Chapter 66 Section 17 Westernization Movement and Modern Chinese Science and Technology

At the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, when the western powers were eyeing China and wanted to swallow it up, the Qing government still regarded itself as the kingdom of heaven and stubbornly insisted on the closed-door policy.In the fifty-eighth year of Qianlong (AD 1793), the British sent envoys to China, requesting trade and exchange of envoys, but they were rejected as "incompatible with the system of the Celestial Dynasty and absolutely impossible", and said: "The Celestial Dynasty is rich in products, and there is nothing to do. No, I didn’t borrow goods from foreign barbarians to communicate what is needed.” The request for increased trade is also said to be “beyond the regulations, there are many beggars. Tao" ("Edict of Qianlong").In the 21st year of Jiaqing (1816 A.D.), Britain once again asked for commerce and trade, but was still rejected, and said: "The heavenly dynasty does not treasure things far away, and the ingenious weapons of all countries are not regarded as rare." If you come from far away, you will have to trek in vain, but if you can follow suit with your heart, you don't have to come to court every year and call it Xianghua" ("Jiaqing Imperial Edict").His ignorance is beyond measure.

However, history is merciless.The guns of the Western powers finally opened the closed door of China, shattering the dreams of the self-important Qing rulers.History has shown people the truth that if you are backward, you will be beaten, and if you are ignorant, you will be bullied. After the Opium War in 1840, some people of insight in China began to realize China's backwardness and advocated learning from the strengths of the West, among which Wei Yuan was the most influential.He wrote "Pictures of Haiguo", and put forward the idea of ​​"learning from the barbarians to control the barbarians by learning their skills".During this period, a group of scientists who studied and translated Western learning emerged, the most famous being Li Shanlan, who cooperated with missionaries and translated and published six works on mathematics, astronomy, mechanics and botany.He not only continued the unfinished work of Xu Guangqi and Matteo Ricci, but also translated the last nine volumes of "Elements of Geometry". He also systematically introduced Copernicus' theory of heliocentric and earth motion. The introduction of Western modern botany to China.In the process of translation, he created a large number of scientific terms, such as algebra, function, differential, integral, resultant force, component force, cell, etc., many of which are still in use today and adopted by Japan.

After the Second Opium War in 1860, especially after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was wiped out with the help of Western powers, the Qing government realized that foreign guns and cannons were "enough to destroy a fortress" ("Preparing the Barbarian Affairs" by Tongzhi Towards the second and fifth volumes), "In the future, learning from the barbarians' wisdom to build guns and boats, you can expect eternal benefits" (Volume 15 of the manuscript of "The Complete Works of Zeng Wenzheng Gong").In order to maintain the precarious political power, the Qing government began to set up "Westernization Movement", which is called "Westernization Movement".

The so-called "Westernization", in addition to foreign negotiations, is mainly to train new troops, purchase foreign guns and cannons and warships, and at the same time build a number of factories, mines, repair railways, run telegraphs, run schools, etc.In the upsurge of establishing "Westernization", Western science and technology, from new looms to prime mover steam engines, from various working machines to new converters and hearth furnaces for steelmaking, as well as transportation and communication tools such as ships, trains, and telegraphs , have been introduced into China.At the same time, a number of translation centers and schools were opened in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Fuzhou, Guangzhou and other places, and many modern science and technology books were translated and published, and modern science and technology education began.Famous translation and publishing institutions include: Jingshi Tongwen Museum, which has an "Astronomical and Mathematics Museum" and Li Shanlan is hired as the chief instructor; Shanghai and Guangzhou's "Guangfang Dialect Museum"; Shanghai's Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau Translation Office.Some missionaries also opened schools and translation libraries in China.These translation halls and schools have made varying degrees of contribution to the spread of modern science and technology in China and the establishment of modern science and technology in China.Among them, the chemist Xu Shou and the mathematician Hua Heng (heng Heng) Fang of the Translation Office of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau were prominent.