For the history of science and technology of modern China, see History of science and technology in the People’s Republic of China. For the science and technology of modern China, see Science and technology in China.
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 sundial, and the Kongming lantern.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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, while undergoing its own scientific revolution, at the same time bringing Chinese knowledge of technology back to Europe.[1][2] 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 and his Chinese partner, Lu Gwei-djen.
Mo Di and the School of Names
The Warring States period began 2500 years ago at the time of the invention of the crossbow.[3] 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.[4] 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–c. 391 BCE) introduced concepts useful to one of those rulers, such as defensive fortification. One of these concepts, fa (法 principle or method)[5] 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 Jia and by Shusun Tong, as defined by the scholars, rather than the generals.[4]
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.[8] These claims, however, are highly disputed and rely on much supposition.[9][10] 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.[citation needed] 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
he 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”).[12] 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.[12] 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,[13] designed mechanical chain pumps to irrigate palatial gardens,[13] and created a large and intricate mechanical puppet theatre for Emperor Ming of Wei, which was operated by a large hidden waterwheel.[14] However, Ma Jun’s most impressive invention was the south-pointing chariot, a complex mechanical device that acted as a mechanical compass vehicle. While the exact mechanism is unclear, scholars think 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.[citation needed] 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
