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Home , Joseph Needham, Zhang Heng

Background and Insights into the 5000 yr Culture, , Creativity & Innovation of China/Chinese

中国5000 年科技 创新史

By Vincent F. Yip PhD MBA 叶傅升 博士

This presentation will examine the historical and cultural backrgound of China’s past science and technology innovations, many of which are unknown or unsung in modern times. These include creative ideas and revolutionary innovations in math, , weaponry, earth science, sailing, pharmacology etc. Postulates are examined on why the historical Chinese lead withered away after the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution in the West and how that relegated China to its backward position in the recent centuries. A Brief Resume

 1965-1975: BS (Physics), PhD (Material Science), MBA.  1979-’85: Head R&D, Economic Development Board, Singapore.  1982-’89: Executive Director, Singapore Science Park.  1981-’89: Consultant to World Bank, Asian Development bank, UNDP on China. Advisor to the Chinese Academy of .  In 1989 co-authored “Ethnic Groups of China” with Prof. Du Ruo of the Institute of Genetics of the CAS.  1989-’91: Singapore Dy Ambassador to Belgium, EC, the Vatican.  1991-’94: Visiting Business Professor, Northwestern University.  1994-’97: Founder/GM of ECOFEN green-tech startup in China.  1995- : Consultant to the Academy.  2008- : Lecturer, Stanford Continuing Studies, on “Project Management”, “The Road”, “Doing Business in China”. Currently China Specialist/Consultant based in the Bay Area.

The "" 四大发明: 1. Compass. (11th C). 2. Gun Powder (9th C) 3. Making (2nd C). 4. Printing (9th C)

According to English philosopher Francis Bacon, writing in Novum Organum

Printing (on paper), 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. The (618 - 906 AD) in particular was a time of great innovation

Among the engineering accomplishments of early China were matches, dry docks, the double-action piston pump, , 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. A Brief

Neolithic & Bronze Age – 5000-1122 BC Xia 夏 & Shang 商 Dynasties 2070 -1046 BC Zhou 周 & 秦 Dynasties 1046-206 BC Han 汉 Dynasty 206 BC-220 AD Disunity & Sui 隋 Dynasty 220-618 AD Tang 唐 Dynasty 618-907 AD Division & Song 宋 Dynasty 907-1279 AD Yuan 元 Dynasty 1279-1368 AD Ming 明 Dynasty 1368-1644 AD Qing 清 Dynasty 1644-1911 AD Nationalist Era 民国 1911-1949 AD Peoples’ Republic 共和国 1949-

1. Kongming Lantern (Chinese: 孔明燈)

Sky lanterns, also known as Kongming Lantern (Chinese: 孔明燈 ) or Chinese lanterns are airborne paper lanterns that are traditionally constructed from oiled rice paper on a bamboo frame, and contain a small candle or fuel cell composed of a waxy flammable material. When lit, the flame heats the air inside the lantern, thus lowering its density causing the lantern to rise into the air.

It was the first hot air balloon, said to be invented by the Chinese sage and military strategist , whose reverent term of address was Kongming. They were first deployed at the turn of the 3rd century as a type of signaling balloon or, as it's said, as a type of spy blimp in warfare 2. The

The 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. The Qin Dynasty also developed the crossbow, which later became the mainstream weapon in Europe. Several remains of have been found among the soldiers of the Army in the tomb of Qin Huang.

Da Vinci’s drawing of 1500 AD of a crossbow was not more advanced (shown on right)

3. astronomical clocktower

Su Song (苏颂) was a renowned Chinese polymath who specialized himself as a statesman, astronomer, cartographer, horologist, pharmacologist, mineralogist, zoologist, botanist, mechanical and architectural engineer, poet, antiquarian, and ambassador of the Song (960–1279).

Su Song's greatest project was the 40-foot-tall water- powered astronomical clocktower constructed in Kaifeng, the wholly finished work was completed by 1094 during the reign of Emperor Zhezong of Song

Su's tower featured the oldest endless power- transmitting , called the ti (天梯), or "celestial ladder", as depicted in his horological treatise.

Early European visitors to China mistakenly believed that the Chinese had never advanced beyond the stage of the clepsydra, incense clock, and sundial but actually even after the Song period, contemporary Chinese had a continual history of designs of mechanical in China from the 13th-16th century 4. Medicine and Pharmacology The Shénnóng Běn Cǎo Jīng (simplified Chinese: 神农本草经; traditional Chinese: 神農本草經; Wade– Giles: Shennung Ben Ts'ao King) is a Chinese book on agriculture and medicinal plants. Its origin has been attributed to the mythical Chinese sovereign Shennong, who was said to have lived around 2800 BC. Researchers hypothesize this is a compilation of oral traditions written between about 300 BC and 200 AD. The original text is said to have been composed of three volumes containing 365 entries on medicaments and their description The first treatise included 120 drugs harmless to , the "stimulating properties": reishi, ginseng, jujube, the orange, cinnamon from China, cirse fields or the liquorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis) . The second volume was devoted to 120 therapeutic substances intended to treat the sick, but more or less toxic. In this category, we find the ginger, peonies and cucumber. The substances of this group are described as "human." In the last volume there are 125 entries corresponding to substances which have a violent action on physiological functions and are usually poisonous. Rhubarb, different pitted fruits and peaches are among those featured. 5. TCM and

Acupuncture is an alternative medicine methodology originating in ancient China that treats patients by manipulating thin, solid needles that have been inserted into acupuncture points in the skin. According to Traditional Chinese medicine, stimulating these points can correct imbalances in the flow of qi through channels known as meridians.

TCM and Acupuncture's use for certain conditions has been endorsed by the United States National Institutes of Health, the National Health Service of the United Kingdom, the World Health Organization, and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Some scientists have criticized these endorsements as being unduly credulous and not including objections to or criticisms of the research used to support acupuncture's effectiveness. Acupuncture is often accompanied by moxibustion, the burning of cone- shaped preparations of Artemisia vulgaris (mugwort) on or near the skin, often but not always near or on an acupuncture point. Traditionally acupuncture was used to treat acute conditions while moxibustion was used for chronic diseas 6. Rocket technology

The availability of black powder (gunpowder) to propel projectiles was a precursor to the development of the first solid rocket. Ninth century Chinese Taoist alchemists invented black powder & this invention led to weapons such as bombs, , incendiary fire arrows and rocket-propelled fire arrows. The first recorded use of a rocket in battle in1232 against the Mongol hordes. Also, one of the earliest devices was the 'ground-rat,‘ ! firework, used at a 1264 feast held in honor of Empress-Mother Kung Sheng by her son the Emperor Lizong.

Rocket technology first became known to Europeans following their use by the Mongols, Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan, when they conquered parts of Russia, Eastern, and Central Europe. The Mongols had acquired the technology by conquest of the northern part of China and also by the employment of Chinese rocketry experts as mercenaries. Reports of the Battle of Sejo in the year 1241 describe the use of rocket-like weapons by the Mongols against the Magyars 7. The BaGua and the binary number system

A set of eight trigrams (Bagua) and a set of 64 hexagrams ("sixty-four" gua), analogous to the three-bit and six-bit binary numerals, were in usage at least as early as the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China through the classic text Yijing.

In the 11th century, scholar and philosopher Shao Yong developed a method for arranging the hexagrams which corresponds, albeit unintentionally, to the sequence 1 to 64, as represented in binary, with yin as 0, yang as 1 and the least significant bit on top The modern binary number system was studied by Gottfried Leibniz in 1679. Leibniz's system uses 0 and 1, like the modern binary numeral system. As a , Leibniz was aware of the Yijing (or I-Ching) and noted with fascination how its hexagrams correspond to the binary numbers from 0 to 111111, and concluded that this mapping was evidence of major Chinese accomplishments in the sort of philosophical he admired 8. Block Printing

In the 7th century, book-printing was developed in China, Korea and , 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 German Johannes Gutenberg (1398-1468) that the technique was reinvented in a suitable environment. 9.The seismograph In AD 132, Heng of China's invented the first seismoscope (by the definition above), which was called Houfeng Didong Yi (literally, "instrument for measuring the seasonal winds and the movements of the Earth"). The description we have, from the History of the Later Han Dynasty, says that it was a large bronze vessel, about 2 meters in diameter; at eight points around the top were dragon's heads holding bronze balls. When there was an , one of the mouths would open and drop its ball into a bronze toad at the base, making a sound and supposedly showing the direction of the earthquake An age- Puzzle (The Needham Question): If historically China was so creative and advanced, why did it fall far behind the Europeans, then America and Japan in the recent centuries? Hypotheses on why China did not develop a scientific revolution

One constant subject of debate among historians has been why China did not develop a scientific revolution and why Chinese technology fell behind that of Europe even with centuries of head-starts. Many hypotheses have been proposed ranging from the cultural to the political and economic.

John K. Fairbank argued that the Chinese political system was hostile to scientific progress.

Joseph Needham argued, and most scholars agreed, that cultural factors prevented these 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.” - Needham & Wang Prof. 李約瑟

Joseph Needham was a British scientist, historian and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1941, and as a fellow of the British Academy in 1971.

In 1948, Needham, proposed a project to the Cambridge University Press for a book on Science and Civilisation in China. He travelled widely in China to do his research with close cooperation of the government. The publication received widespread acclaim which increased to the lyrical as further volumes appeared. Needham's final organising schema of this topic: Vol. I. Introductory Orientations Vol. II. History of Scientific Thought Vol. III. Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and Earth Vol. IV. Physics and Physical Technology Vol. V. Chemistry and Chemical Technology Vol. VI. Biology and Biological Technology Vol. VII. The Social Background

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.

In Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond postulates that the lack of geographic barriers in much of China led to a single government without competition. A ruler who disliked new inventions, technology could be stifled for half a century or more. In contrast, Europe's barriers of the Pyrennes, 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.

Negative Aspects:

1. Arrogance and ignorance of the rulers starting with the mid-Qing dynasty; 2. External wars and internal chaos in the 19th/20th centuries did not provide safety & stability for innovation; 3. Lack of Rule of Law and legal protection for intellectual property; 4. Lack of 3rd party societal trust, depending instead on the family or clan or clique; 5. The unique psychological and philosophical makeup of the Chinese person may deter acceptance of the scientific method as was in the West.

Positive push factors that may see a re-emergence of Chinese Science and Innovation in the years to come:

1. Massive emphasis/investment on education, in both quantity & quality; 2. Economic strength and technology emphasis by the P.R. of China; 3. Large contingent of Chinese students in the US and advanced countries, mostly in technical disciplines; 4. Much transfer of technology into the 2nd largest economy in the world, soon to be largest. 4. The PRC has been relatively peaceful both externally and internally since 1949, except during the of 1966-1976, thus allowing somewhat uninterrupted pursuit of science & technology. However, not all science & technology pursuits were stopped, as the A, H-bombs & missile technology made tremendous advances during this troubled period.

The End Contact information and course offerings

 Email: [email protected] cell phone: 415-860-0660

 Stanford Continuing Studies course offered in BUS 202-Entrepreneurship and Doing Business in China BUS-196- Hands-on Introduction on Project Management www.continuingstudies.stanford.edu