal strata of fossils embedded in
a cliffside at Taihang as evidence that the
area was once the location of an ancient seashore
that had shifted hundreds of miles east over
an enormous span of time.
Shen also wrote that since petrified bamboos
were found underground in a dry northern climate
zone where they had never been known to grow,
climates naturally shifted geographically
over time.
=== Mongol transmission ===
Mongol rule under the Yuan dynasty saw technological
advances from an economic perspective, with
the first mass production of paper banknotes
by Kublai Khan in the 13th century.
Numerous contacts between Europe and the Mongols
occurred in the 13th century, particularly
through the unstable Franco-Mongol alliance.
Chinese corps, expert in siege warfare, formed
an integral part of the Mongol armies campaigning
in the West.
In 1259–1260 military alliance of the Franks
knights of the ruler of Antioch, Bohemond
VI and his father-in-law Hetoum I with the
Mongols under Hulagu, in which they fought
together for the conquests of Muslim Syria,
taking together the city of Aleppo, and later
Damascus.
William of Rubruck, an ambassador to the Mongols
in 1254–1255, a personal friend of Roger
Bacon, is also often designated as a possible
intermediary in the transmission of gunpowder
know-how between the East and the West.
The compass is often said to have been introduced
by the Master of the Knights Templar Pierre
de Montaigu between 1219 and 1223, from one
of his travels to visit the Mongols in Persia.Chinese
and Arabic astronomy intermingled under Mongol
rule.
Muslim astronomers worked in the Chinese Astronomical
Bureau established by Kublai Khan, while some
Chinese astronomers also worked at the Persian
Maragha observatory.
Before this, in ancient times, Indian astronomers
had lent their expertise to the Chinese court.
=== Theory and hypothesis ===
As Toby E. Huff notes, pre-modern Chinese
science developed precariously without solid
scientific theory, while there was a lacking
of consistent systemic treatment in comparison
to contemporaneous European works such as
the Concordance and Discordant Canons by Gratian
of Bologna (fl. 12th century).
This drawback to Chinese science was lamented
even by the mathematician Yang Hui (1238–1298),
who criticized earlier mathematicians such
as Li Chunfeng (602–670) who were content
with using methods without working out their
theoretical origins or principle, stating:
The men of old changed the name of their methods
from problem to problem, so that as no specific
explanation was given, there is no way of
telling their theoretical origin or basis.
Despite this, Chinese thinkers of the Middle
Ages proposed some hypotheses which are in
accordance with modern principles of science.
Yang Hui provided theoretical proof for the
proposition that the complements of the parallelograms
which are about the diameter of any given
parallelogram are equal to one another.
Sun Sikong (1015–1076) proposed the idea
that rainbows were the result of the contact
between sunlight and moisture in the air,
while Shen Kuo (1031–1095) expanded upon
this with description of atmospheric refraction.
Shen believed that rays of sunlight refracted
before reaching the surface of the earth,
hence the appearance of the observed sun from
earth did not match its exact location.
Coinciding with the astronomical work of his
colleague Wei Pu, Shen and Wei realized that
the old calculation technique for the mean
sun was inaccurate compared to the apparent
sun, since the latter was ahead of it in the
accelerated phase of motion, and behind it
in the retarded phase.
Shen supported and expanded upon beliefs earlier
proposed by Han dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE)
scholars such as Jing Fang (78–37 BCE) and
Zhang Heng (78–139 CE) that lunar eclipse
occurs when the earth obstructs the sunlight
traveling towards the moon, a solar eclipse
is the moon's obstruction of sunlight reaching
earth, the moon is spherical like a ball and
not flat like a disc, and moonlight is merely
sunlight reflected from the moon's surface.
Shen also explained that the observance of
a full moon occurred when the sun's light
was slanting at a certain degree and that
crescent phases of the moon proved that the
moon was spherical, using a metaphor of observing
different angles of a silver ball with white
powder thrown onto one side.
Although the Chinese accepted the idea of
spherical-shaped heavenly bodies, the concept
of a spherical earth (as opposed to a flat
earth) was not accepted in Chinese thought
until the works of Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci
(1552–1610) and Chinese astronomer Xu Guangqi
(1562–1633) in the early 17th century.
=== Pharmacology ===
There were noted advances in traditional Chinese
medicine during the Middle Ages.
Emperor Gaozong (reigned 649–683) of the
Tang dynasty (618–907) commissioned the
scholarly compilation of a materia medica
in 657 that documented 833 medicinal substances
taken from stones, minerals, metals, plants,
herbs, animals, vegetables, fruits, and cereal
crops.
In his Bencao Tujing ('Illustrated Pharmacopoeia'),
the scholar-official Su Song (1020–1101)
not only systematically categorized herbs
and minerals according to their pharmaceutical
uses, but he also took an interest in zoology.
For example, Su made systematic descriptions
of animal species and the environmental regions
they could be found, such as the freshwater
crab Eriocher sinensis found in the Huai River
running through Anhui, in waterways near the
capital city, as well as reservoirs and marshes
of Hebei.Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi in
896, mentions the popular introduction of
various Chinese herbs and aloes in Baghdad.
=== Horology and clockworks ===
Although the Bencao Tujing was an important
pharmaceutical work of the age, Su Song is
perhaps better known for his work in horology.
His book Xinyi Xiangfayao (新儀象法要;
lit.
'Essentials of a New Method for Mechanizing
the Rotation of an Armillary Sphere and a
Celestial Globe') documented the intricate
mechanics of his astronomical clock tower
in Kaifeng.
This included the use of an escapement mechanism
and world's first known chain drive to power
the rotating armillary sphere crowning the
top as well as the 133 clock jack figurines
positioned on a rotating wheel that sounded
the hours by banging drums, clashing gongs,
striking bells, and holding plaques with special
announcements appearing from open-and-close
shutter windows.
While it had been Zhang Heng who applied the
first motive power to the armillary sphere
via hydraulics in 125 CE, it was Yi Xing (683–727)
in 725 CE who first applied an escapement
mechanism to a water-powered celestial globe
and striking clock.
The early Song Dynasty horologist Zhang Sixun
(fl. late 10th century) employed liquid mercury
in his astronomical clock because there were
complaints that water would freeze too easily
in the clepsydra tanks during winter.
Al-Jazari (1136–1206), a Muslim engineer
and inventor of various clocks, including
the Elephant clock, wrote: "[T]he elephant
represents the Indian and African cultures,
the two dragons represents Chinese culture,
the phoenix represents Persian culture, the
water work represents ancient Greek culture,
and the turban represents Islamic culture".
=== Magnetism and metallurgy ===
Shen Kuo's written work of 1088 also contains
the first written description of the magnetic
needle compass, the first description in China
of experiments with camera obscura, the invention
of movable type printing by the artisan Bi
Sheng (990–1051), a method of repeated forging
of cast iron under a cold blast similar to
the modern Bessemer process, and the mathematical
basis for spherical trigonometry that would
later be mastered by the astronomer and engineer
Guo Shoujing (1231–1316).
While using a sighting tube of improved width
to correct the position of the pole star (which
had shifted over the centuries), Shen discovered
the concept of true north and magnetic declination
towards the North Magnetic Pole, a concept
which would aid navigators in the years to
come.In addition to the method similar to
the Bessemer process mentioned above, there
were other notable advancements in Chinese
metallurgy during the Middle Ages.
During the 11th century, the growth of the
iron industry caused vast deforestation due
to the use of charcoal in the smelting process.
To remedy the problem of deforestation, the
Song Chinese discovered how to produce coke
from bituminous coal as a substitute for charcoal.
Although hydraulic-powered bellows for heating
the blast furnace had been written of since
Du Shi's (d.
38) invention of the 1st century CE, the first
known drawn and printed illustration of it
in operation is found in a book written in
1313 by Wang Zhen (fl. 1290–1333).
=== Mathematics ===
Qin Jiushao (c. 1202–1261) was the first
to introduce the zero symbol into Chinese
mathematics.
Before this innovation, blank spaces were
used instead of zeros in the system of counting
rods.
Pascal's triangle was first illustrated in
China by Yang Hui in his book Xiangjie Jiuzhang
Suanfa (详解九章算法), although it was
described earlier around 1100 by Jia Xian.
Although the Introduction to Computational
Studies (算学启蒙) written by Zhu Shijie
(fl. 13th century) in 1299 contained nothing
new in Chinese algebra, it had a great impact
on the development of Japanese mathematics.
=== Alchemy and Taoism ===
In their pursuit for an elixir of life and
desire to create gold from various mixtures
of materials, Taoists became heavily associated
with alchemy.
Joseph Needham labeled their pursuits as proto-scientific
rather than merely pseudoscience.
Fairbank and Goldman write that the futile
experiments of Chinese alchemists did lead
to the discovery of new metal alloys, porcelain
types, and dyes.
However, Nathan Sivin discounts such a close
connection between Taoism and alchemy, which
some sinologists have asserted, stating that
alchemy was more prevalent in the secular
sphere and practiced by laymen.Experimentation
with various materials and ingredients in
China during the middle period led to the
discovery of many ointments, creams, and other
mixtures with practical uses.
In a 9th-century Arab work Kitāb al-Khawāss
al Kabīr, there are numerous products listed
that were native to China, including waterproof
and dust-repelling cream or varnish for clothes
and weapons, a Chinese lacquer, varnish, or
cream that protected leather items, a completely
fire-proof cement for glass and porcelain,
recipes for Chinese and Indian ink, a waterproof
cream for the silk garments of underwater
divers, and a cream specifically used for
polishing mirrors.
=== Gunpowder warfare ===
The significant change that distinguished
Medieval warfare to early Modern warfare was
the use of gunpowder weaponry in battle.
A 10th-century silken banner from Dunhuang
portrays the first artistic depiction of a
fire lance, a prototype of the gun.
The Wujing Zongyao military manuscript of
1044 listed the first known written formulas
for gunpowder, meant for light-weight bombs
lobbed from catapults or thrown down from
defenders behind city walls.
By the 13th century, the iron-cased bomb shell,
hand cannon, land mine, and rocket were developed.
As evidenced by the Huolongjing of Jiao Yu
and Liu Bowen, by the 14th century the Chinese
had developed the heavy cannon, hollow and
gunpowder-packed exploding cannonballs, the
two-stage rocket with a booster rocket, the
naval mine and wheellock mechanism to ignite
trains of fuses.
== Jesuit activity in China ==
The Jesuit China missions of the 16th and
17th centuries introduced Western science
and astronomy, then undergoing its own revolution,
to China.
One modern historian writes that in late Ming
courts, the Jesuits were "regarded as impressive
especially for their knowledge of astronomy,
calendar-making, mathematics, hydraulics,
and geography."
The Society of Jesus introduced, according
to Thomas Woods, "a substantial body of scientific
knowledge and a vast array of mental tools
for understanding the physical universe, including
the Euclidean geometry that made planetary
motion comprehensible."
Another expert quoted by Woods said the scientific
revolution brought by the Jesuits coincided
with a time when science was at a very low
level in China:
[The Jesuits] made efforts to translate western
mathematical and astronomical works into Chinese
and aroused the interest of Chinese scholars
in these sciences.
They made very extensive astronomical observation
and carried out the first modern cartographic
work in China.
They also learned to appreciate the scientific
achievements of this ancient culture and made
them known in Europe.
Through their correspondence European scientists
first learned about the Chinese science and
culture.
Conversely, the Jesuits were very active in
transmitting Chinese knowledge to Europe.
Confucius's works were translated into European
languages through the agency of Jesuit scholars
stationed in China.
Matteo Ricci started to report on the thoughts
of Confucius, and Father Prospero Intorcetta
published the life and works of Confucius
into Latin in 1687.
It is thought that such works had considerable
importance on European thinkers of the period,
particularly among the Deists and other philosophical
groups of the Enlightenment who were interested
by the integration of the system of morality
of Confucius into Christianity.The followers
of the French physiocrat François Quesnay
habitually referred to him as "the Confucius
of Europe", and he personally identified himself
with the Chinese sage.
The doctrine and even the name of "Laissez-faire"
may have been inspired by the Chinese concept
of Wu wei.
However, the economic insights of ancient
Chinese political thought had otherwise little
impact outside China in later centuries.
Goethe, was known as "the Confucius of Weimar".
== Scientific and technological stagnation
==
One question that has been the subject of
debate among historians has been why China
did not develop a scientific revolution and
why Chinese technology fell behind that of
Europe.
Many hypotheses have been proposed ranging
from the cultural to the political and economic.
John K. Fairbank, for example, argued that
the Chinese political system was hostile to
scientific progress.
As for Needham, he wrote that cultural factors
prevented traditional Chinese achievements
from developing into what could be called
"science."
It was the religious and philosophical framework
of the Chinese intellectuals which made them
unable to believe in the ideas of laws of
nature:
It was not that there was no order in nature
for the Chinese, but rather that it was not
an order ordained by a rational personal being,
and hence there was no conviction that rational
personal beings would be able to spell out
in their lesser earthly languages the divine
code of laws which he had decreed aforetime.
The Taoists, indeed, would have scorned such
an idea as being too naïve for the subtlety
and complexity of the universe as they intuited
it.
Another prominent historian of science, Nathan
Sivin, has argued that China indeed had a
scientific revolution in the 17th century
but it's just that we are still not able to
really understand the scientific revolution
that took place in China.
Sivin suggests that we need to look at the
scientific development in China on its own
terms.There are also questions about the philosophy
behind traditional Chinese medicine, which,
derived partly from Taoist philosophy, reflects
the classical Chinese belief that individual
human experiences express causative principles
effective in the environment at all scales.
Because its theory predates use of the scientific
method, it has received various criticisms
based on scientific thinking.
Philosopher Robert Todd Carroll, a member
of the Skeptics Society, deemed acupuncture
a pseudoscience because it "confuse(s) metaphysical
claims with empirical claims".:More recent
historians have questioned political and cultural
explanations and have put greater focus on
economic causes.
Mark Elvin's high level equilibrium trap is
one well-known example of this line of thought.
It argues that the Chinese population was
large enough, workers cheap enough, and agrarian
productivity high enough to not require mechanization:
thousands of Chinese workers were perfectly
able to quickly perform any needed task.
Other events such as Haijin, the Opium Wars
and the resulting hate of European influence
prevented China from undergoing an Industrial
Revolution; copying Europe's progress on a
large scale would be impossible for a lengthy
period of time.
Political instability under Cixi rule (opposition
and frequent oscillation between modernists
and conservatives), the Republican wars (1911–1933),
the Sino-Japanese War (1933–1945), the Communist/Nationalist
War (1945–1949) as well as the later Cultural
Revolution isolated China at the most critical
times.
Kenneth Pomeranz has made the argument that
the substantial resources taken from the New
World to Europe made the crucial difference
between European and Chinese development.
In his book Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared
Diamond postulates that the lack of geographic
barriers within much of China – essentially
a wide plain with two large navigable rivers
and a relatively smooth coastline – led
to a single government without competition.
At the whim of a ruler who disliked new inventions,
technology could be stifled for half a century
or more.
In contrast, Europe's barriers of the Pyrenees,
the Alps, and the various defensible peninsulas
(Denmark, Scandinavia, Italy, Greece, etc.)
and islands (Britain, Ireland, Sicily, etc.)
led to smaller countries in constant competition
with each other.
If a ruler chose to ignore a scientific advancement
(especially a military or economic one), his
more-advanced neighbors would soon usurp his
throne.
This explanation, however, ignores the fact
that China had been politically fragmented
in the past, and was thus not inherently disposed
to political unification.
== The Republic of China (1912–49) ==
The Republic of China (1912–49) saw the
introduction in earnest of modern science
to China.
Large numbers of Chinese students studied
abroad in Japan and in Europe and the US.
Many returned to help teach and to found numerous
schools and universities.
Among them were numerous outstanding figures,
including Cai Yuanpei, Hu Shi, Weng Wenhao,
Ding Wenjiang, Fu Ssu-nien, and many others.
As a result, there was a tremendous growth
of modern science in China.
As the Communist Party took over China's mainland
in 1949, some of these Chinese scientists
and institutions moved to Taiwan.
The central science academy, Academia Sinica,
also moved there.
== People's Republic of China ==
After the establishment of the People's Republic
in 1949, China reorganized its science establishment
along Soviet lines.
Although the country regressed scientifically
as a result of government policies which led
to famine during the Great Leap Forward and
political chaos during the Cultural Revolution,
scientific research in nuclear weapons and
satellite launching still gained great success.
From 1975, science and technology was one
of the Four Modernizations, and its high-speed
development was declared essential to all
national economic development by Deng Xiaoping.
Other civilian technologies such as superconductivity
and high-yield hybrid rice led to new developments
due to the application of science to industry
and foreign technology transfer.
As the People's Republic of China becomes
better connected to the global economy, the
government has placed more emphasis on science
and technology.
This has led to increases in funding, improved
scientific structure, and more money for research.
These factors have led to advancements in
agriculture, medicine, genetics, and global
change.
In 2003, the Chinese space program allowed
China to become the third country to send
humans into space, and ambition to put a man
on mars by 2030.
In the 2000s and 2010s, China became a top
scientific and industrial power in more advanced
fields such as super computing, artificial
intelligence, bullet trains, aeronautics,
nuclear physics researches and other fields.
In 2016, China became the country with the
highest science output, as measured in publications.
While the US had been the biggest producer
of scientific studies until then, China published
426,000 studies in 2016 while the US published
409,000.
However, the numbers are somewhat relative,
as it also depends how authorship on international
collaborations is counted (e.g. if one paper
is counted per person or whether authorship
is split among authors).
== See also ==
Chinese astronomy
Chinese mathematics
History of Chinese archaeology
List of Chinese discoveries
List of Chinese inventions
Military history of China
History of canals in China
Science and Civilization in China
Traditional Chinese medicine
Two Bombs, One Satellite
Yongle Encyclopedia
