[Exploring the Sources of Scientific and Technological Civilization]
◎Our reporter Sun Mingyuan
In the history of science in ancient China, it is recognized that there are four major sections of "Tiansuan Agricultural Medicine", which are astronomy, mathematics, agriculture, and medicine. In fact, in addition to these four disciplines, there are other disciplines that have formed a certain system, such as geography.
Geography occupies a pivotal position in ancient social development and social governance. Administrative divisions are inseparable from map drawing, water conservancy projects are inseparable from geomorphology and hydrological exploration, and agricultural production is inseparable from climate and meteorological observations... Wang Qianjin, a professor at the School of Humanities at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the National Museum's Cartographic Research Institute, said that ancient Chinese people were very important in geography. Great achievements have been made in many branches of science, and geography has played various social functions in China’s socio-economic development.
my country’s geographical exploration activities have a long history
Wang Qianjin pointed out that due to the cognitive level of the ancients, ancient Chinese geography was not developed. Like other parts of the world, the geographical knowledge of ancient China also contains many figments of imagination. But the ancient Chinese already had the awareness of observation and mastered the corresponding methods, which is the basis for the generation of geographical knowledge.
The "Book of Songs - Daya" records that "the scenery is a hill, its yin and yang, and its flowing springs" are the early records of geographical observation by the ancients. In addition to observing with their eyes, ancient people also used various tools to assist observation. For example, when conducting river hydrological observations, the ancients would use a fixed device called a water rule to observe when the water rises, when the water recedes, and how high the water reaches during the annual flood season. With the help of water rules distributed all over the country such as the Fengjie Ji Water Stele and the Yunyang Longji Stone, the ancients could record the hydrological conditions of each month and ten days within a year. Disasters that occur once in ten years, once in fifty years, or once in a hundred years in history were recorded by relevant agencies using this water.
"Exploration activities are of great significance to expanding geographical knowledge." Wang Qianjin said that ancient Chinese conducted a large number of expeditions, which played a role equivalent to geographical surveys. Many travelers, writers, historians and scientists have conducted such expeditions.
During the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian went on two missions to the Western Regions, bringing the geographical knowledge, customs, and products of the Western Regions back to the Central Plains. Faxian of the Jin Dynasty recorded a lot of geographical information outside the region in his autobiography during his travels. "The Records of the Western Regions of the Tang Dynasty" written by Xuanzang in the Tang Dynasty is an important document for studying the ancient historical geography of India and other countries. It records the geographical information and social conditions of the countries in the Western Regions from different angles and aspects. Wang Dayuan of the Yuan Dynasty set out from Quanzhou Port and visited many countries, reaching as far as Mozambique in today's Africa. Based on these experiences, he wrote "Dao Yi Zhi Lue", which recorded the situation of more than 200 ancient countries and regions, allowing people at that time to have a better understanding of world geography.
Among all explorers, the most famous is Zheng He. Zheng He was sent by Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. His fleet made seven voyages to the Western Ocean, leaving behind famous nautical charts such as "Zheng He's Navigation Chart" and "Xingcha Shenglan" and "Yingya Shenglan" and other geographical works.
Xu Xiake was the most outstanding explorer in ancient China and the first person to systematically investigate karst landforms. He drafted names for lava landforms, recognized the development characteristics of lava landforms, and analyzed the causes of such landforms. In addition, he also re-examined the source of the Yangtze River and corrected the original misunderstanding. Xu Xiake's series of activities play an important role in the history of geoscience in China and even in the history of geoscience in the world.
Already have the means to transform knowledge into a system
"How to deal with the knowledge gained through exploration? Is it placed there in a messy manner? Not so." Wang Qianjin said that the ancient Chinese already had a set of means to transform knowledge into a system.
Definition is the first step in systematization. In ancient Chinese records, there are basic definitions of some geographical concepts. For example, "Guanzi Map" was the first to define the concept of map; "Erya·Shidi" records that "Da Ye is called Ping, Guang Ping is called Yuan, Gaoping is called Lu, Da Da Fu is called Fu, Da Fu is called Ling, and those who can live in the water are called "Continent" is a systematic definition of terrain. These definitions in the book lay a solid foundation for further academic research.
The most important task after definition is classification. "Yugong" divided the soil of Jiuzhou into 10 types; "Guanzi" classified the terrain, such as dividing hills into 15 types, and also made specific classifications of water bodies, calling the main stream the main stream, the tributaries called the branch water, and the branches below the water. There are also valley waters, river waters, and deep waters. These classifications are quite systematic and are not very different from modern hydrology.
The ancients' geographical description method had a certain degree of quantitative thinking. For example, it is recorded in "Chu Ci Tianwen": "Which one has more repairs in the east, west, south, and north? North and south follow the oval, and how many are its extensions?" "Shan Hai Jing" describes the size of the heaven and earth as 28,000 miles from east to west and 26,000 miles from north to south. Thousands of miles.
In addition, the ancients also discovered various relationships and laws between phenomena. For example, the "Xiangyu Shu" written during the Tang Dynasty contains nearly 170 proverbs that predict weather conditions based on phenomena such as halos, rainbows, thunder and lightning, and fog. The ancients also discovered the connection between tides and lunar activity. With the "Four Seasons Tide Chart", they can calculate and find the correspondence between the two.
Wang Qianjin said that ancient Chinese geography also has a valuable feature, which is academic criticism. For example, Pei Xiu criticized the previous drawings in "Yugong Territory Map" that "although there are rough shapes, they are not reviewed and cannot be relied upon." Li Daoyuan said in "Shui Jing Zhu": "In the past, the Records of Dayu recorded the mountains and seas, but they were not comprehensive; the "Geographical Records" recorded them in a simple way; the "Book of Records", "Benji" and "Zifang" "" are all summarized, all are described in poems, and the meaning is not declared; although "Shui Jing" is rough in details, it is also incomplete." These academic criticisms promoted the progress of geography.
Play an important role in the national economy and people's livelihood
"Geographic knowledge played a huge supporting role in various activities of ancient people." Wang Qianjin called these roles the social functions of geography. In specific national governance, geography is the basis for the division of boundaries and levels of administrative regions. Some scholars have concluded that the two principles for the demarcation of administrative divisions in ancient my country are "mountain and river shapes" and "dogs and teeth intertwined". Among them, "mountains and rivers shape convenience" refers to the formulation of administrative district boundaries based on geographical conditions. Place names such as Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Hebei are a direct reflection of the important role that geography plays in the division of political regions.
Geography also plays an important role in the national economy and people's livelihood. Meteorology is an important branch of geographical science. Agricultural production is inseparable from meteorological observations. China established climate observation institutions very early in ancient times. The "Eighteen Types of Qin Code" stipulates that relevant agencies must report rainfall conditions to the central government. The First Historical Archives of China and the Forbidden City contain many rain-reporting memorials from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The ancients also actively studied the properties and laws of soil and monsoons, and applied this knowledge to the construction of water conservancy projects and agricultural production. In addition, the ancient Chinese actively absorbed foreign geographical knowledge and scientific concepts, and by the Ming and Qing Dynasties were able to draw world maps that were closer to reality.
Wang Qianjin said that due to limitations of the times and social conditions, ancient geography also had many limitations. For example, there are fewer professional scholars and more amateur scholars; more personal travel and less scientific exploration; more technical and less theoretical; more descriptions of surface phenomena and less deep exploration; more research on the surface of the earth and less research on the deep underground And less. Of course, these limitations cannot obliterate the brilliant achievements of ancient Chinese geography, nor can they cover up the outstanding contributions of the Chinese to world geography. (Science and Technology Daily)