Seventy-one: "Mengxi Bi Tan"
A milestone in the history of Chinese science and technology
Among the countless note-taking novels in Chinese history, it is the most famous. The book with the greatest influence and wide spread is none other than "Mengxi Bi Tan". The author Shen Kuo (1031-1095), courtesy name Cunzhong, was born in Qiantang (now Hangzhou). He was a Jinshi in the first year of Zhiping in the Northern Song Dynasty (1064). He served as the Tianjian of the Tiju in charge of astronomy and calendar, and the judge of weapons manufacturing. Prison. The third envoy Quan was in charge of national finance, the envoy to Zhiyanzhou (today's Yan'an, Shaanxi Province) in charge of border affairs and defense, and the economic and pacification envoy to Yanyan Road. He also served as envoy to the Liao Kingdom and inspected local government affairs many times. Farmland water conservancy, was later convicted and demoted due to border affairs. He was erudite and talented, and was a great scholar of his generation. He was known in history as "erudite and good at writing, in astronomy, local chronicles, laws and calendars, music, medicine, and divination. He knew everything, and he wrote on everything." ("History of the Song Dynasty") The book is a collection of the essence of his lifelong learning and experience. Because it was written in Mengxi Garden, it is called "Mengxi Bi Tan".
Its original edition was 30 volumes and may have had more entries, but it has long been lost. The 26 existing volumes were popular before the early Southern Song Dynasty at the latest. Volume 2 of "Supplementary Bi Tan" and Volume 1 of "Continued Bi Tan" are supplementary manuscripts written by the author after the book was completed. "Bu Bi Tan" was compiled by Zuo Ken or later generations, while "Xu Bi Tan" was compiled and supplemented by later generations. Combining the original book with supplements and sequels into a volume first appeared in the reprint of "Bai Hai" engraved by Shang Jun of Kuaiji during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. The current version is the most popular one corrected by Mr. Hu Daojing of Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House. Mr. Hu corrected many errors in the original book and added a large number of annotations and explanations. He also numbered the articles in the book in order and divided them into 609 articles, making it easier to read and search.
The book is divided into stories, dialectics, music, imagery, personnel, government, power and wisdom, art, calligraphy and painting, skills, utensils, magic, strange things, fallacies, ridicule, magazines, etc. There are 17 subjects including medicine discussion, covering a wide range of fields such as laws and regulations, finance, military, diplomacy, history, archaeology, literature, art, science and technology, etc. It can be said to be all-encompassing and everything.
For example, in describing the regulations and systems, there are official system, ritual system, military system, public service, ceremonial guards, documents, and anecdotes. In terms of finance, there are tea methods, salt methods, uniform transfer methods, and the situation of copper coins minted in the Northern Song Dynasty. Syria's military includes formations, weapons, fortification, border garrison, battle defense, food transportation, and strategies. Regarding Syria’s diplomacy, there is an account of the author being entrusted with the Liao Dynasty in the eighth year of Xining (1075) and negotiating the border dispute with the Liao side. This is the most detailed and accurate record of the exchanges between Song and Liao envoys in historical records. Regarding historiography, in addition to the fact that most of the records in the book are reliable historical facts, there are also many records that are not found in other historical books, or are more detailed than those recorded in other historical books. This is the case with the uprisings of Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun, as well as many scientific and technological inventions. These records make up for the shortcomings of historical materials, or verify the errors of historical materials. In archaeology, he conducted detailed research on the era, shape, pattern, text, etc. of various unearthed cultural relics, and had a great influence on the development of archeology in the Song Dynasty. In terms of literature, in addition to its smooth and concise writing, clear descriptions and distinct layers, it is a masterpiece of notebook literature in itself, and it also has unique opinions on poetry and lyrics. Its narrative arts include calligraphy and painting. In terms of music, there are Qing Yue, Ya Yue, Yan Yue, as well as temperament, music system, musical instruments, etc. The book emphasizes the integration of form, connotation, emotion, and skills, and then sublimates it, pursuing the artistic realm of "the rhyme is faint and the sound is out of the sound", and so on. It can be seen that the whole book is of great academic and historical value. This book is famous especially for its scientific and technological value.
The science and technology content discussed in the book is extremely extensive. According to statistics from Dr. Joseph Needham, a British expert on the history of Chinese science and technology, there are 207 articles on science and technology in the book, accounting for more than one-third of the book. . The content includes astronomy, calendar, mathematics, geology, geography, maps, meteorology, physics, chemistry, biology, agriculture, medicine, printing, machinery, water conservancy, construction, mining and metallurgy and other branches.
In terms of astronomy, it records the author's improvement of the armillary sphere, lunar disc, and standard table, which pioneered the reform of astronomical instruments in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. It is also described that an author used an improved armillary sphere to continuously observe the North Star for three months, drew more than 200 star maps, and concluded that the North Star was more than three degrees from the celestial pole; The measurement of more than one year has for the first time theoretically deduced the conclusion that the length of the winter solstice is "more than a hundred quarters" and the length of the summer solstice is "less than a hundred quarters". The precession of the equinoxes, the movement of the sun, moon and five stars, the twenty-eight distance stars, etc. are also discussed.
In terms of the calendar, it describes the beginning and end of the author's presiding over the compilation of the "Feng Yuan Li", the achievements of the folk astronomer Wei Pu and his contribution to the reform of the calendar. It also discusses the sparseness and density of calendars in the past dynasties, as well as the techniques of calendar advancement. The "Twelve Qi Calendar" recorded in the book uses solar terms to determine the calendar and is a purely solar calendar system. It is a fundamental change to the traditional lunar calendar and is the author's first initiative. The Shaw calendar used by the British Meteorological Office in the 19th century is similar to this.
In terms of mathematics, there are records of the author's pioneering techniques of gap accumulation and rounding. Gap product technique is a method for solving stack product problems, which belongs to the category of high-order arithmetic series summation. The art of rounding is a method of finding the arc length when the arc diameter and sagittal height are known. It is a problem of solving higher-order equations.
These two methods opened up new research directions in traditional Chinese mathematics and contributed greatly to the high development of Chinese mathematics in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.
In terms of geology, geography, and maps, it is recorded that the Yandang Mountains in Zhejiang Province are "steep and dangerous, with towering heights of thousands of feet, and huge valleys with dome cliffs". and other landform features, pointing out that this is caused by the erosion of flowing water. It is also described that among the cliffs of the Taihang Mountains in Hebei, fossils of clam shells are often found in ribbons on the stone walls. This leads to the inference that this was the former seaside and that the North China Plain was formed by sedimentation of sand. It also describes the author's use of sawdust, batter, melted wax, and woodcutting to create three-dimensional geographical models, which were popularized; there are also authors who "use two inches to divide a hundred miles as a fraction" and use "twenty-four to Based on the "distribution of counties and counties", the situation of the "Shou Ling Map" of the states and counties in the world was drawn.
In terms of physics, it is recorded that the compass was invented by an alchemist (i.e. Feng Shui master) by using an iron pin to grind a magnet to magnetize it. At that time, there were four ways to use it, namely, water floatation, placing it on the nail, and placing it on the lip of a bowl. He also pointed out that the compass does not always point to the south, but often slightly to the east. There are two types of compasses: the guide and the north. This is important historical material about the invention and application of the compass, as well as the discovery of the Earth’s magnetic declination. It also describes the author's experiments on spherical mirror imaging. It is pointed out that when a concave mirror illuminates an object, there is a point called "obstacle" (i.e., focus). Above this point, nothing can be seen; outside this point, an inverted image is formed; within this point, an object is illuminated as a straight image. The imaging principles of concave mirrors are also compared with phenomena such as small-hole imaging, thin-waisted drums, and oars on boats. Point out that a convex mirror can only form a smaller erect image than the original object, and explain the ancients' principle of making a mirror that is flat if it is large, and convex if it is small.
In addition, there are also descriptions of simulation experiments demonstrating the waxing and waning of the moon and experiments demonstrating the vibration of sound. Phenomena such as mirages, rainbows, thunder and lightning, as well as light-transmitting mirrors are also described and explained.
In terms of chemistry and mining, there are records of the invention of the hydrometallurgical copper smelting method "gall copper method" that utilizes the copper-iron ion replacement reaction, and the most advanced steelmaking method in ancient times, the steel filling method. It also describes petroleum, well salt, pond salt, and the cold forged iron armor method of the Qingtang Qiang people.
In terms of agronomy and biology, the geographical distribution, ecological characteristics and classification of many crops, animals and plants have been recorded, and some paleontological research has been conducted, so that these long-extinct creatures can make people understand. learn.
In terms of water conservancy, it is recorded that the author built weirs in sections of the Bianhe River and measured them section by section. It was measured from Shangshanmen in Bianjing (Kaifeng) to Sizhou (now Jiangsu) through 420 kilometers. At the mouth of the Huaihe River (Sihong), the water level dropped by 64.95 meters. It is also recorded that when a skilled carpenter was regulating the Yellow River, he invented the three-section pressing method of the gantry.
There are also descriptions of the canal complex gate, Sukun long embankment and siltation method.
In terms of printing technology, it is recorded that during the Qingli period (1041-1048), Bi Sheng, a commoner, invented clay movable type printing and the process of movable type printing. This is the earliest written record of movable type printing.
In terms of architecture, it records the deeds of the famous craftsman Yu Hao in reinforcing the wooden pagoda of Brahma Temple in Hangzhou, as well as fragments of his architectural monograph "The Wooden Classic". The Wooden Classic has been lost for a long time, and people only know this important work and understand its contents through this book.
In terms of medicine, it describes the anatomy and physiology of the human body, and explains the operation process of food, medicine, and air after they enter the human body, as well as the principles of human metabolism. It also describes the characteristics, properties, taste, collection and efficacy of a large number of plant and mineral medicines, as well as the principles of medicinal formulas.
It is of course impossible to list all the extremely rich scientific contents described in the book. But from the above-mentioned aspects, we can see the high scientific value of this book. It can be said that this book reflects the level of science and technology in China in the 11th century, and many of its achievements were in a leading position in the world's science and technology field at that time. Therefore, this book is regarded as a landmark book in the history of Chinese science and technology and is highly valued by Chinese and foreign scholars.