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The history of science and technology is the science of the emergence, development, and laws of science and technology. The history of science and technology must not only study the inherent logical connections and development laws of science and technology, but also explore the dialectical relationship between the correlation and restriction of science and technology and various factors in the entire society. Therefore, the history of science and technology is neither a general natural science nor a general social history. It is a comprehensive discipline that spans between the natural and social sciences.

History of science and technology

(Science about the birth, development and laws of science and technology)

The history of science and technology is a first-level discipline of science. The research scope of the history of science and technology mainly involves the four majors: science , engineering, agriculture, and medicine.

China is a country with a very developed history, but

Science and technology are the creation of human intelligence and practice, both of which represent the highest peak of human collective achievement. Today science and technology are the product of colorful and ever-changing historical processes, and have become indispensable in every society that has ever existed made of. ^[1]

In the Greek era, Greek science has undergone an unprecedented transformation.

The middle of the 15th century was an important period of change in European history. The bourgeois revolution provided social conditions for the birth of modern natural science. At the same time, science itself has waged an indomitable struggle in order to obtain its own independent status and to get rid of the shackles of religion. The rise of experimental science has given natural science an independent practical foundation. Since then, modern science has begun its new era of relatively independent development. Of course, in this process, the development and accumulation of technology has been progressing slowly, and it has finally received tremendous help in the rise of natural science. ^[3]

History of Science and Technology

First, the influence of traditional Chinese thinking mode of thinking is the mode of human rational cognition activity. It is the mode of thinking activity that uses the thinking tools to accept, reflect, understand, and process object objects or object information in accordance with their own needs and purposes. Or mode, its essence is the stable, stereotyped thinking structure of the relationship between the subject of thinking, the object of thinking, and the tool of thinking. Ancient Chinese thinking has basically formed in the former Shang and Zhou dynasties and the Spring and Autumn Period, and has been continuously strengthened in later generations. Unique Chinese thinking mode. ^[13]

The grasp of the thinking object, the Chinese traditional way of thinking is manifested as a holistic tendency, understanding everything in the universe as a whole, developing, and harmonious organic whole, emphasizing the interconnectedness and overall function of things. It is manifested in philosophy as the mode of thinking and taking pictures. Use symbols and analogies to grasp the object of recognition. Take the whole world as a whole to grasp the research and understanding without analysis. In the process of constructing the way of thinking, ancient China showed a tendency of intuition and classics. Intuition refers to relying on personal intuition and experience in the thinking process. Make an understanding of the nature and laws of things. There is no logical process and no continuity of thinking, and it depends entirely on the feeling of the subject of thinking. And think that only in this way can we recognize the nature and law of things. For example, Zhuangzi's "Knowledgers don't speak, and the speakers don't know." The Lord "sit and forget." Zen "pointing at itself" and so on. Another important feature of intuitive thinking about things is that they attach great importance to the intuition of the individual. The individual's perception through experience, metaphysics, and thinking is considered to be unquestionable and does not need to be evaluated by external objective standards. But individual experience and realization are often subjective to a large extent. Everyone's living environment is different and the knowledge structure is different. The experience they experience is very different. Because of the exclusion of objective evaluation criteria, everyone's ideas can be considered correct, and they can be said to be wrong. This is very different from the certainty of science's pursuit of truth, which is extremely weak for the progress of science.

Modern science is based on a clear definition of concepts, strict logical deduction, and accurate measurement of data. This is incompatible with the intuitive way of Chinese traditional thinking. Vague concept definition, illogical reasoning, and specious conclusions. Moreover, I believe that only in this way can we truly understand the nature and laws of things. The Book of Changes at the head of the group scriptures is only over 20,000 words. How to understand? The Tao Te Ching has more than five thousand words, and it begins with "Dao Ke Dao Ye, very Dao Ye, as well as the name, also the very name". In Buddhism, there are more Zen Buddhism and "pointing to the heart". Such a mode of thinking is difficult to adapt to the development of science.

Classical tendency is a great rebellion against the spirit of modern science. ^[13] The way of thinking in Confucian classics is mainly manifested in worship of saints and worship of classics. Regarding tradition as absolute authority, there is a strong tendency to worship the ancient and the retro. "The saint, the master of the century", the worship of classics sublimates, abstracts, deifies the saints and classics, and fixes them into a normative principle. It is not allowed to be repatriated, so that an Analects of Confucius has been used as a standard textbook for two thousand years. What later generations did to these classics was to explain and maintain them in different ways. Never dare to question or deny. Even if there were, they were considered to be infidelity and were attacked by the group. What modern science needs is the spirit of "I love my teacher, I love the truth". Without rebellion against classics, there would be no advance in modern science. Nearly every major advance in modern science, from Copernicus and Galileo to Newton, Bohr, and Einstein, has followed the path of direct rebellion against established classics.

Therefore, the characteristics of intuition and classics in Chinese traditional thinking make it impossible for modern science to take place from China.

Second, the pragmatism of ancient China, which emphasized practicality and light theory, rejected forms similar to western modern scientific theories.

Traditional Chinese science and technology are mainly reflected in issues related to agricultural production, astronomy, military affairs, and medicine. The outstanding feature of the ancient Chinese science and technology system is its extremely strong practicability, which manifested itself in the feudal society as directly meeting the needs of all aspects of the feudal dynasty. Ancient Chinese science and technology should have their practical value before they are considered necessary. Agricultural-related production, for example, the "Qi Min Yao Shu" by agronomist Jia Si in the Northern Wei Dynasty is a systematic summary of agricultural production experience in northern China before the 6th century. His method of agronomic research is: "Cherishing the Scriptures, Talking and Singing, Asking for Experience, and Demonstrating Actions." It records the relevant knowledge of farming, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry, and its purpose is to provide people with daily life needs Basic substance information. Related to these disciplines are considered valuable. However, the Greeks did not speak about practicality, but for theory, which opened up unlimited space for the development of science. The Greeks' mathematics and philosophy can still promote the development of European science after a lapse of more than a thousand years, fully showing the power of theory, and practical science is not far-sighted enough, and the development space set for themselves is extremely small. In addition, ancient China had a strong tradition of "emphasizing agriculture but neglecting business". Under the influence of China's "people take food as the sky", agricultural production was regarded as a top priority in ancient Chinese society, while commercial activities were regarded as activities that could not create wealth. And one of the important forces to promote the development of science in the West is industry and commerce. The market demand has even become the most important force to promote the development of science and technology. As for physics and chemistry similar to those of the modern West, the Chinese have also made some developments in order to obtain metals and pursue immortality. The ancient Chinese were less interested in things that were purely theoretical and had no immediate practical significance. But it is these purely theoretical things that have become the cornerstone of modern Western science and technology development. The tradition of valuing practicality and neglecting theory in ancient China made the scientific knowledge of ancient China lack systemicity, but a series of accumulation of knowledge. Therefore, the history of science and technology in ancient China can only be a compilation of historical materials, there is no logical continuity between the front and back, and there is no inherent unity.

In short, from the perspective of internal factors, we generally think that ancient Chinese science and technology lacked clear concepts, systematic theories, and methods that can be proved or falsified. Therefore, ancient Chinese science and technology could not smoothly transition to modern Western science.

History of science and technology Social, political, economic, cultural and other external influences

First of all, the backwardness of society and economy is the root cause of China's backwardness in science and technology, and also the root cause of China's failure to produce modern science. China's feudal economy is a typical small-scale peasant economy. Taking households as a unit, men and women weaving, agriculture and handicrafts are closely combined, which is decentralized and spillover, hindering the development of social division of labor. Excessive exploitation has left farmers unable and unwilling to exchange commodities and actively improve farming techniques. Since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, although a weak seed of capitalism has appeared, its development has been inadequate. The repression of the ruling class on industry and commerce is even more serious, and the policy of emphasizing agriculture and restraining business is implemented. Although the industrial and commercial people are extremely wealthy, they do not have any political power and social status. Solicit various taxes and miscellaneous taxes to plunder industrial and commercial workers and the people. For example, during the Wanli period, the Ming rulers sent a large number of mining supervision taxes to harass and plunder the industry and commerce, and the development of China's industry and commerce lost its internal vitality. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the "sea ban" policy was pursued, the country closed its doors and guarded itself blindly, so that the external conditions for China's industrial and commercial development were cut off. The feudal ruler stuck in the development context of industry and commerce from both inside and outside, severely suppressing and limiting the further development of commerce and handicrafts. The newly emerged capitalist factors cannot grow to a level that is sufficient to affect the entire socio-economic and cultural life. An almost stagnant feudal economy cannot impose urgent demands on science and technology like the European capitalist economy, and backward social productivity cannot provide material support for the development of science and technology like the European Industrial Revolution. Science and technology lack adequate soil and conditions for its generation and development.

Secondly, the corrupt bureaucracy and Luo Zhi's strict ideology are the important factors hindering the development of China's science and technology. With the decay and decline of feudal rule, the rulers strengthened the dictatorship of ideology and regarded Cheng Zhuxue as an inviolable official orthodox philosophy. Taking advantage of fame and fortune to lure Fu, eight shares of scholars introduced a large number of intellectuals into the dead end of Confucian classics. The possibility of independent and independent thinking of intellectuals was abolished, and Zhu Xi's "Four Books Collection Annotation" was non-standard and restricted intellectual thinking. Daxing literary prisons torture and persecute intellectuals. Under this coercion, Chinese intellectuals were forced into dead ends. "Avoid the fear of writing, and read only for the sake of rice." Under the dictatorship of feudal cultural autocracy, Chinese intellectuals secretly endured poverty, grinded eight strands, and walked into faith, worship, and break away from production, from reality, from The study of the laws of nature is a misguided past. The scientific wisdom and philosophical wisdom of the entire nation were destroyed, suppressed, and distorted, and they fell into the predicament of "Everything Like a Horse" described by Zi Zhenzhen.

Finally, it is the backwardness of the education system that is linked to the obstruction of dictatorship culture to the development of science and technology. Since the 12th century, the West has adapted to the development of industry and commerce, extensively developed civic education, and successively established various ordinary schools and universities. By the early 19th century, science and technology education had become the center of western education. However, China still promotes feudal slavery education. No matter what the content of education, the objects of education, or the methods of education are, there has been no change. Nominally, the Qing government also set up various schools at all levels, including the Central Government Superintendent and government schools for the Eight Flags, local schools of Confucianism at one level, state schools, and county schools, as well as large and small schools and private schools. But these schools are really just "technical" schools that teach the subject language. The subjects are divided into "ceremony, music, shooting, imperialism, book, math, and division of education". Only mathematics is related to science. The emphasis of the students' study is on the classics of literary history, not mathematics. Just a little bit about the algorithm. Therefore, these students generally do not understand the people's production and life. Neither production skills nor scientific knowledge. The eight-stroke forensics based on the Notes to the Four Books collected students into stale and unrealistic content and a rigid style, and their minds were completely rigid. Under such circumstances, can China's traditional science and technology not fail?

The political ethical culture and its values and simple dialectical thinking in Chinese feudal society are more conducive to the development of science and technology than the religious culture and its values in the late Western and slave society and the metaphysical thinking in belief. Between the 1st century BC and the 15th century AD, China was more effective than Europe in acquiring natural knowledge and applying it to practical needs. However, this type of political economy, cultural conception, and thinking mode in China is not as good as the natural-type culture, its values, and formal logic thinking mode in the late Western Renaissance, which is more conducive to the development of science and technology. Therefore, modern science can only develop in Europe, Can't grow in China.