The Chinese Journal for the History of Science and technology  NO.4 2001

Reminiscences of My Father Prof. Nee Sangta……NI Dun-xiang

【Abstract】 Prof.Nee Sangta(1898—1988), a scholar and educationist of the older generation in China's physics circles, had been at di fferent times professor of the Central University, the Jinling University and th e Nanjing Institute of Engineering. As the son of Prof. Nee,the author records h is knowledge of Nee Sangta's lifelong devotion to radio education and writing, deeds in charge of the repair and spare parts workshop under the Aviation Commis sion during the period of the Republic of China, and what his father went through at the Nanjing Institute of Engineering after the founding of the People's Rep ublic of China with an account of his friendship with Zhang Wentian.In addition, the author recounts his own experience of Prof. Nee's education and training fo r his sons and daughters.

An Interview with Chen Mengxiong……ZHANG Jiu-chen

【Abstract】 Chen Mengxiong, senior academician of the C hinese Academy of Sciences, is contemporary China's famous hydro geologist. He is a committee member of the sci tech consultation research center of the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources. The author interviewed him on March 12, 2001 and got to know his academic career and achievements. This paper sorts out the data on Central Geological Survey Institute, and the adjustment of geological organizational structure and the shift of orientation in geology during the initial post liberation period, thus offering some precious historical data on the modern history of geology in China.

The Whole Story of the Design and Test of Beijing No.2 Modern Rocket……Li Cheng-zhi

【Abstract】 This paper tells the whole story of modern rocket and test by the Beijing Institute of Aeronautics in the late 1950s.The au thor tries to prove that the Beijing No.2 Rocket is the No.1 modern rocket in As ia. 

P.B.Cousland:A Promoter for the Standardization of Medical Nomenclature……ZHANG Da-qing

【Abstract】 It is a very important work to standardize the translation of medical nomenclature in transmitting Western medicine into China.In the early period of the spread of Western medicine into China,Dr.P.B.Cousland,a British missionary,made a great contribution to the subject.His Medical Lexicon became the most famous English Chinese medical dictionary having great effect on medical education and publications in China.Owing to the joint efforts of Cousland and his colleagues,the Medical Terminology Committee was founded in 1915 and laid a foundation for the standardization of medical terms.

A Study on the Official System of the Qing Dynasty Astronomical Bureau……SHI Yu-min

【Abstract】 The Qing Dynasty Astronomical Bureau(Qintian Jian)was an institution which was responsible for the sciences of the Heavens and had a special status.Although its official system originated from the Astronomical Bureau of the Ming Dynasty,complex changes related to the official system of Qing Astronomical Bureau had taken place for 268 years during the Qing Dynasty.This paper makes a systematic study on the establishment,development,selection,promotion,rank and renumeration of Qing Astronomical Bureau officials.

Zhou Qianchuan & Liao Houze and the Hand-copied Medical Book Gu Maifa……LIAO Yu-qun

【Abstract】 According to the accounts in some early medical works,several different methods were used by physicians to feel the pulse.This paper introduces a handcopied book named Gu Maifa which deals with another method for pulse feeling.The author is not sure how old this method of diagnosis is,but he is sure it could be found in all printed medical works now. As a reactionist,the author of this work held that the way of feeling pulse used from the Jin dynasty onwards was a mistake,and strongly advocated the old method in the said work. Through this hand copied book as a carrier of medical knowledge,we are not only able to know some special traditional medical theory and technique related to Taoist medicine,but also able to probe deeply into the case of a particular traditional Chinese physician's life and his doctrine.

Biography of Jiang Chong in the Hanshu──A Research Note on Wooden Figurines……LI Jian-min

【Abstract】 According to his biography in the Ha nshu (History of the Han Dynasty), Jiang Chong had carved a figurine of paulownia wood,which he used to cast for resolving matters of witchcraft and poisoning with his profound know ledge of medicine.Paulownia wooden figurines were connected with a number of mag ical arts during the Han Dynasty.Funeral practice at that time also included the carving of paulownia wood into figurines and statuettes.Jiang Chong's use of medical principles to discuss witchcraft clearly demonstrates the common source of medicine and witchcraft.

A Tentative Inquiry into the Eastward Spread of the Two Terms suanni and shizi……ZHANG Zhi-jie

【Abstract】 China is not the native haunt of lions.The lion has two names:suan(ni)and shi(zi),of which the former term is a transliteration of a certain Indian language,and the latterterm is a transliteration of the language of Ruezhi,a nomadic people living in the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty.Through investigating the literature of the Western and the Eastern Han Dynasties,the author finds that the term suanni was spread eastward in the early years of Western Han at the latest,while the term shizi was spread eastward during the Yongping reign of Emperor Ming Di or the Zhanghe in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The term suanni was known to few in the Western and the Eastern Han dynasty,and people were not aware that suanni means shizi. However,starting from the first year of Zhanghe reign when the lion was offered to the throne as a tribute by Yuezhi,the term shizi spread very quickly.

The Whole Story of Appointing Hua Loo Geng As the Director of the Mathematics Department of Tsinghua University……GUO Jin-hai

【Abstract】 After the War of Resistance Against Japan, Tsinghua University was removed from Kunming to Beiping in 1946. At that time it s Department of Mathematics was in an extremely difficult situation, whose teach e rs were in great shortage and students on the increase. Meanwhile Yang Ko-Chuen (Yang Wuzhi), the director of the Department, had caught typhoid fever and had to be detained in Kunming. It was urgent to engage a deputy director or a new director of the De partment for the committee of administrative affairs of the university. According to the materials from Tsinghua Archives, this article explores the process of engaging a few deputy-directors and provides the evidence that the president of Tsinghua University Mei Yiqi decided to appoint Hua Loo-Geng to head the Depar tment,who had only the educational level of junior middle school but had got pro minent mathematical achievement.