Chapter 68 Section 19 The Establishment of Modern Chinese Scientific Organizations in the Late Qing Dynasty

With the progress of the Westernization Movement, the trend of "science to save the country" and "industry to save the country" began to rise on the land of China. In the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894, the Westernization Movement failed, and the product of the Westernization Movement-the Beiyang Navy was destroyed, which caused a great shock on the land of China.The prosperity of Japan after the Meiji Restoration attracted the attention of the Chinese government and the public. At that time, the advanced figures who were looking for the way to save China deepened their belief that Western learning could save China.They also believe that natural science is the foundation of Western learning, and mastering natural science that starts from "testing" and "experiencing" things can grasp the development and changes of things. "Fuxi's study is the most practical, and the one that can resist the changes by following its rules is the study of name, number, quality and force" (Yan Fu's "Tianyan Lun·Self-Preface").As a result, the trend of "saving the country by science" and "saving the country by industry" became more popular, and learning and introducing Western science and technology formed a trend in China.Lu Xun once vividly described the scene at that time, saying: "When the Sino-Japanese War was defeated, they thought they had awakened, so they wanted to 'reform'. Even middle-aged people in their 30s and 40s also read 'Learning and Writing Talk' and 'Chemistry'. "Jianyuan"; also to learn English and Japanese, with a stiff tongue, reciting in a strange voice, without any shame towards others, the purpose is to read "foreign books", and the reason for reading foreign books is to show Chinese pictures 'Fuqiang'..." ("Zhun Fengyue Tan · Re-Three Senses of the Old").

Many of the students who were sent to study in the West during the Westernization Movement had already completed their studies and returned to China, and more international students went abroad one after another.Most of them take science and technology as electives.Zhan Tianyou is one of the outstanding figures who returned to China after studying. Zhan Tianyou (1861-1919 AD), nicknamed Juancheng, was born in Nanhai, Guangdong. In 1872, he was admitted to the first batch of "preparatory classes for young children to study in the United States". He studied railway engineering in the Civil Engineering Department of Yale University Sheffield Institute of Technology. He returned to China in 1881.He successively presided over the construction of Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, Sichuan-Han Railway, Guangdong-Han Railway, etc., and made great contributions to China's early railway industry. Founded the Guangdong Chinese Engineers Association in 1912, and merged with the Shanghai Engineering Society and Shanghai Road Workers Freemasonry in 1913 to form the Chinese Engineers Association, the earliest organization of Chinese engineers.

With the rise of "saving the nation by science" and the wave of studying abroad, China's modern science and technology has developed rapidly, and organizations specializing in scientific and technological research and activities have also been established one after another. The earliest society established was the "Strength Society", which was founded by Kang Youwei and other reformers in Beijing in 1895, and founded the "Journal of Qiang Xuebao", advocating that "study makes you strong, and groups make you strong."Although it is not a purely academic organization, but a group with the nature of a school and a political party, mainly serving the reform and reform, it is the first of its kind in China.In particular, Liang Qichao's article "On the Society" published in "Current Affairs News" advocated that "if there is a study, there will be a meeting", saying: "If you want to promote agriculture, the talents of the Agricultural Society will not be able to use it. The talents learned are invincible... If you want to make new tools and spread new methods, the talents you have learned in astronomy, arithmetic, sound, light, chemistry, electricity, etc. are invincible. If you want to avenge your shame, why not avenge it; Common government, what government fails", has a profound impact on the establishment of the society.

The scientific and technological societies established thereafter include: Established in 1896, the Shanghai Agricultural Society, also known as the Farming Association, proposed the use of Western methods to rejuvenate the benefits of the world and nature, and emphasized agronomy as the source of national prosperity.During the meeting, a wide range of books and journals on agronomy from east and west were collected, translated, edited, published "Journal of Agronomy", and a school of agricultural affairs was established. The Surveying Society, also known as the Jinling Surveying Society, was established in Nanjing in 1897.During the meeting, 10 regulations were formulated for practicing equipment, specializing in one subject, measuring vertical distance, measuring horizontal distance, sub-testing, meeting testing, drawing, measuring length, diary, and writing.

The Science Instrument Museum was established in Shanghai in 1901. Its purpose was to compile scientific books, manufacture physical and chemical instruments, and later set up a science seminar. The Geological Society of China, founded in Tianjin in 1909, founded the Journal of Geosciences. The scientific organizations established during this period also include the "Geoscience Society" in Changsha, the "Public Computing Society" in Chenzhou, the "Computing Society", "Map Society" and "Yaquan Academy" in Shanghai.After the Revolution of 1911, various science and technology societies were established like mushrooms after rain.Since then, the traditional sciences in ancient China, except for traditional Chinese medicine, have been merged or replaced by modern science one after another.