Studies in the History of Natural Sciences 　NO.1 2000

ON THE MISTAKES OF EMPEROR KANGXI'SSCIENTIFIC POLICY……XI Zezong

【Abstract】 During the 67 years before the fall of the Ming Dynasty in 1644, therehad appeared in China 7 scientific monographs of world level of academic standards,such as Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica, 1578) and Luxue Xinshuo (ANew Account of Musical Acoustics, 1584), but after the foundation of the Qing Dynasty China did not make any important contribution to science. This paper considersthat Kangxi, the second emperor of the Qing Dynasty, should bear the blame for thishistorical fact to some extent. Being a ruler of the longest reign, Kangxi had been onthe throne for 61 years from 1662 to 1722, during which period modern science developed rapidly in Europe. Although he diligently learned astronomy, mathematics andmedicine from the Jesuits and wrote a book entitled Jixia Gewubian about naturalknowledge, Kangxi can at most be regarded as a sincere amateur of science. In comparison with King Louis XIV of France and Peter I of Russia, as the leader of a country hedid not take any important step in developing sciences but made a series of mistakes inscientific policy: (l) Only believing Jesuits, he did not make use of such qualified Hanscholars as Wang Xishan and Xue Fengzuo; (2) He did not have a telescope or a microscope made, though both had already been introduced into China; (3) He neither trainedforeign language personnel nor sent people to study abroad; (4) He did not establish anyscientific institution and even did not set up a single school for Manchu children to studyscientifc knowledge; (5) He insisted that such scientific books as the Xiyang XinfaLishu (Treatise on Calendrical Science According to the New Western Methods) and theLixiang Kaocheng (Compendium of Calendrical Science and Astronomy) to be written"under the leadership of the Emperor", which made discussions impossible; (6) He advocated the theory that "Western learning originated from China". This caused the situation that Chinese academic research took the way returning to the ancients, and scholars did not study nature but buried themselves in outdated writings. The defeat in theOpium War made Chinese intellectuals begin to realize that this way is wrong.

A FURTHER INVESTIGATION ON ZHU SHIJIE'SINTERPOLATION FORMULA……LI Zhaohua，CHEN Cheng-Yih

【Abstract】 One of the major contributions of Zhu Shijie in mathematics is in the numerical method of finite differences and interpolation. In this paper, the authors trace the derivation of Zhu's interpolation formula published in 1303 in his book Si-Yuan Yu-Jian (Reflections in Mathematics up to Four Variables). It is demonstrated that the formula can be derived within the framework of series summation by the algorithm of dissecting figures and of recurrence relations in the Jia Xian triangle (known to the West as the Pascal triangle).

A STUDY ON THE MATHEMATICAL METHODS AND IDEAS INHUA HENGFANG'S JI JIAO SHU……JI Zhigang

【Abstract】 Ji Jiao Shu (The Methods of Limited Difference) is an important mathematics work written by Hua Hengfang (1833 - 1902). In it, Hua constructed a special system of limited difference, in which the notation of "0-side difference" (_iy_0) was a distinct characteristic. By these, series interpolation formulas were obtained, which proved to be very different from Newton's. In order to deal with many kinds of tables, he designed an algorithm, which we now call "multiplying-table-and-adding". in fact, this algorithm proved the same as matrix multiplication. Furthermore, his operation of reckoning the difference inversion table (H~n_k) from the table of x~n-difference (h~n_k) was the same as the techniques of finding inverse matrix. Based on the above analysis, we bring to light Hua Hengfang's mathematical methods and ideas. It was obvious that Hua's methods and ideas were the outcome of construction and mechanization, which are the very characteristics of Chinese classical mathematics. Just these played an important role in the transformation of Chinese mathematics from the classical to the modern.

YAO GUANGXIAO's SOUND INSULATION BUILDING ANDITS POLITICAL AND MILITARY BACKGROUND……DAI Nianzu

【Abstract】 Generally speaking, the sound insulation building was a scientific achievement at the turn of the nineteenth and the twentieth century. Through historical documents, this article proves that sound insulation buildings began to be built at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty in China. According the accounts in Biography of YaoGuangxiao of History of the Ming Dynasty and other works, it was Yao Guangxiao(1335 ~ 1418) of the Ming Dynasty who first discovered the sound-absorbing effect of the porous wall and built the sound insulation room. In 1398, he built secretly the underground sound insulation room. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Fang Yizhi (1611~1671 ) summarized the principles of sound absorption of the porous wall in the Wu LiXiao Shi and first used the word'sound insulation'. From then on, the technology of the sound insulation building was generally known in China. In 1822, Zheng Guangzhu(1776-1848), a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, recorded the technology of the sound insulation building in Yi Ban Lu. Yao Guangxiao and his successors built walls with urnsand earthen jars whose mouths raced the inside of the room, and thus the porous wallcame into being. If materials like the worn-out felt rug or cotton were filled in the urnsand earthen jars, the effect of the sound insulation of the porous wall would be muchbetter.There was a background of the science and culture for the construction of the soundinsulation room in China. From the Warring States to the Han Dynasty, people liked tobuild coffin chambers with hollow bricks. At that time, people did not know that hollow bricks had the effect of sound insulation, but they hoped that the dead would rest inpeace under the ground, free from worldly disturbance. The idea enlightened YaoGuangxiao in building the underground sound insulation room. In addition, from the Warring States onwards, strategists of different dynasties used earthen urns as geophones. Shen Kuo (1031~1095) of the Song Dynasty thought that earthen urns' could absorb sound' when he explained the geophones in the Meng Xi Bi Tan, and it offered ascientific basis for building a sound insulation room. Further study is needed as to whether the building technology for sound insulation rooms was spread into Japan and Korea. In Western countries at the turn of the twentieth century, the sound insulation room developed increasingly with radio broadcasting and concert halls. In the forties of the twentieth century, Aarhus University's auditorium of Denmark used Helmholte's resonator as the wall absorbing sound. In fact, the shape of a resonator is just the same as that of earthen urns.

A STUDY ON THE CREATION OF THE CHINESE TERM“HUAXUE” IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY CHINA……SHEN Guowei

【Abstract】 Huaxue", a Chinese term translated from the English term "chemistry", appeared in Shanghai in the 1850s. In the spring of 1855, a Chinese scholar named Wang Tao noted in his diary that the missionary Hudson Taylor told him there was a modern scientific discipline "Huaxue" in the West. The term was first introduced in publication in 1857 when"Huaxue" appeared in Alexander Wylie's Shanghae Serial. As Wang was Wylie's collaboratorin translating Western books, we conclude that Wang introduced "Huaxue" in Shanghae Serial. Through Shanghae Serial, "Huaxue" was learned by Chinese scholars. "Huaxue"was introduced into Japan in the 1850s, and replaced the old translated term "seimi", a term translated from the Dutch word "chemie". By "Huaxue" as a case study, the author traces the coinageand spread of the technical term in the introduction of Western science in nineteenth-century China, and probes into the exchange of technical terms between China and Japan.

UNDERSTANDING OF “CHINA──MOTHEROF GARDENS” BY THE WEST……LUO Guihuan

【Abstract】 China is the third largest country in the world, and has some 30000 species of higher (flowering) plants. Meanwhile the Chinese people love flowers and are fond of gardening, and from time immemorial they have begun practice of ornamental horticulture, and bredmany kinds of brilliant flowers, such as peony, chrysanthemum, rose, azalea, lily and lilac.It is interesting that some ornamental flowering plants reached Europe quite early, amongwhich the day lily and peach are both famous examples,although limited in variety. In the seventeenth century, more beautiful garden flowers originated in China began to be introduced tothe West by the hands of merchants and Jesuit missionaries. Lots of well-known flowers originated in China, like some kinds of camellia, peony, rose, magnolia, azalea and chrysanthemum,had been introduced to Europe, together with several very decorative trees by the nineteenthcentury, from which Europeans caught sight of a wonderful vista, and directed more attentionto the botanical riches of China.In 1804, the English Horticultural Society of London was founded. The institution pro-moted greatly the collection of rich garden flora in China. Its many zealous members and enthusiastic employees including J. Reeves, J. D. Parks and R. Fortune were all successful intheir introduction of Chinese ornamental plants. Up to the middle of the nineteenth century,the majority of Chinese garden flora had been Introduced to the West. They chiefly came fromthe gardens in the east of China, which includes Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing.Among the introduced flowers, rose and chrysanthemum are remarkable, and have abiding influence on the gardening and beautified environs in the West.After 1860, Westerners were able to travel freely in China, where they discovered the existence of a great number of wild ornamental plants. When the accounts of investigations concerned became known, the West realized that there were yet more beautiful plant treasures to be obtained in the mountains and valleys of West China. Hence, numerous collectors were sent to China to take back live specimens and seeds of the floral riches to Europe. In 1899, E. H. Wilson, one of the most successful collectors, came to China for the Veitchfirm. He traveled in Hubei and Sichuan for over ten years in the first two decades of the present century, and introduced over a thousand new beautiful ornamental plants into the gardens of Europe and North America, including the dove tree, many lilies, azaleas and Meconopsis. For this reason, Wilson was called the man who opened the door of garden in western China. His experience in China made him realize that China is the real "Kingdom of flowers", and by long practice of horticulture, his knowledge of the garden plants of Chinese origin contributed greatly to gardening all over the world. China was referred to by him as the "Mother of Gardens ".Following closely Wilson, many plant collectors were once again sent to China, among whom the more famous are G. Forrest and F. Kingdon-Ward of Great Britain and J. Rock ofAmerica. They introduced actively various beautiful flowers such as azalea, primrose, gentian and Nomocharises from the real "Kingdom of flowers" Yunnan to the West. With the increase of favorite flowering plants reaching the West from China, wilson's view became increasingly popular. It is obvious that the influence of introduction by the West over several centuries has been enormous. It is just as the late great botanical geographer N. I. Vavilov said: "Literally thousands of species of woody and herbaceous decorative plants, which can be seen in parks allover the world,--originated in China." Today the process of the introduction of Chinese ornamental plants which began long before the time of Wilson still continues, which well shows the perpetual charm of China as "Mother of Gardens".

EXPLANTION OF THE EIGHT DIAGRAMS AS A KIND OFNO-ZERO BINARY COUNTING SYSTEM……WEI Anming

【Abstract】 According to the Binary system of the primitive race and the sequence of the Eight diagrams and the Sixty-four diagrams. This paper gives a new explanation of the binary math meaning of the Eight Diagrams and the Sixty-four Diagrams, and believes that the Eight Diagrams and the Sixty-four Diagrams were the binary counting system including "1" and "2" before the appearance of the concept and symbol of zero.