ChinaNews.net client, Beijing, July 10th Question: [The ancients are addicted] Mathematics, physics, politics and history are well known, known as "Da Vinci of the Northern Song Dynasty". Who is he?
Author Ren Siyu
It is often joked that Da Vinci in the West is "a man who traverses the past from the future" because he not only paints, but also works as a philosopher, musician, inventor, engineer, anatomist, geographer... In fact, there were such "wizards" in ancient China, such as Shen Kuo in the Song Dynasty.
In ancient times, most readers thought that reading the four books and the five classics was the right way, but Shen Kuo was "multi-habitual development", he has in-depth knowledge of astronomy, meteorology, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, geography, medicine, literature, music, agriculture, etc. Research, the famous British science and technology historian Needham once evaluated, Shen Kuo is "the most outstanding person in the entire history of science in China."
How powerful is he?
Drawing: Ni Wenbing
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Shen Kuo was born in the official family of the Northern Song Dynasty. He was diligent and eager to learn since childhood, and he had a wide range of interests. When he was young, he traveled around with his father and showed great interest in various natural phenomena and scientific inventions.
In the first year of Hehe (AD 1054), Shen Kuo took his father's position as the master of Shuyang County in Haizhou. In addition to the tedious chores, he actively repaired the canal and cultivated the fields. The land became a good land, and for the next ten years, Shen Kuo served as the county magistrate and participated in many businesses that benefited the national economy and people's livelihood.
In 1064 AD, the 32-year-old Shen Kuojin and Shidi were later recommended to transfer to the Beijing Normal University for Zhaowenguan collation. During this period, he concentrated on exploring the astronomical calendar, participated in the elaboration of the celestial calendar, and edited the new calendar. His talent and knowledge were gradually appreciated.
As a politician, Shen Kuo has made good achievements. In March of the eighth year of Xining (1075 AD), Song and Liao were unable to hold on to the border, and Shen Kuo was instructed to go to Liaoting to negotiate in "Thanks to the History of Liao Kingdom".
This is a mission that is likely to go back and forth. When the emperor is ordered to be in danger, Shenzong asks him "The enemy's situation is unpredictable.
Shen Kuo replied, "It is his duty to die."
Drawing: Ni Wenbing
For this discussion, Shen Kuo consulted a large number of documents and grasped the content of the boundary demarcation of the two countries, the origin and focus of the dispute, and other issues. He struggled reasonably at the negotiating table. After six rounds of arduous debate, he finally let the other party make concessions.
On the way to the Liao Kingdom, he also recorded the geography and folk customs of the mountains and rivers along the way, and wrote "The Liao Kingdom".
Since then, Shen Kuo has been re-used, and was appointed as the envoy of the third minister, ushering in the most glorious period of his career.
What does "Mengxi Bi Tan" write?
When Shen Kuo was an official, he had many accomplishments. At the same time, he also had a lot of research on science and technology. "Song History" said that Shen Kuo "learns good knowledge, and has everything in astronomy, local records, legal calendar, music, medicine, and fortune-telling. What is discussed". "Sikuquanshu General Catalog·Sub-Division·Miscellaneous Family" also commented: "The study in the Northern Song Dynasty is the most comprehensive, and it is especially concerned with astronomy, algorithms, and Zhong Lu in contemporary history."
According to scholars' research, Shen Kuo's writings in his life amounted to more than forty, and of all the four hundred volumes, the most famous of which was the "Encyclopedia"-style work "Mengxi Bi Tan", which he created in his later years.
"Mengxi Bi Tan" is a kind of writing, but it is different from leisure and trivial things. It details the achievements of ancient Chinese culture, especially science and technology, and also records many of Shen Kuo's own research. The content involves astronomy, mathematics, physics, Chemistry, biology, geology, geography, meteorology, medicine, agronomy, engineering technology, literature, music and fine arts.
Drawing: Ni Wenbing
For example, in the aspect of astronomical calendar, Shen Kuo improved astronomical instruments, advocated the "12 solar terms" calendar, and developed the predecessor's point of view, using monthly profit and loss to explain "the shape of the sun and the moon is like a pill", pointing out that the sun, the moon and the land are the same A solar eclipse will occur on a straight line, and there is a "shallow" difference between the eclipse and the eclipse. It is also observed that there are lengths of winter, summer, day and night... In the field of mathematical research, Shen Kuo pioneered the "gap sum technique" and "huiyuan technique" ", by Japanese mathematics historian Yoshio Mikami as "a model figure of Chinese arithmetic".
The famous scientist Zhu Kezhen once wrote about the important contribution of "Mengxi Bi Tan" to geography. After investigating the unique landforms of Yandang Mountain, Shen Kuo proposed the principle of "flowing water erosion" very early; when passing by Taihang Mountain, he found that there was a layer of snail shells and bird pebbles on the cliff's cliff, and inferred from the fossils that "this is the past The seashore".
Drawing: Ni Wenbing
In ancient times, oil has been studied as an energy source, but the earliest name of "oil" appeared in Shen Kuo's records. He tried to use ink made of petroleum smoke to replace ink made of pine smoke, asserting that "this thing must be great in the world"; in the discussion of the compass, Shen Kuo pointed out that the compass magnetic needle "is often slightly east, not all south", this about The magnetic declination is recorded more than 400 years before Columbus in the West.
Another great achievement of "Mengxi Bi Tan" is the promotion of movable type printing, one of the four ancient inventions.
"Bi Sheng's death, which was printed by Yu Qun from the collection, is still a treasure." Shen Kuozhen was impressed by the mud type left by the commoner Bi Sheng at his nephew's house. He was very impressed by this and recorded this technique in detail in his later years. Down, the person was called "Shen Cunzhong French".
In addition to the above achievements, Shen Kuo has also recorded many technological innovations in ancient architectural engineering in the book. He has also done a lot of research in the fields of military, chemistry, medicine, literature, music, painting and calligraphy appreciation, archaeology, and has left tornadoes and meteorites. The precious data of special natural phenomena such as whereabouts, evaluated by British science historian Joseph Needham in "History of Chinese Science and Technology", "Mengxi Bi Tan" is "a milestone in the history of Chinese science".
Helpless Shen Kuo
Although "Mengxi Bi Tan" was praised by many people in later generations, Shen Kuo, a knowledgeable "wizard", did not live well in the political and family life of his life.
In the second year of Xining (1069 AD), Wang Anshi took the initiative to carry out drastic reforms. Shen Kuo, who supported the reform, was recommended by him and his career path was smooth. But Wang Anshi changed his attitude towards Shen Kuo 180 degrees after being phased out and re-phased for the first time. He once accused Shen Kuo of being a "ren" (a capricious villain) in the face of Song Shenzong. .
Why does this happen? Some scholars have studied and analyzed because Shen Kuo put forward different views on some measures of the new law during his time in the field, but these views happened to be put forward during Wang Anshi’s strike, and another core character of the reformist school, Lu Huiqing, at this time The communique also suppressed Shen Kuo, which made him more difficult in the officialdom.
Drawing: Ni Wenbing
At the same time, Shen Kuo's personality has a cowardly and retreating side.
When sent to the northwest frontier to defend the border, Shen Kuo personally commanded several wars against the Xixia Army and won, but later succumbed to Xu Xi’s pressure in the choice of the fortification site, resulting in Song Jun’s fiasco in Yongle City, Shen Kuo As a result, he was ousted and his political career ended.
Historian Zu Hui commented that as a politician, Shen Kuoshi said that he is a good man with strong professionalism, conscientious and pragmatic work, and compassion for the people, but he does not have the courage and courage that a politician should have. But it seems to be at a loss as to the struggle for power and conflict. He always gave in and compromised when he was in trouble, hoping to make a compromise, but always stuck in a deeper dilemma.
The weak personality also caused Shen Kuo to suffer a lot at home. Following Zhang’s well-known tyranny, he often scolded Shen Kuo, and later Zhang’s violent death, his friends congratulated him, but at this time Shen Kuo was in a trance all day long, and his spirit was on the verge of collapse. Once he crossed the river by boat, he wanted to throw water, but was fortunately blocked by others.
In his later years, Shen Kuo lived in his home Mengxi Garden. "All he talked to was the inkstone," he put what he learned and thoughts into the writing of "Mengxi Biantan" and completed the most of his life. Important writing. As a science master, maybe his life is still in dispute, but his achievements in the history of science and technology can be called well-deserved. (Finish)