During the Yuan Dynasty, the transportation of Eurasia was opened up, and the civilizations of the East and the West exchanged again. In this era, China's three major inventions began to spread to the West, promoting the progress of European civilization. At the same time, Arab and Indian knowledge, mathematics, and technology were also introduced to China in large quantities. Under the influence of knowledge from the East and the West, China's science and technology has developed to a new height.
China's traditional science and technology is mainly represented by astronomy, medicine, agriculture and mathematics, and this article mainly introduces the development of science and technology in the Yuan Dynasty from these four aspects.
In terms of astronomical calendar, the Song and Jin dynasties before the Yuan Dynasty have reached a new height. At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the Daming calendar of the Jin Dynasty was mainly used, which was long-standing and had already made great errors. The calendar of the Southern Song Dynasty is very advanced, and the time of the return has been accurate to 365.2425 days, but the traditional ancient method of the seventh leap month of the nineteenth year is adopted, and the error is also very large. In the course of the Western Expedition, the Mongols gradually realized the error of the Great Ming Calendar, so they tried to formulate a new calendar.
At this time, the Arabic calendar was introduced to China on a large scale. For example, Zamaruddin, who came from Arabia, made 7 kinds of astronomical instruments for the Yuan Dynasty, which promoted the development of Chinese astronomical instruments and astronomical observations; the Arab "arc triangle method" was also introduced to China, which had a great influence on Chinese astronomical calculations. This laid the groundwork for the development of a new calendar.
In 1275, Kublai Khan ordered a new calendar, which was under the responsibility of 14 astronomers, including Xu Heng, Yang Gongyi, and Guo Shoujing. In 1279, the Yuan Dynasty set up 27 observation stations throughout the country, which "stretched from Goryeo in the east to Dianchi In the west, to Champa in the south, and to Tiele in the north." Guo Shoujing absorbed some Arab techniques, improved traditional Chinese instruments, and made great contributions to the production of calendars.
In 1280, the calendar was completed and Kublai Khan named it the Chronological Calendar. The Chronological Calendar was the most advanced calendar in the world at the time. The calendar has been used in China for 300 years, which is the longest used calendar in ancient China. The "Song and Yuan Cultural GrandView" wrote: "As the peak of the development of China's ancient traditional calendar, it is also the end and enters the annals of history." On the basis of the traditional Chinese calendar, the calendar absorbs the advantages of the Arabic and Tibetan calendars and achieves a great achievement.
The Yuan Dynasty was vast in territory and geography was also improved. In 1280, Kublai Khan sent Jurchens to explore the source of the Yellow River, proving the error that the Yellow River originated in Lop Nur and was the first exploration of the source of the Yellow River in history. In the process of excavating the Huitong River, Guo Shoujing and other Yuan Dynasty scientists made altitude measurements, which was the first time in Chinese history. In 1299, the Yuan Dynasty began to draw a national map, drawing the "Guangyu Xinjiang Map", the map north to Heilongjiang, south to Hainan, is the first relatively complete national map in ancient China.
In mathematics, the Yuan Dynasty developed to a new peak of classical Chinese mathematics. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, the famous "Song and Yuan Four Masters" appeared in the field of mathematics, namely Qin Jiushao, Li Ye, Yang Hui and Zhu Shijie, except for Qin Jiushao, the other three were all Yuan Dynasty people. Among them, Zhu Shijie (1249-1314) had the highest mathematical achievements, and he developed the "quaternary technique" (four-element higher-order polynomial equation) and the method of dissipation solution on the basis of the Jin Dynasty Tianyuan technique. He also created the "stacking method" (the summation method of the higher order equal difference series) and the "trick technique" (the high-order interpolation method), and was praised as "the greatest mathematician of the medieval world". At that time, China's mathematical achievements were far ahead of Europe.com.
There are two kinds of calculation tools in ancient China, abacus and abacus, of which the abacus appeared in the Yuan Dynasty. Qing Dynasty scholar Qian Da listened to the evidence and concluded that the abacus appeared in the middle of the Yuan Dynasty and was widely used by the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.
In agriculture, Kublai Khan attached great importance to agriculture, and after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, he ordered that all officials throughout the country must persuade Nongsang, and set up a Si NongSi department to be responsible for persuading Nongsang to do things. The Yuan Dynasty officially summarized the agricultural production techniques of successive dynasties, "searched for the book of ancient and modern farmers", and compiled the "Nongsang Jijiao", which is the earliest surviving official agricultural book in China, and also "the earliest comprehensive agricultural book compiled by the ancient Chinese government to guide the national agricultural production". After the unification of the Yuan Dynasty, Wang Zhen synthesized the agronomy of the Southern Song Dynasty and compiled the "Book of Agriculture", which for the first time made a more comprehensive and systematic exposition of the so-called knowledge of agricultural production in the broad sense, and proposed the traditional system of Chinese agronomy.
Wang Zhen
In terms of medicine, the Mongolian Yuan Empire has always attached great importance to it, and has set up special medical households and medicine. At that time, many medical texts in the Arab region, including the "Medical Code" of the Arab physician Saint Ibn Sina, were introduced to China, and Arabic medicinal materials such as myrrh, borax, frankincense, and aphrodisiac were applied to traditional Chinese medicine, which promoted the conversion of Chinese medicine from decoction to pill, powder, cream, Dan and other dosage forms. The Yuan Dynasty divided medicine into thirteen departments, which were more advanced than the nine departments of the Song Dynasty and the ten departments of the Jin Dynasty. By the twenty-fifth year, the Yuan Dynasty compiled the Materia Medica.
During the Jin Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, there were four major medical scientists, collectively known as the "Four Great Masters of the Jin Dynasty", of which the most accomplished Zhu Zhenheng (1281-1358) was a Member of the Yuan Dynasty, who created the "Ziyin School" and was known as the "Great Master of The Collection of Medicine". Hui medicine was also introduced to the mainland. At that time, the Hui hui person Ku Sihui wrote "Drinking and Eating", which is the first complete book on dietary hygiene and diet therapy in China. In addition, Dou Mo is also a famous medical scientist, one of the famous masters in the history of Acupuncture in China, and has had a profound impact on later generations.
The handicraft production technology of the Yuan Dynasty also improved. In the field of textile industry, Huang Daobo learned and improved the cotton textile technology of the Li people in Hainan, making cotton textile rise, and Jiangnan became the center of China's textile industry. In terms of printing, Wang Zhen improved wooden movable type, successfully avoided many shortcomings of movable type printing in the Song Dynasty, and greatly promoted the development of the printing industry. Wang Zhen also created a wheel-shaped word storage plate that can be rotated freely, which improves the speed of movable type printing. Chromatic printing appeared in the Yuan Dynasty, 170 years before Ou. In terms of porcelain, the Yuan Dynasty absorbed Arab ceramic technology and fired blue and white porcelain on the basis of Chinese tradition; in brewing, distillation technology appeared, so liquor began to appear on the historical stage.
In the manufacture of weapons, the heavy trebuchets of the Yuan Dynasty were developed, and powerful return guns were introduced from the Arab region. In terms of gunpowder, gunpowder weapons in the Southern Song Dynasty were still relatively primitive and had limited lethality. The gunpowder weapons of the Jin Dynasty inherited and developed by the Yuan Dynasty appeared in the world's earliest artillery, the copper fire hammer. The Yuan Dynasty's Fire Dragon Sutra was also the first Chinese book to depict landmines.
In summary, the science and technology of the Yuan Dynasty were very developed, and it can be said that China was the last era ahead of the world. By the Ming Dynasty, Western countries arose in the Renaissance, scientific and technological revolution, the emergence of Copernicus, Bruno, Cardano, Regmontanus, Vesarius, Servite, Kepler, Descartes, Fermat, Harvey and other scientists, modern science has been born. The Ming Dynasty because of the long-term sea ban, resulting in China began to lag behind the world trend.
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