I remember when I was in high school, my father often said to me: "Learn mathematics, physics and chemistry well, and you are not afraid to go all over the world." "But I really can't understand mathematics, physics and chemistry, so I became a liberal arts student." The previous article wrote about the medicine of the Song Dynasty, so here is a sudden whim, it is better to write about the mathematics, physics and chemistry of the Song Dynasty. Let's see how much mathematics, physics, and chemistry developed in that era of Confucianism, and what changes it brought to society.
<h1>1. Mathematics</h1>
In fact, in my personal opinion, in the three disciplines of mathematics, physics and chemistry, the basic role should be mathematics, I personally still like mathematics, I feel that this is a very beautiful subject, yes, is beautiful.
I remember to write a thesis in high math class, and the thesis proposition is "the beauty of mathematics"
In the Tang Dynasty, an important item in the imperial examination was the Ming Arithmetic Subject. According to the New Book of Tang, the Ming Arithmetic Branch should be defined as follows:
"Where arithmetic, record the great righteousness of this article as a question and answer, the art of ming number creation, the detailed theory of magic, and then the tong."
That is to say, the arithmetic has many similarities with our current mathematics. Under the good preparation of predecessors, the mathematics of the Song Dynasty made a good breakthrough development, and a large number of outstanding mathematicians emerged and many achievements were also made.
Mathematicians in the early Northern Song Dynasty had one more heavy responsibility, that is, Si Tianjian. Because the calculation of the calendar, in the eyes of the ancients, involved the rise and fall of the state, it was very important and did not tolerate the slightest error. The mathematician Chu Yan in the early Northern Song Dynasty was one of the representatives. The history books record That Chu Yan:
"It is especially wonderful to use the Nine Chapters, the Ancients, the Apocrypha, and the Islands."
Si Tianjian played a very important role in ancient times
In addition, Chu Yan's disciple Jia Xian also served as Si Tianjian. Jia Xian's achievements are mainly in the "Jia Xian Triangle", which predates the discovery of the "Pascal Triangle" in Western Europe by nearly six hundred years. In addition, Jia Xian also has the "Li Cheng Release Lock" opening method and the opening method, and proposed the method of multiplication and opening. Unfortunately, not much information has been handed down about Jia Xian's mathematical achievements. I took a passage about Jia Xian:
"Shi Si Tian, led by Chu." He is old and faint, and has sons Jia Xian and Zhu Ji famous. Xianjin is Zuo Ban Dian Zhi and Ji Li Tai Shi. The constitutional operation is also wonderful, and there are books passed down to the world. ”
Jia Xian Triangle
During the Southern Song Dynasty, there was an outstanding mathematician named Qin Jiushao, who wrote many works such as "Nine Chapters of The Book of Mathematics", "Outline of Mathematics", "Nine Chapters of Mathematics" and so on. One of Qin Jiushao's achievements was to propose the "Qin Jiushao method", which can be used in calculations such as area, volume, and measurement, which is called "Horner's algorithm" in the West, but Qin Jiushao proposed this theory nearly five centuries earlier than Horner.
Qin Jiushao also provided a convenient calculation method in his book "Nine Chapters of the Book of Numbers", which provided important help for the development of astronomical calendars, construction projects, and commercial trade.
I have to say that Qin Jiushao himself is a genius, because throughout his life Qin Jiushao has served as a local state and military commander, and he is only an amateur mathematician, but his achievements are no less than those of professional mathematicians. Qin Jiushao was also evaluated by the American scientist Sutton as:
"He was a nation, his time, and indeed one of the greatest mathematicians of his time."
Qin Jiushao algorithm
At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, another famous mathematician was born, that is, Yang Hui. There are five main kinds of mathematical works passed down by Yang Hui, namely: "Detailed Explanation of Nine Chapters of Arithmetic", "Daily Algorithm", "Multiplication and Division Of Variations", "Tianmu Ratio Multiplication and Division Shortcut Method", and "Continuation of ancient picking and strange algorithms". In his work, Yang Hui described in detail the origin of the method of multiplication and opening, and further explained the relevant theories on the basis of Jia Xian. In addition, Yang Hui also compiled the division recipe, expanded the abacus recipe, and greatly improved people's computing speed and efficiency.
Yang Hui Triangle
<h1>Second, physics</h1>
When it comes to physics, this should be a pain in the hearts of many people, after all, physics is too difficult to learn, and the Nobel Prize is being awarded recently, and I don't know who to spend on physics.
In the Song Dynasty, although physics did not develop into a discipline, nor did it have scientific measurements and experiments, people had a certain degree of understanding of buoyancy, surface tension, and heat through observation and induction and their own speculations. These understandings are inseparable from the alchemy experiments of Taoism on the one hand, and the observation of nature on the other hand. For example, during the Southern Song Dynasty, Yu Huan recorded such a thing:
"When Yu was a child, there were Taoist people who saw the teachings, and they burned the empty bottle of paper and rushed to the silver basin of water, and the water poured into the bottle. And according to the law, it was placed on the belly of the strong man, and it did not fall. ”
This is an interesting little experiment, you can also do it at home, the principle of this experiment should be the pressure problem, that is, when the paper burns in the bottle, the air in the bottle becomes less, and the atmospheric pressure makes a lot of water pour into the bottle.
Experiments like this
In addition, the Song dynasty Shen Kuo also had some understanding of pinhole imaging, and Shen Kuo once recorded the phenomenon of pinhole imaging that he observed:
"If the iris flies in the air, and its shadow moves with the iris, or if the middle is bound by the window gap, then the shadow is contrary to the iris, and the iris is the shadow of the west, and the iris is the shadow of the west; and just like the shadow of the tower in the window gap, the middle is bound by the window, and it is also upside down."
The pinhole imaging experiment is very interesting, you can do it at home, I remember that I did my own pinhole imaging experiment based on the junior high school physics textbook.
Interesting small hole imaging experiment
The Song people also have their own understanding of the appearance of rainbows. In our eyes, it seems that the ancient people faced things such as rainbows, which would be directly summarized in terms of auspiciousness and blessings. However, in the eyes of the Song people, the appearance of the rainbow is not a simple auspicious rui, and there are also scientific principles that can be explained behind it. At that time, Cai Bian had conducted the following relevant experiments:
"Xianru thought that the clouds leaked the sun, and the sunshine raindrops were rainbows. Now with the water spraying day, from the side of the view, it is halo. ”
From this Cai Bian realized:
"Although the rainbow is born of the breath of the earth, it does not faint in the sun, so now the rain is a rainbow, the morning sun is shooting in the west, and the sunset is shooting in the east."
Although Cai Bian's understanding has the limitations of his own era, it is already a very big breakthrough.
The Song people also explored the reasons for the appearance of rainbows
Shen Kuo came out again, and this time he made his own observations and analysis of the conductive phenomenon. This time, an observation came from a thunderstorm during the Song Shenzong period, and this time the thunderstorm caused Li Shun's family to be chopped up. Shen Kuo did not use metaphysical methods to observe this thunderstorm, but used a scientific method to look at this thunderstorm and observed the performance of conductive and non-conductive objects in this thunderstorm. He recorded this in the Mengxi Pen Talk:
"And the thunder stops, and the house looks like it, and the walls and windows are all clean. There is a wooden lattice, in which the miscellaneous vessels are stored, and the silver clasp of the lacquerware is melted to the ground, and the lacquerware is not scorched; there is a treasure sword that is extremely strong steel, and it melts into juice in the knife chamber, and the chamber is like this. ”
In this lightning strike event, Shen Kuo observed that conductive objects such as silverware and iron knives melted, and non-conductive objects such as lacquerware and leather were well preserved, which was also a major discovery.
Through a thunderstorm, Shen Kuo discovered the difference between conductive and non-conductive objects
The electromagnetics do not separate, and Shen Kuo himself made a compass using the relevant principles (although Shen Kuo may not have known about electromagnetic induction). Shen Kuo uses magnets to grind into needles, and then uses water floating, suspension wires and other means to make a compass to achieve the role of indicating the direction.
The compass was used in the Song Dynasty to navigation, and whenever there was a strong wind or rain, it was the compass that guided the direction, and it can be said that the compass was the hope of everyone on the whole ship. At the time, it was recorded that:
"When the wind and rain are obscure, only by the needle plate, it is the long palm of the fire, and the slightest bit does not dare to make a mistake, and the life of a boat is also tied."
<h1>3. Chemistry</h1>
When it comes to the chemistry of the Song Dynasty, everyone should think of gunpowder. Gunpowder played an important role in the wars of the Song people, and the Song Dynasty was also the era when gunpowder was first used militarily.
In Zeng Gongliang's "General Outline of the Martial Classics", the recipes of gunpowder and gunpowder weapons are described in detail, and these gunpowder are more of a kind of ignition effect than the explosive effect we think. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the production of explosive weapons, such as thunderbolt cannons, began. In the Southern Song Dynasty, this gunpowder weapon began to be used in the army, such as the musket, according to the record:
"Take giant bamboo as a barrel." The Inner An Zi Qiao was like a flame that burned out, and then the Zi Qiao was emitted, like the sound of a cannon, and it was heard more than one hundred and fifty steps away. ”
When gunpowder was used in warfare, its application in other fields was also developed. For example, in the "Tokyo Dream Record" and "The Past Affair of Wulin", it is recorded that there were many people who "sold fireworks" at that time, that is, they used gunpowder to make fireworks and then sell them.
Song Dynasty assault muskets
The discovery of gunpowder is inseparable from alchemy, and here we have to mention the alchemy of the Song Dynasty. The alchemist is engaged in a mysterious profession, but in this constant alchemy work, the alchemist gradually becomes associated with chemistry.
The Jindan school of Taoism in the Tang Dynasty, also known as the Danding school, the Danding school is divided into the Neidan school and the Outer Dan school, of which the Waidan school advocates refining Dan medicine through various rare treasures, and eventually makes people achieve the effect of rebirth and eventually soar into immortality.
One of the masters was known as the White Jade Toad at the end of the Five Ancestors of the Southern Sect of the True Path, and was a Daoist monk who practiced both inside and outside. Bai Yu Toad compiled the alchemical work "The Secret Instructions of Jinhua Chong Bi Dan Jing", which recorded many alchemy equipment such as pomegranate jars, water seas, etc., which had similarities with modern chemical instruments. In addition, there are many alchemical works that record a considerable amount of chemical raw materials and chemical reactions, such as the methods of making gold powder, arsenic copper, acid vinegar iron, green alum, etc., as well as distillation methods for producing highly liquor, which were born from the alchemist's Dan room.
White jade toad statue
In addition, there are many alchemy methods, such as the bile water copper smelting method, which is as follows:
"Make pig iron into thin slices, put it in the gall trough for a few days, add raw red coal, scrape it into the furnace, and smelt it into copper."
It can be said that chemistry also developed accordingly in the Song Dynasty.
<h1>4. Summary</h1>
The development of science and technology is inseparable from practice, we can find that these scientific and technological achievements made in the Song Dynasty are based on the establishment of practice, through the efforts and struggles of countless people of insight, and finally to form such brilliant achievements.
In addition, the relaxed academic atmosphere of the Song Dynasty is also quite interesting, and it is in a relaxed and harmonious atmosphere that science and technology can continue to develop.
But unfortunately, this academic development did not last long, nor did it form a systematic discipline, and this prosperity was always short-lived, and it was not long before it was time to wake up.
References: "History of the Song Dynasty", "History of Chinese Science and Technology", "Continuation of the Zizhi Tongjian Long Edition", "Department Year Records", "Mengxi Pen Talk", "Discussion on Corruption on the Seat", "Yan Fanlu", "Dongpo Zhilin", "Literature Examination", "Wulin Past Events", etc
Text: JAL Tongjian Photo: From the network and the station, invasion and deletion