The History of Science and Technology on the Silk Road

In order to enhance international interdisciplinary academic exchanges, and promote the study of the history of the Silk Road and the history of science and technology, in response to the “Silk Road Week” event organized by the China National Silk Museum, hosted by the Institute of the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences on the evening of June 16, 2021, Cross-continental exchanges co-organized with the Silk Road Civilization Alliance (ATES) and the China National Silk Museum, and organized by the Youth Promotion Committee of the Institute of the History of Natural Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Youth Academic Group “Study on the Silk Road and the History of Science and Technology with New Perspectives for Each Other” Youth Academic The forum was successfully held. This forum was organized by four young scholars from the German Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Dr. Yang Qiao, researcher Li Liang from the Institute of the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dr. Yu Yusen from Oxford University, and Chen Wei, Associate Researcher from the Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The report was published in the form of video conference, and the activity was hosted by associate researcher Chen Wei of the Institute of the History of Science. The event attracted more than 150 listeners. Chen Wei first introduced the origin of the forum and explained the meaning of “new vision, new method, and new dimension”. He pointed out that the Institute of the History of Natural Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has a profound academic accumulation in the field of the history of science and technology on the Silk Road. In recent years, young scholars have grown rapidly in this field and have achieved many results worthy of attention. He likened the history of the Silk Road and the history of science and technology to different aspects of the Rubik’s Cube. They seem to be separated by a certain distance, but in fact there are many possibilities for intersection. Through the intersection of vision and methods, different research fields can provide useful inspiration and new research to each other. Dimensions to promote the emergence of more new results. Yang Qiao’s report is entitled “The Silk Road and Science and Technology Exchange in the Mongolian Era”. In the report, she first introduced her research interests in recent years, that is, to explore the relationship between Mongolian rule and the development of astronomical knowledge from the perspective of knowledge and power. She pointed out that the Mongol Empire from the 13th to the 14th century, as an empire spanning Eurasia, played an important role in promoting scientific, technological and cultural exchanges between the East and the West, including astronomy. With the support of the rulers of the Mongol Empire, astronomers from Central and West Asia returned to the Sitiantai to serve and brought Islamic astronomical instruments and books. Iranian astronomers established an observatory in the Malaguey region, where top Islamic astronomers gathered. These astronomical practices set new standards for later Islamic astronomy and even influenced the astronomical revolution in Europe. She also pointed out that the dissemination of knowledge and technology is an extremely complex process, and the study of the history of science and technology on the Silk Road cannot be generalized from a single perspective of the dissemination and acceptance of technology. This should be considered in the context of the Mongolian Empire. On the other hand, the expansion of the concept and scope of the research on the history of science and technology and the diversification of methods have provided important research support for the research on the history of the Silk Road. She reviewed the academic achievements in the field of interdisciplinary research between the Mongolian Empire and the history of science and technology in recent years, and looked forward to future research directions that deserve attention, such as the study of the content of ancient science and technology texts in different languages, the development of pre-modern science and technology history theory, and multidisciplinary collaborative research. Wait. Yang Qiao proposed that the Malaguey Observatory is a testimony to the exchange and collection of astronomical knowledge between Persia and China Yang Qiao shows the 13th-century “Tusi couple” of Malagai described in the manuscript Li Liang’s report is entitled “Silk Road Jingwei: Islamic Astronomy in China”. He keenly grasped the connection between this event and the Silk Museum, connected the concept of “latitude and longitude” in textiles and astronomy, and took the use and dissemination of Islamic astronomy in China as the starting point, from the sources of documents, influence and status, and dissemination Interpretation and interpretation of the connotation of this concept are carried out on the three levels of adjustment and adjustment. Li Liang pointed out that the astronomical achievements during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties were the product of the second large-scale Sino-foreign astronomical cultural exchange in Chinese history. From the perspective of document sources, the Chinese calendar was introduced in the Iranian “Irhan Calendar”. There were also a large number of astronomical calendar books about the Islamic world in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties. For example, the “Huihui Calendar” appeared in many Chinese translations during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. In the compiled version, the term “jiu” used in the “Secretary Supervision” can be traced back to the Middle Persian “Zij”, which originally meant rope, originally referring to the arrangement of the weaving centerline, and later extended to the astronomical table. From the perspective of the influence and status of Islamic astronomy, according to documentary records, the “Huihui Calendar” is more precise and complete in calculating solar and lunar eclipses and five-star transgressions, and its latitude is not available in China. Through modern computer simulation calculations, “Huihui Calendar” and “Tongrui of Datong Calendar” have their own advantages and disadvantages in calculating solar and lunar eclipse points. In terms of calculating lunar eclipse points, “Huihui Calendar” is better than “Tongrui of Datong Calendar”. Accurate and advanced in calculating five-star bullying. From the perspective of dissemination and adjustment, Islamic astronomy texts have undergone corresponding adjustments in the process of dissemination and translation in Chinese. For example, when Islamic astronomy texts are converted into Chinese translations, colors are used to distinguish between addition and subtraction and the table format. Adjustments. Li Liang shows the homepage of “Irhan Calendar” Yu Yusen’s report is entitled “Printing in the Islamic World”. He focused on the relationship between book circulation and printing in the Islamic world from the perspective of the relationship between technology and political culture, and further extended to the process of how Chinese engraving was accepted by the Islamic world. He pointed out that the dissemination of technology and its acceptance or rejection (postponement) will be affected by local politics and culture. Technology itself is inseparable from political culture, and sometimes technical problems can be transformed into political problems. Most of the ancient books in the Islamic world are circulated in the form of manuscripts. The large-scale use of printing in the Islamic world is very recent. It was not until the 18th century that it was promoted on a large scale under official sponsorship. It was printed before the 18th century (especially woodblock printing). ) Also exists in the Islamic world, mainly used to make amulets and so on. This unique historical phenomenon is inseparable from the political culture of the Islamic world. Iran’s failure to introduce engraving to print banknotes during the Mongol Empire is an example. In addition, the acceptance and dissemination of printing will also be affected by the form of writing and the type of books. This is also the reason why Chinese ancient books adopted engraving as the main form of printing. In ancient times, the Islamic world was very interested in papermaking and printing. The Islamic world has collected Chinese engraving and printing books, such as books printed with “Twenty-Four Filial Piety” and “Twenty-Four Filial Piety” unearthed from the Jin Dynasty Chronicle Tomb in Xiaoguan Village, Changzi County, Shanxi. The content of the picture is very similar. He also particularly emphasized that when facing new technologies or things such as foreign printing, such as Chinese engraving and Western printing, Islamic culture likes to use the word “odd” to describe it because it cannot understand its internal structure. And think that they are a very strange thing. Yu Yusen shows printed books from the Islamic world Chen Wei’s report is entitled “The Pearl Road: The Material and Technology of Cross-cultural Flow”. The report uses pearls as an example to show the possibility of the intersection between the study of the history of the Silk Road and the history of science and technology. First of all, he defined the history of Silk Road pearls as three levels: production level, processing and sales level, and consumption and acceptance level. He pointed out that current research mainly explores the latter two levels and pays less attention to raw material production and practical knowledge. The center of gravity is shifted between different levels, each level of pearl knowledge is connected with different aspects of knowledge. From the perspective of the history of science and technology, he extensively researched the literature, compared the practice and process knowledge involved in pearl salvage, primary product processing, and circulation between the East and the West, and found that the literature records of different styles, different cultures and environments involve similar principles and operations. The method reflects the possibility of dissemination, but there are differences in the level of detail and the selection of specific materials. As a conclusion, he proposed that the records left by various civilizations of the Silk Road on the same object from different angles provided the possibility of building blocks of exploration, and the Silk Road could become a way to seek the meaning of problem research. Using the method of history of science and technology, the usual research objects of the history of the Silk Road can be transformed into deep-level entrances, so as to explore the in-depth connections between knowledge and practice that were originally imperceptible. Chen Wei proposed that there are different levels of knowledge in the production, processing and consumption places of pearls. After the theme report, the speaker and the audience conducted in-depth discussions on the content of the silk road pearl drilling process text content, the theoretical knowledge of Islamic astronomy and observation instruments during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, and the dissemination and conversion of scientific and technological texts.