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Introduction
Chinese astronomers performed exact time measurements and mapped out rare cosmic events. A growing understanding of such high-level science has led to speculations on causes that impeded the development of modern science in China. Some academics argue that premodern China lacked a heritage of invention and a culture of innovation because Chinese intellectuals disregarded practical studies for so long. These frequently include basic fallacies of historical reasoning that make this topic worth exploring. When extended to its logical conclusion, this misconception leads to the assumption that an entire set of major changes could not have occurred in another society because a key component of the European Scientific Revolution is absent from that culture. This reasoning is incorrect because ancient China incorporated the new ideals latent in foreign science to modify existing traditional and cultural values instead of replacing them and thus did not generate an equivalent degree of excitement in science as it was in Europe.
Discussion
One of the main arguments used to support the notion that China did not have a tradition of invention is that the country experienced no scientific revolution as in Europe. However, by using traditional measures of intellectual achievement, one might say that China experienced its scientific revolution in the 1700s. Starting from the 1600s, Chinese students were exposed to foreign mathematics and astronomy in a format that would soon become outdated in regions of Europe where students were allowed access to contemporary information (Ning et al., 2017). Several Chinese intellectuals immediately reacted, and new initiatives to reform Chinese astronomy were started.
Primarily, Chinese scholars did not see how this new science could replace ancient knowledge that was the core of societal institutions and beliefs. Instead, they fundamentally and irreversibly reshaped how people see and interpret celestial movements. Thus, trigonometry and geometry substantially superseded conventional numerical or algebraic techniques (Deng, 2021). In other words, they altered the perception of which ideas, tools, and approaches are fundamentally significant. There was a sudden increase in interest in topics such as a planet’s absolute rotational sense and relative proximity to Earth. For the first time, Chinese astronomers realized that mathematical models could forecast and explain events (Keyser & Scarborough, 2018). These transformations represent a theoretical revolution in astronomy, while in Europe, they were embraced from a practical and scientific viewpoint.
Perhaps the most far-reaching effect of China’s contact with European science was the resurrection of long-lost techniques in ancient Chinese astronomy. Consequently, old astronomy methods were re-examined alongside new concepts, which lent credence to what may be considered a new classicism (Goldin, 2018). The new values inherent in the imported astronomical literature were not employed to replace traditional values but were applied to remodel ancient values. This raises the question of why this theoretical revolution lacked the social implications that scholars of Western science want many to anticipate. When the Chinese realized that the European methods generated more accurate estimates, there was no longer any antagonism between the ancient and new schools of astronomy.
Contrary to popular assumption, the success of European computational methods was not the result of a convergence of brilliant minds. Instead, it resulted from the royal government’s decision to give Jesuit missionaries authority over the day-to-day operations of the Astronomical Bureau. This was not the case in China because, despite their strength, Western approaches provided Chinese students with no other path to success and notoriety, and the civil service examination system further limited them (Goldin, 2018). There were just a handful of astronomers among the ancient intellectual aristocracy that could counter the Jesuits’ publications. They were required to assess advances in the context of firmly established principles they thought were their duty to uphold and transmit to the upcoming generation.
Undoubtedly, revolutions in politics and science occur outside the confines of civilization. However, the individuals who started it in old China were deeply committed to their society’s key pillars (Schirokauer, 2019). No astronomy scholars at the time were driven to reject established ideals. Similarly, no organizations of disillusioned thinkers sufficiently pursued concepts wherever they went, even if the surrounding society crumbled. Men from the lower Yangtze valley were among the first and most important proponents of Western astronomy (Schirokauer, 2019). They acted as loyalists, refusing to support a new regime, especially what they perceived as a non-Chinese ruler. They were inspired to devote their lives to learning and disseminating new math concepts and astronomy. Simultaneously, they used them to perfect the forgotten practices of their heritage after declining to pursue normal occupations in a culture that, in their opinion, had disintegrated (Guan, 2021). Thus, premodern China had a scientific tradition whose goals were tied to its culture and ideals.
Conclusion
Some modern scholars believe that Premodern China lacked a culture of innovation. These flawed arguments arise from the limited understanding of how Chinese scholars perceive new science. Mainly, scientific thinking and technical processes in ancient China were heavily influenced by traditional values and values. Thus, foreign ideas were not seen as replacements for old concepts but as proven methods that could be used to improve existing ones. This explains why the scientific revolution in China, marked by the emergence of new methods of learning and understanding astronomy, did not have the same impact witnessed in the West.
References
Deng, K. (2021). The Ancient Chinese Timekeeping Instruments. The Studies of Heaven and Earth in Ancient China: History of Science and Technology in China Volume 2, 95-151.
Goldin, P. R. (Ed.). (2018). Routledge Handbook of Early Chinese History. New York: Routledge.
Guan, Z. (2021). The Angle Concept and Angle Measurement in Ancient China. The Origins of Sciences in China: History of Science and Technology in China Volume 1, 327-346.
Keyser, P. T., & Scarborough, J. (Eds.). (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World. Oxford University Press.
Ning, X., Sun, X., Orchiston, W., & Nakamura, T. (2017). The development of astronomy and the emergence of astrophysics in China. In W. Orchiston & T. Nakamura (Eds.), The Emergence of Astrophysics in Asia (pp. 213-244). Springer, Cham.
Schirokauer, C. (2019). Education in Premodern China and Japan. In C. Schirokauer (Ed.), The [Oxford] Handbook of the History of Education (p. 114). Oxford University Press.
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