Shen Kuo (1031-1095), a native of Qiantang County, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, was a politician and scientist in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Shen Kuo was born into an official family and traveled around with his father in his childhood. In the eighth year of Jiayou (1063), he was a scholar, and was named Yangzhou secretariat to join the army. In Song Shenzong, he participated in the Xining political reform and was highly valued by Wang Anshi. He has served as Prince Zhongyun, torture room, supervisor of the Ministry of Heaven, review of the history museum and three ambassadors.
In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), he started his career in Yanzhou, served as a road show ambassador, and was stationed in the border to fight against Xixia. Later, he was demoted for participating in the battle of Yongle City. In his later years, he moved to Runzhou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) and lived in seclusion in Meng Xi Park. Born two years less (1095), died of illness at the age of 65.
Shen Kuo devoted himself to scientific research all his life, and had profound attainments and outstanding achievements in many disciplines. He is known as "the most outstanding figure in the whole history of science in China". His masterpiece Meng Qian Bi Tan is rich in content and a great achievement of predecessors. It plays an important role in the world cultural history and is called "a milestone in the history of science in China".
Extended data:
Meng Qian Bi Tan is a comprehensive note-taking work involving natural science, technology and social and historical phenomena in ancient China. This book is also very valuable in the world, and it was appraised as "a milestone in the history of science in China" by the British historian Joseph Needham.
According to the oldest extant Dade block print, Meng Qian Bi Tan is divided into 30 volumes, including 26 volumes of Bi Tan, 3 volumes of Bu Bi Tan and Continued Bi Tan 1 volume. There are 17 items and 609 articles in the book. The content involves astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and other disciplines, which is of great value.
The natural science part of the book summarizes the scientific achievements of China in ancient times, especially in the Northern Song Dynasty. In terms of social history, it exposed the decay of the ruling clique in the Northern Song Dynasty, and recorded in detail the military interests of the northwest and the north, the evolution of the etiquette system, and the drawbacks of the old tax system.
Meng Qian Bi Tan was written at the end of 1 1 century, which is generally considered to be between 1086 and 1093. The author said that his creation "is not a person's interest", and the starting point is "the shade in the mountains is intended to talk." The title of Meng Qian Bitan is the name of "Meng Xi Park" where Shen Kuo lived in seclusion in Runzhou (now Zhenjiang) in his later years.
Books, including Zuben, have long been lost in the Song Dynasty. The oldest version that can be seen now is 1305 (the ninth year of Yuan Dade), which is now in the National Library of China. Yuan Dade's engraving is rare, with clear circulation and orderly version. After several dynasties, it was easily collected by its owner and bought back in Hongkong on 1965 under the auspices of Zhou Enlai.
Meng Qian Bitan has worldwide influence. Japan printed this masterpiece as early as the middle of19th century. In the 20th century, scholars and sinologists from France, Germany, Britain, the United States and Italy made a systematic and in-depth study of Meng Qian's pen talk. Prior to this, there had been translations in English, French, Italian, German and other languages.
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia-Meng Qian Bitan (Meng Qian Bitan)
Baidu Encyclopedia-Shen Kuo