Chinese Science, 1980, 4 : 19 - 52 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RECENT ARCHEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES BEARING ON THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY by HSIA Nai Ii edited and translated by Donald Blackmore WAGNER Figure 1 The design on an inlaid bronze jar found in a Warring States tomb in Chengtu, Szechwan. From Item 66, Plate 2. Downloaded from Brill.com09/23/2021 10:03:49PM via free access 20 Abbreviations CP China Pictorial CR China Reconstructs CSA Chinese Sociology and Anthropology KK K'ao-ku ~ -i; (Archeology) KKHP K'ao-ku hsueh-pao ~ -ti ~ ;/R (The Chinese Journal of Archeology) WW Wen-wu i::. -!i/o (Cultural Relics) Editor's Introduction No one sufficiently interested in Chinese science to read this journal will be unaware that the major discoveries in this field made in China over the last dozen years have sprung from archeological excavation rather than library research. With the reconstitution of the Research Institute for the History of Natural Sciences in 1977, the work of fully integrating these discoveries with the historical record has begun to accelerate. It is perhaps symbolic of that transition that early in 1977 Dr. Hsia Nai published in K'ao-ku, the bimonthly Chinese journal of archeology, a general review of important publications over the last five years, as well as materials not yet published, bearing on the history of science and technol­ ogy. His article in effect reviewed the important finds of the entire Cultural Revolution era. No writer could have been more fully informed or more judicious in his evaluations. Hsia 's interest in technical history was largely responsible for the attention paid to it in China by archeologists, and for the willingness of arche­ ologists and historians to collaborate in the study of artifacts. I know of no precedent anywhere for the extent to which these trends developed. Shortly after the article appeared, Donald Wagner proposed that he translate it into English for publication in Chinesi, Science. Before the details had been worked out, I found myself quite unexpectedly at a meeting with Hsia Nai in Peking. He gave me a copy of his essay with a great many emendations and additions, and granted his permission for a translation-necessarily somewhat condensed to fit within limits of space-to be published in Chinese Science. In abridging the essay, Donald Wagner has endeavored to keep all of the techni­ cal detail that will help readers assess the meaning of the new discoveries. In order to do so, he has had to sacrifice to some extent Hsia 's discussions meant to Dr. Hsia is Director of the Institute of Archeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Mr. WaITTier is a Research Fellow at the Scandinavian Institute of Asian Sh1dies, Copenhagen. In the references, translations of titles enclosed in quotation marks are those given in the publications themselves. Italics ar used for volume number.;; of p rioclicnls; numbers not ital­ icized designate is ue . References in which a dagger (t) precedes thr. it em number were added by the translator. ommenl indented following refr r nce11 arn 1,y lhr. translator unle.ss other­ wise indicated. The abbr vintion " Ed." refers to the F: ditor of l1i11 iue ciell ce. European readers may be interested to know that almost all of the material cited here may be seen at the Danish Royal Library. Photocopies or microfilms are available at moderate prices from the Oriental Department, The Royal Library, Christians Brygge 8, DK-1219 Copen­ hagen K, Denmark. Downloaded from Brill.com09/23/2021 10:03:49PM via free access HSJA 21 impress upon his r ad r th high lev I f sci n and tc lurnlogy in ancient China -a poi nl ulrnady familiar lo reader of this j urnal. H ia's bibliography has l,ec11 reproduced cumpl t ly along with citali n of mor recent Chinese writiug and german . publications i11 W tern languag . H. ia ai s own revision hav L n ilire Ll y inc rporal <l in Ll1 e text . This review essay is by no means exhaustive, and I doubt whether there would be any point in p11l lishing an exhau tive bibliography on Lhis ubj l. The selec­ tion is cur fol and lhorough. Readers wh wanl additional reforen ·es on a partic­ ular lopi c,u1 fintl Lh em lhr ugh llsia' ci tati n . Wagner has pro,~ded in the next article a lisl of r cenl publication~ on topic no1 di cu sed in this one. ll is helpful to bt" aware that in gen ral th titl given for ancient manuscripts are m tlcr11 nnd pr vi ionaJ. 1'itJes w r very often not r corded on personal c pies f arly books; vcn , hen U, y were recorded, the outermost parts of man­ us ·rip ts frequ nlly have b n damag d or lost over the centuries. For a discussion if Lh vi i situdes of the history of science in Lh e P ople'. Republic of China ver the past dozen year aJona with some gen ral references pertinent to Hsia's es ay, see my "Current Research on Lhe History of ~ci nee in the People's Republic of hina " hinesr. cie 11 ce, 1978 3: 39-58. Th cicn tifi · manuscripts mentioned below are part of a much greater number on a wide range of topics, on which see Michael A. N. Loewe, "Manuscripts Found Recently in China. A Preliminary Survey," T'oung Pao, 1978, 63: 99-136. Translator's Introduction An important recent essay by Dr. Hsia Nai reviews significant archeological studies related to our subject from the Cultural Revolution to about mid-1976. "K'ao-ku-hsueh ho k'o-chi-shih *""G ~ ~ H :JtJt " (Archeology and the his­ tory of science and technology; KK, 1977, 2: 81-91) is an essay re,1ew supported by 99 footnotes. I have cast the translation in the form of an annotated biblio­ graphy, interweaving the text and footnotes, in order to provide more immediate access to references. The citations incorporate a number of emendations pro­ videcl by Dr. Hsia. I have added a number of references to publications after mid-1976. The next article provides references on related topics for the period from 1972 to the end of 1978. Useful bibliographies of earlier publications on Chinese archeology are: H. Barnard, Noel; Sato Tamotsu 1E- .l,1,'f; Metallurgical Remains of Ancient Cliina tp [!j 'ti .f( ~ ~.i!, 1b.7 Tokyo, 1975. English and Japanese texts. Contains a superb annotated bibliography of Chinese archeological reports through 1966 on sites dating from Shang to Han, ordered geographicalJy, pp. 163-295. -r2. Ch'en Chin-po Pf~;:lt Chung-kuo i-shiL k 'ao-ku lun-wen so-yin. I-chiu-ssu-chiu-i-chiu-liu-liu 9'7 @ iti, #r ~ 'i5 ~ J:. t 5 I - lL U!J JL- - JL -f: ~ (Chan Kam-po, "Chinese art and archaeoloey. A classified index to articles published in mainland China periodicals, 1949-1966 "), Hong Kong, 1974. 1'3. Vanderstappen, Harrie A. The T. L. Yuan Bibliography of Western Writings on Chinese Art and Archaeology Downloaded from Brill.com09/23/2021 10:03:49PM via free access 22 London, 1975. "Lists books and reviews, catalogues of exhibitions, jour­ nal articles, and other material on Chinese art and archaeology in western languages published between 1920 and 1965." t4. Su Chen Ho Yearbook of Chinese Archaeology, 1956 New York, 1968. Short summaries of articles in Chinese archeological journals published in 1956. No further volumes have been published. 1. Astronomy In 1973, at the Yin waste near An yang, Honan, over 4800 inscribed oracle bones and shells from the fourteenth to the eleventh century B .c. were found. Among the oracle inscriptions there is much material· relevant to the calendar and to observational astronomy. 5. 1973 :'f40EJ,J,k.AJ:it;ltii;f,i'_JJ~ (" Excavations conducted to the south of Hsiao-t'un Village in Anyang, 1973"). KK, 1975, 1: 27-46, esp . p. 38. Among the silk manuscripts found at Ma-wang-tui, Changsha, Hunan, there is an astronomical text, "Planetary divination Ji...£ -2, , " along with an appendix, "Table of the motions of the planets 3i. li !'.Jl :'fk. " The appendix records the observed and computed synodic and sidereal periods of Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus over the period 246-177 B .C. The manuscript was written about 170. The calculated periods of revolution of the planets are extremely close to the values established by modern methods. 6. Liu Yun-yu j",j -i;; }j__ 1f ~ A j:_ ~ J:. ~9 - 1-1: ~ $.. J;.1,-l] .f.. 1li. 5,x_ l. '$ f.i' "I' ll!J «.Ji£ -ti ("An important discovery in the history of Chinese astronomy-a lost essay entitled Wu hsing chem (Treatise on astrology)"). WW, 1974,, 11: 28-36. 1. /4;.P- ~ -2,~ m~~J:.. ("Transcription of the appendix to Wu hsing chan (Treatise on astrolo­ gy)"). WW, 1974, 11: 37-39. 8. Hsu Chen-t'ao #;*#6 »- ~ fJ' /4;3i £ t ~ t ",t t- )'!i'1.>(_" eji,] lf,1] ("The invention of the pre-Ch 'in armillary sphere viewed in the light of the silk manuscript of the Wu hsing chan (Treatise on planetary motions and their astrological significance)"). KK, 1976, 2: 89-94, 84. Another manuscript found in the same tomb is "Chart of divination by the stars and the clouds f::... X ~ "t<. /r'.-&." lt consists of drawings of various kinds of comets and clouds, with explanations in divinational terms. 9. ];J ~ :Jii.::. =- ~ ;;x.l j(:ffl. 11J .i -t R4l ("Significance of the excavation of Han tombs nos.