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Chapter 14 194 Shen Kuo's mission

Since Song Zhenzong, the Song Dynasty has been relying on sending a large amount of silver and silk every year, maintaining a situation of temporary compromise with the Liao Dynasty for decades, but the Liao Dynasty bullied the Song Dynasty's weakness and wanted to further invade the Song Dynasty's land.In 1075 A.D., the Liao Dynasty sent minister Xiao Xi to Tokyo to demand the demarcation of the border. Song Shenzong sent ministers to negotiate with Xiao Xi. The two sides argued for several days, but there was no result.Xiao Xi must have said that the thirty-mile area around Huangwei Mountain (in the southwest of Yuanping, Shanxi Province, Wei sounded as wei) should belong to the Liao Dynasty.The ministers sent by Song Shenzong to negotiate did not understand the terrain there, and knew that Xiao Xi's demands were unreasonable, but they couldn't refute him.Song Shenzong sent Shen Kuo to negotiate.

Shen Kuo, a native of Qiantang, Hangzhou, was originally an official who supported Wang Anshi's new law.Shen Kuo is not only serious and meticulous in his work, but also proficient in geography.He first went to the Privy Council and checked out all the documents on the borders negotiated in the past from the archives, proving that the land should belong to the Song Dynasty.He reported to Song Shenzong, and Song Shenzong was very happy to hear that, so he asked Shen Kuo to draw a map and show it to Xiao Xi, and Xiao Xi had nothing to say. Song Shenzong also sent Shen Kuo to Beijing (the capital of the Liao Dynasty, in the south of Bahrain Zuoqi in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region).Shen Kuo first collected a lot of geographical data, and asked the officials in his entourage to memorize them.When they arrived in Shangjing, the Liao Dynasty sent Prime Minister Yang Yijie to negotiate the border with Shen Kuo. Shen Kuo and the officials answered the questions raised by the Liao side fluently and well-founded.Yang Yijie saw that there was no room to take advantage of, so he put on a straight face and said arrogantly: "You even care about this little land, do you want to sever friendly relations with us?"

Shen Kuo said straightforwardly: "You have abandoned the past covenant and want to use force to coerce us. If we really fall out, I don't think you will get any advantage." The officials of the Liao Dynasty refused to accept Shen Kuo, and were afraid that they would become stiff, which would not be good for them, so they had to give up their unreasonable demands. Shen Kuo returned from the Liao Dynasty with his entourage. Along the way, every time he passed a place, he drew a map of the mountains, rivers, and dangerous passes there, and investigated the local customs and customs clearly.After returning to Tokyo, he sorted out these materials and dedicated them to Song Shenzong.Song Shenzong believed that Shen Kuo had made great contributions and worshiped him as a Hanlin scholar.

In order to maintain the security of the border of the Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo attached great importance to topographic survey.Once, Song Shenzong sent him to Dingzhou (now Dingxian County, Hebei) to inspect.Pretending to be hunting there, he spent more than 20 days inspecting the terrain of the Dingzhou border in detail, and made a three-dimensional model out of sawdust and melted wax.After returning to Dingzhou, Shen Kuo asked the carpenter to carve out a wooden model based on his model with wooden boards, and dedicated it to Song Shenzong.This three-dimensional map model is of course clearer than a map drawn on paper.

Song Shenzong was very interested in the maps drawn by Shen Kuo and the map models he made.In the second year, Shen Kuo was asked to compile a national map.But soon, Shen Kuo was falsely accused and relegated to Suizhou (now Sui County, Hubei Province) by the court.There, although the environment was very difficult, he persisted in drawing unfinished maps; later, he changed his official position in several places, while studying geography and revising the maps. After twelve years of persistence, he finally completed the most accurate map at that time. A map of the whole country - "Tianxia Commandery and State Map".

Shen Kuo not only made outstanding achievements in geographical research, but also was a scientist with a wide range of research interests.He is very proficient in astronomy, calendar, music, medicine, mathematics, etc.He studied astronomy and calendar very early.Later, when he worked as the Sitian Supervisor, he found that many of the people working there were ignorant and did not know how to use instruments to observe.After he arrived at Sitianjian, he bought astronomical instruments.In order to observe the position of the Polaris, he observed it with an armillary sphere every night for three months, and finally calculated the correct position of the Polaris.

In his later years, Shen Kuo lived in Mengxi Garden in Runzhou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu).He recorded the results of his life's research and wrote a book "Mengxi Bi Tan".In that book, in addition to recording the results of his own research, it also recorded many inventions of the working people at that time, among which Bi Sheng's movable type printing technology is particularly famous. Printing is one of the four great inventions in ancient my country.Before the Northern Song Dynasty, there was already engraving and printing.But engraving boards takes a lot of work, and once a piece of wood is carved, if you want to change a word, you have to re-engrav it all.In his hometown in Qiantang, Shen Kuo saw an old craftsman Bi Sheng use a kind of very fine clay to make many small pieces, engrave characters on them and put them in a kiln to harden to become movable type.Printing with movable type is much more convenient than woodblock printing.When Shen Kuo saw this new thing, he was very interested, so he made detailed observation and understanding, and recorded Bi Sheng's invention in his "Mengxi Bi Tan". Later generations learned about movable type after reading his book. History of printing.

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