Chapter 10 Section 3 The Crux of the Needham Dilemma

After Needham finished his speech at the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum, he further discussed with Fu Sinian and other scholars the so-called "Needham problem" of why China's science and technology has lagged behind the West since modern times.In addition to emphasizing that China's climate, geographical environment, economy, society, knowledge, and politics are different from those in Europe, Li made a deep analysis of China's bureaucratic system, and believed that it is the unique "Chinese characteristics". "The bureaucratic system stifled the occurrence and development of modern science.When talking about the difference between the West and China, Needham said: "I am not a Eurocentrist myself, but most people in Europe now believe that they have been in the center of world culture from birth, and they are very confident in walking their own way. They believe that by following this supposedly infallible road, they will be able to walk towards a bright and hopeful future. The Chinese are different. I believe that China’s great science and technology in the past have made great contributions to the entire human race, but the current It is indeed in decline, this nation is in the feudal agricultural culture, and to master modern science and technology, it must face the world..." Fu Sinian, who was sitting by the side, felt suffocated and annoyed the more he listened to the other party's grand remarks. , suddenly jumped up and shouted: "Damn it, we have been struggling for thousands of years, why does China have to face the world!"

Fu's words surprised everyone present, but they also felt unspeakably sad, especially when combined with their own living environment and national distress and family worries, they felt even more painful, and the high-spirited discussion scene suddenly fell.Needham realized that what he said just now might have hurt the self-esteem of scholars, especially the "university scholar" Fu Sinian, he grinned awkwardly with his unique feminine sexy mouth, and silently remembered this lesson in his heart.In the following days, in discussions with Chinese scholars, Li no longer dared to make unreasonable comments and said that the Chinese were going to "face the world".With the continuous understanding of Chinese culture, Joseph Needham, who is extremely clever, decided to follow the Romans and behave in the world according to the logic of Chinese thinking. The worship of Taoist culture.In the days to come, no matter when dealing with scholars or bureaucrats, they would spout out lotus-shaped and glorious words that make the other party happy, so as to win the reunion atmosphere of "others are happy and I am happy".

Needham's midway turnaround made Chinese bureaucrats and scholars feel very useful.According to the practice of "no reciprocity is impolite", Chinese bureaucrats who feel that the other party has given enough self-esteem and face, even scholars such as Weng Wenhao, Fu Sinian, Wang Jingxi, Mao Zishui, etc., turned around to "know us" and "send charcoal in the snow". "The most missed friend" Joseph Needham spared no effort to preach, until he blew the other party into the invisible sky, and made somersaults like Monkey King.At this time, among the tens of thousands of bureaucrats and scholars in China, only one person seems to be awake—that is Li Ji, director of the Preparatory Office of the Central Museum.Later, when Li talked about Mao Zishui's article "Chinese Scientific Thought", he affirmed two things that Joseph Needham said to Mao: "(1) The science of Western Europe for nearly three to four hundred years is indeed what our ancient sages said. (2) If China used to have the same climate, geography, social and economic factors as the West, modern science must have occurred in China..." and other views are not taken seriously.Li Ji said: "I haven't had the opportunity to read Needham's original text, and I can't guarantee whether the tone of Li's original text is as impressive as the translation; but I have heard him talk about this kind of topic in Lizhuang, and his general This seems to be the opinion. However, at that time his mission to China was of a diplomatic nature, so in addition to collecting the information he needed, he also had to win the favor of Chinese scholars, so he must choose the best words. Yes. As for how he really feels in his heart, it is impossible to guess. From my personal memory, he seems to have left some things unsaid; however, what he did not say is not necessarily a bad word.”

In this regard, Li Ji believes that "the most urgent question at present is not whether China has had science, but how to promote science in China... (at present) what we want is the achievements of science, not science itself; In itself, except for a few people, we are still not interested. We have not yet got rid of Zhang Zhidong's concept of learning from the middle school and learning from the West... If we want to promote scientific thinking in a proper way, we should learn from the Zen monks; because Zen The first commandment is not to tell lies. The starting point of scientific thinking is also here; there is no sophistication in scientific thinking, and there is no bureaucratic writing.”Although Needham did not say some things, he may have applied some "sophisticated sayings" in the process of dealing with Chinese officials and scholars.However, in his discussions with young scholars such as Fu Sinian, Tao Menghe, Li Ji, Liang Sicheng, and even Wang Ling in the ancient town of Lizhuang at the head of the Yangtze River, he deepened his understanding and speculation of Chinese scientific and technological historical materials, and strengthened his previous views—— That is to say, in the long feudal society, especially after the Ming and Qing Dynasties, China's bureaucratic system hindered the emergence and development of science and technology, which should be an unavoidable fact.However, under this increasingly rigid system, there is an undercurrent of continuous invention and creation of the masses. Even in the most severe freezing period, this undercurrent is still flowing and has been passed down for thousands of years. The precious documents of the literature and the development of science and technology are the proof of this phenomenon.As for these complicated and precious historical materials, as a modern scholar, it is necessary to carry out rigorous identification and research, and extract the material and spiritual wealth that truly belongs to "modern science" from them, so as to prompt those arrogant Western scholars to pay attention. , and transform these materials into the yeast and new power of real modern science.In terms of cultural exchanges between the East and the West and what Joseph Needham himself gained, later researchers almost reached a consensus that if Lee had not received the inspiration and great help of the scholars living in Lizhuang during his mission to China, what he would have learned The construction of the world-famous epoch-making and milestone "History of Science and Technology in China" that he presided over may be postponed for several years.

Many years later, on September 23, 1981, when Needham set foot on Chinese land again and gave an academic lecture in Shanghai entitled "The Origin, Progress and Current Situation of the Compilation Plan of "History of Science and Technology in China", he said with emotion: "When we talk about 'origin', we have to start with Lizhuang, a small town in Sichuan. During the Anti-Japanese War, the Institute of History and Linguistics of the Academia Sinica moved there. Under the auspices of Fu Sinian and Tao Menghe, I got to know A young Chinese scholar who is studying the history of gunpowder. His name is Wang Ling, No. Jingning. He became my first collaborator. From 1947 to 1957, he lived in Cambridge for nine years, assisting me work.” Needham also openly admitted and frankly commented on the experience in Cambridge of his first collaborator, Wang Ling, who came out of Lizhuang Mountain Col and assisted him in his work for nine years: “First of all, he Professional training in the study of Chinese historiography has always played an important role in our daily discussions. Secondly, he translated seventy-eight out of ten of the first drafts of Chinese documents translated into English by this book. Then the two of us must discuss and check in detail together, and the final version is often finalized after many revisions. For other people's translations, the two of us must check the original Chinese books before adopting them. Mr. Wang Ling also spent a lot of time searching and browsing various original translations. material deemed useful, such inquiries often turn up sources which we examine carefully from the standpoint of the history of science and then determine their value. Much tedious library work, and various indexing and cataloging work, all under his responsibility. Without the friendship of such a collaborator, publication of this work would have been long delayed, if at all possible, and might have contained even more errors than we fear there actually are."

Needham's statement is roughly correct and fair. It cannot be said that without Wang Ling, Needham would not have had brilliant achievements and immortal reputation in the future, but there is no doubt that this achievement will be delayed for several days.Therefore, Needham never forgot Wang Ling, his long-term collaborator, and expressed his gratitude from the bottom of his heart. Their friendship lasted until Wang Ling's death. Youdao never forgets the man who dug the well. While gaining worldwide reputation, Needham also did not forget Huang Zongxing and Dr. He Bingyu who gave him great help and support, as well as well-known local Chinese scholars Ye Qisun, Fu Sinian, Yu Dawei and others.When the fifth volume of "History of Science and Technology in China" was completed in 1986, "The Epic of Military Technology and Gunpowder", Joseph Needham specifically mentioned in his "Author's Words" that he met with Shi Liao in Lizhuang on that summer day 43 years ago. The experience of the personnel of the language institute, and said emotionally: "One night, the topic of conversation turned to the history of Chinese gunpowder, so Fu Sinian personally copied for us the composition of gunpowder from the "Wu Jing Zongyao" in 1044. Some passages in the earliest printed editions, when we did not have the book "Wu Jing Zong Yao"... The gunpowder engine and steam engine, which are no different from rocket devices, are the products of ideas that emerged from the European scientific revolution, but all before that Eight centuries of early development have been completed by the Chinese.” Perhaps out of gratitude, when this large book was published, it was printed in different boldface characters on the title page:

I dedicate this book to the late Fu Sinian, an eminent scholar of history and philosophy who was the friendliest of wartime welcomers in Lizhuang, Sichuan, China, where he spent an evening with us on the history of Chinese gunpowder Yu Dawei, a physicist, ordnance Administrator (1942-1946) I used to share his "field coffee" with him in his office and we happily reunited in 1984.