Pub Date : 2019-12-01DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.02062
G. Shen
This article explores both the personal and transnational dimensions of domestic science education and study abroad for the pioneering generation of Chinese women in science. By focusing on women’s unique calculus of risk and reward, the article not only distinguishes Chinese women’s experiences from those of their male counterparts but also delineates the special contours of the Chinese case within the global advancement of women in science. The article begins by outlining some of the features and dynamics of early Chinese girls’ schools that affected students’ interest in and preparation for further scientific study. Then it traces the emerging college-level opportunities that made it possible for women who were studying science in China to contemplate advanced work overseas. Turning to study abroad, the article highlights the radicalness of the decision to study abroad by examining the impact of both family background and national circumstances on Chinese women’s strategies of mobility. The article argues that if we are to take women’s experiences seriously, we cannot just look at scientific pursuits in terms of achievements in the development of Chinese science, we also need to consider the ways that ·scientific ambitions forced individuals—both male and female—to navigate and reimagine multiple social norms and expectations.
{"title":"Women and the Transnational Dynamics of Science Education in Early Twentieth Century China: A Quiet Revolution1","authors":"G. Shen","doi":"10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.02062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.02062","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores both the personal and transnational dimensions of domestic science education and study abroad for the pioneering generation of Chinese women in science. By focusing on women’s unique calculus of risk and reward, the article not only distinguishes Chinese women’s experiences from those of their male counterparts but also delineates the special contours of the Chinese case within the global advancement of women in science. The article begins by outlining some of the features and dynamics of early Chinese girls’ schools that affected students’ interest in and preparation for further scientific study. Then it traces the emerging college-level opportunities that made it possible for women who were studying science in China to contemplate advanced work overseas. Turning to study abroad, the article highlights the radicalness of the decision to study abroad by examining the impact of both family background and national circumstances on Chinese women’s strategies of mobility. The article argues that if we are to take women’s experiences seriously, we cannot just look at scientific pursuits in terms of achievements in the development of Chinese science, we also need to consider the ways that ·scientific ambitions forced individuals—both male and female—to navigate and reimagine multiple social norms and expectations.","PeriodicalId":61293,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43269331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-12-01DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.02094
C. Yeang
When scientific research began in early twentieth-century China, a key issue was the acquisition of reliable empirical information through objective and precise observations. This article examines a specific case where a scientist grappled with such an issue: the linguist Chao Yuen Ren’s application of mechanical means in his phonetic studies. In the 1920s–1930s, Chao conducted a series of field and lab studies on the dialects in southern and central China. In contrast to traditional scholars’ exclusive reliance on sharp ears and rhyme books, Chao employed mechanical devices to inscribe and analyze the spectrographs of dialectical tones and used phonographs to record the articulations of his subjects. It is demonstrated that Chao’s machines not only provided a new method of observation; they also altered the theoretical understanding of certain fundamental categories in Chinese phonology, such as tones. Moreover, Chao did not aim to replace human perception with automatic mechanisms in empirical investigations. Rather, the use of machines in his research called for an active and engaged scientific persona.
{"title":"Mechanization of Hearing in Chao Yuen Ren’s Dialect Research, 1927–1936: Senses, Objectivity, and Observation1","authors":"C. Yeang","doi":"10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.02094","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.02094","url":null,"abstract":"When scientific research began in early twentieth-century China, a key issue was the acquisition of reliable empirical information through objective and precise observations. This article examines a specific case where a scientist grappled with such an issue: the linguist Chao Yuen Ren’s application of mechanical means in his phonetic studies. In the 1920s–1930s, Chao conducted a series of field and lab studies on the dialects in southern and central China. In contrast to traditional scholars’ exclusive reliance on sharp ears and rhyme books, Chao employed mechanical devices to inscribe and analyze the spectrographs of dialectical tones and used phonographs to record the articulations of his subjects. It is demonstrated that Chao’s machines not only provided a new method of observation; they also altered the theoretical understanding of certain fundamental categories in Chinese phonology, such as tones. Moreover, Chao did not aim to replace human perception with automatic mechanisms in empirical investigations. Rather, the use of machines in his research called for an active and engaged scientific persona.","PeriodicalId":61293,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45868955","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-12-01DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.02195
S. Schmalzer
This article uses the case of the Sino-Albanian Friendship Trees to examine the significance and the limits of transnational scientific exchange in China during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1964, Albania gave ten thousand olive trees to China as a symbol of the eternal friendship of the Chinese and Albanian people; it was then up to Chinese agricultural scientists and farmers to find suitable means to propagate and cultivate them. The author finds that, though the olive trees served as symbols of international friendship and scientific exchange, knowledge about olive trees produced and circulated in the PRC reflected science in context (that is, science within the national-level political context of 1960s–1970s China) more than knowledge in transit (that is, the transnational circulation of knowledge). The importation of olive trees from Albania ended up offering a new application for Chinese agricultural knowledge and for quintessentially “Cultural Revolution”-era systems of knowledge production and circulation.
{"title":"Breeding New Knowledge at Home: The Case of the Albanian Olive Friendship Tree in China","authors":"S. Schmalzer","doi":"10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.02195","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.02195","url":null,"abstract":"This article uses the case of the Sino-Albanian Friendship Trees to examine the significance and the limits of transnational scientific exchange in China during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1964, Albania gave ten thousand olive trees to China as a symbol of the eternal friendship of the Chinese and Albanian people; it was then up to Chinese agricultural scientists and farmers to find suitable means to propagate and cultivate them. The author finds that, though the olive trees served as symbols of international friendship and scientific exchange, knowledge about olive trees produced and circulated in the PRC reflected science in context (that is, science within the national-level political context of 1960s–1970s China) more than knowledge in transit (that is, the transnational circulation of knowledge). The importation of olive trees from Albania ended up offering a new application for Chinese agricultural knowledge and for quintessentially “Cultural Revolution”-era systems of knowledge production and circulation.","PeriodicalId":61293,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49059113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-01DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03001
Zhijun Zhao
: In recent years, due to the widespread application of flotation, a large number of plant remains related to the origin of rice agriculture have been found in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Through the study of these new findings, it has been discovered that the origin of rice agriculture was a long and gradual process lasting for thousands of years. This process can be divided into four stages: the stage of gestation took place around 10,000 years ago — human society was still in the hunting and gathering phase, but archaeological evidence of human-used or even cultivated Oryza plants from that time has been discovered; the early stage of transition took place around 9000 – 7000 years ago — archaeological evidence of rice farming from that time has been found, such as villages, domesticated rice, farming tools, etc., but subsistence then was still mainly based on hunting and gathering, whereas rice farming and pig breeding, which fall into the agricultural production category, were only auxiliary production activities; the late stage of transition took place around 7000 – 5000 years ago, when the proportion of subsistence attained by hunting and gathering gradually declined while the proportion of rice farming increased day by day; and the stage of completion took place about 5000 years ago, when hunting and gathering was replaced by rice agriculture in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River successively.
{"title":"The Four Stages in the Origin of Rice Agriculture1","authors":"Zhijun Zhao","doi":"10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03001","url":null,"abstract":": In recent years, due to the widespread application of flotation, a large number of plant remains related to the origin of rice agriculture have been found in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Through the study of these new findings, it has been discovered that the origin of rice agriculture was a long and gradual process lasting for thousands of years. This process can be divided into four stages: the stage of gestation took place around 10,000 years ago — human society was still in the hunting and gathering phase, but archaeological evidence of human-used or even cultivated Oryza plants from that time has been discovered; the early stage of transition took place around 9000 – 7000 years ago — archaeological evidence of rice farming from that time has been found, such as villages, domesticated rice, farming tools, etc., but subsistence then was still mainly based on hunting and gathering, whereas rice farming and pig breeding, which fall into the agricultural production category, were only auxiliary production activities; the late stage of transition took place around 7000 – 5000 years ago, when the proportion of subsistence attained by hunting and gathering gradually declined while the proportion of rice farming increased day by day; and the stage of completion took place about 5000 years ago, when hunting and gathering was replaced by rice agriculture in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River successively.","PeriodicalId":61293,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42810501","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-01DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03021
Xing Huang
: In the 1940s, Wang Zhenduo 王振铎 re-created the sinan 司南 (south-pointing loadstone spoon) mentioned in ancient texts. However, subsequent researchers were unsuccessful in their attempts to replicate this design, resulting in longstanding questions over its feasibility. Loadstones with high natural remanent magnetization acquired today resemble the magnetism of those recorded in premodern Chinese documents. By simulating ancient stoneware processing techniques, a loadstone was cut and polished into a spoon shape. It was found that during the course of processing the loadstone spoon, demagnetization was negligible, while after completion, the internal magnetic field was rebalanced due to the change in shape, and the magnetic moment decreased slightly then stabilized for the long term. Experiments of this sort carried out by the author have testified to the enduring and reliable directivity of the resulting loadstone spoon. Paleo-magnetic research indicates that over the past two millennia the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field intensity in northern China underwent a clear M-shaped development. The level in the Qin and Han dynasties is approximately double that of the current day. Using a simulated ancient geomagnetic field, experiments have revealed that multiple methods, such as the “water floating method ” and “ hanging method ,” could manifest a degree of geo -directivity. The comprehensive studies carried out demonstrate that the loadstone spoon is the most optimal among these diverse means for attaining magnetic directivity from the Pre-Qin period (before 221 BCE) to the Tang dynasty (618 – 907 CE) in view of the availability of loadstone, the state of the geomagnetic field, and existing knowledge and techniques.
{"title":"Experimental Research on the South-Pointing Loadstone Spoon (Sinan)1","authors":"Xing Huang","doi":"10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03021","url":null,"abstract":": In the 1940s, Wang Zhenduo 王振铎 re-created the sinan 司南 (south-pointing loadstone spoon) mentioned in ancient texts. However, subsequent researchers were unsuccessful in their attempts to replicate this design, resulting in longstanding questions over its feasibility. Loadstones with high natural remanent magnetization acquired today resemble the magnetism of those recorded in premodern Chinese documents. By simulating ancient stoneware processing techniques, a loadstone was cut and polished into a spoon shape. It was found that during the course of processing the loadstone spoon, demagnetization was negligible, while after completion, the internal magnetic field was rebalanced due to the change in shape, and the magnetic moment decreased slightly then stabilized for the long term. Experiments of this sort carried out by the author have testified to the enduring and reliable directivity of the resulting loadstone spoon. Paleo-magnetic research indicates that over the past two millennia the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field intensity in northern China underwent a clear M-shaped development. The level in the Qin and Han dynasties is approximately double that of the current day. Using a simulated ancient geomagnetic field, experiments have revealed that multiple methods, such as the “water floating method ” and “ hanging method ,” could manifest a degree of geo -directivity. The comprehensive studies carried out demonstrate that the loadstone spoon is the most optimal among these diverse means for attaining magnetic directivity from the Pre-Qin period (before 221 BCE) to the Tang dynasty (618 – 907 CE) in view of the availability of loadstone, the state of the geomagnetic field, and existing knowledge and techniques.","PeriodicalId":61293,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43579909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-01DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03074
Zhengshan Jiao
: Science-related museums are a special kind of museum concerned with science, technology, the natural world, and other relevant issues. On the Chinese mainland, the emergence and development of science-related museums have been influenced by both Western culture and Chinese culture and society. These museums, which include science and technology museums, science centers, specialized museums, and scientific sites, play multiple roles, acting as bases for popular science and patriotic education, research institutes, etc. Today, such museums are attracting more and more public and scholarly attention.
{"title":"A Glance at Science-Related Museums on the Chinese Mainland1","authors":"Zhengshan Jiao","doi":"10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03074","url":null,"abstract":": Science-related museums are a special kind of museum concerned with science, technology, the natural world, and other relevant issues. On the Chinese mainland, the emergence and development of science-related museums have been influenced by both Western culture and Chinese culture and society. These museums, which include science and technology museums, science centers, specialized museums, and scientific sites, play multiple roles, acting as bases for popular science and patriotic education, research institutes, etc. Today, such museums are attracting more and more public and scholarly attention.","PeriodicalId":61293,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43295641","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-01DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.03087
Wu-Tang Dai
{"title":"Epitome of Research on the History of Science and Technology in China: A Review of the Book Series History of Science and Technology in Pre-Modern China in Comparison with Needham’s Science and Civilisation in China1","authors":"Wu-Tang Dai","doi":"10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.03087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.03087","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":61293,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41414323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-01DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.03100
Wei Chen
t is widely acknowledged that Science and Civilisation in China by Joseph Needham is characterized by frequent comparisons of scientific and technological knowledge between pre-modern China and other civilizations, and attempts to demonstrate the trans-civilization transmission of knowledge. In contrast, it is unfortunate that the twenty-six volume Zhongguo kexue jishu shi 中国科学技术史 (History of science and technology in pre-modern China), edited by Lu Jiaxi 卢嘉锡 and organized by the Institute for the History of Natural Sciences (IHNS), Chinese Academy of Sciences, lacks a special volume on Sino-foreign scientific and technological interactions. Nonetheless, another treatise, found alongside Zhongguo kexue jishu shi in the library at the IHNS, one that bears a different appearance and far exceeds the average length of the book series, can largely compensate for this omission. This is Zhongwai kexue jishu jiaoliushi lun 中外科学技术交流史论 (On the History of Scientific and Technological Exchange between China and Foreign Countries) written by Pan Jixing (1931–) and published in 2012.
{"title":"A Representative Work in the Academic Context of Twentieth-Century China on the History of Sino-Foreign Scientific and Technological Exchanges: A Review of Pan Jixing’s On the History of Scientific and Technological Exchange between China and Foreign Countries1","authors":"Wei Chen","doi":"10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.03100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3724/sp.j.1461.2019.03100","url":null,"abstract":"t is widely acknowledged that Science and Civilisation in China by Joseph Needham is characterized by frequent comparisons of scientific and technological knowledge between pre-modern China and other civilizations, and attempts to demonstrate the trans-civilization transmission of knowledge. In contrast, it is unfortunate that the twenty-six volume Zhongguo kexue jishu shi 中国科学技术史 (History of science and technology in pre-modern China), edited by Lu Jiaxi 卢嘉锡 and organized by the Institute for the History of Natural Sciences (IHNS), Chinese Academy of Sciences, lacks a special volume on Sino-foreign scientific and technological interactions. Nonetheless, another treatise, found alongside Zhongguo kexue jishu shi in the library at the IHNS, one that bears a different appearance and far exceeds the average length of the book series, can largely compensate for this omission. This is Zhongwai kexue jishu jiaoliushi lun 中外科学技术交流史论 (On the History of Scientific and Technological Exchange between China and Foreign Countries) written by Pan Jixing (1931–) and published in 2012.","PeriodicalId":61293,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45685276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-01DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03044
Dongshan Yuan, L. Hu
The military situation of the thirteenth century required that the Song and the Mongols construct a great number of defensive works, relying on the mountains or facing the rivers, in the mountainous Sichuan Province and Chongqing. In recent years, a special kind of explosive firearms, huolei 火雷 (bombs), was unearthed in the large-scale excavations of the site of Diaoyu Fortress 钓鱼城 in Hechuan District 合川 and the Baidicheng 白帝城 in Fengjie County 奉节 , both of which were defensive works constructed in this mountainous area during the Southern Song dynasty. In addition, the ruins of kilns and the clay molds that were relevant to the casting of iron huolei have been discovered at the site of Baidicheng, indicating that these huolei might have been produced locally. The Southern Song iron huolei unearthed in Chongqing are the most direct evidence of the evolvement of gunpowder and firearms, and are of great significance to the history of science and technology, in particular the history of military technology.
{"title":"A Preliminary Study on the Spherical Bombs (Huolei) of the Southern Song Dynasty, Unearthed in Chongqing1","authors":"Dongshan Yuan, L. Hu","doi":"10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03044","url":null,"abstract":"The military situation of the thirteenth century required that the Song and the Mongols construct a great number of defensive works, relying on the mountains or facing the rivers, in the mountainous Sichuan Province and Chongqing. In recent years, a special kind of explosive firearms, huolei 火雷 (bombs), was unearthed in the large-scale excavations of the site of Diaoyu Fortress 钓鱼城 in Hechuan District 合川 and the Baidicheng 白帝城 in Fengjie County 奉节 , both of which were defensive works constructed in this mountainous area during the Southern Song dynasty. In addition, the ruins of kilns and the clay molds that were relevant to the casting of iron huolei have been discovered at the site of Baidicheng, indicating that these huolei might have been produced locally. The Southern Song iron huolei unearthed in Chongqing are the most direct evidence of the evolvement of gunpowder and firearms, and are of great significance to the history of science and technology, in particular the history of military technology.","PeriodicalId":61293,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42440676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-01DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03062
S. Zhong
The world’s earliest bomb with an iron casing, the iron huopao 鐵火砲 (cast-iron bomb, also referred to as zhentian lei 震天雷, literally “thunder-crash bomb”), is one of the most important inventions of ancient China relating to gunpowder and firearms. Until recently, however, academics were not able to conduct substantial research on the topic, as no actual remains of a huopao had yet been found. Since 2013, in the excavation of two sites of Southern Song ancient cities (Diaoyu Fortress and Baidicheng) in Chongqing, archaeologists from the Chongqing Cultural Heritage Research Institute have discovered a number of iron huopao of the Southern Song dynasty. This finding not only provides first-hand material for research on the history of the invention of gunpowder and firearms, which has always been lacking, but also offers new physical evidence for an exploration of the history of war and the military history of the thirteenth century (in particular the Mongol-Song war), and is thus historically significant.
{"title":"Feng Jiasheng’s Diagrams of Iron Bombs (Huopao) and Beyond: On the Academic Significance of the Southern Song Iron Bombs (Huopao) Unearthed in Chongqing1","authors":"S. Zhong","doi":"10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1461.2019.03062","url":null,"abstract":"The world’s earliest bomb with an iron casing, the iron huopao 鐵火砲 (cast-iron bomb, also referred to as zhentian lei 震天雷, literally “thunder-crash bomb”), is one of the most important inventions of ancient China relating to gunpowder and firearms. Until recently, however, academics were not able to conduct substantial research on the topic, as no actual remains of a huopao had yet been found. Since 2013, in the excavation of two sites of Southern Song ancient cities (Diaoyu Fortress and Baidicheng) in Chongqing, archaeologists from the Chongqing Cultural Heritage Research Institute have discovered a number of iron huopao of the Southern Song dynasty. This finding not only provides first-hand material for research on the history of the invention of gunpowder and firearms, which has always been lacking, but also offers new physical evidence for an exploration of the history of war and the military history of the thirteenth century (in particular the Mongol-Song war), and is thus historically significant.","PeriodicalId":61293,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48581075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：