Careers in Western Science in Nineteenth-Century China: Xu Shou and Xu Jianyin

Extract

The Western science and technology which invaded China during the mid-nineteenthcentury, in the wake of European military and economic aggression, entered a culture witha long indigenous tradition of natural philosophy, formed by extraordinary figures suchas Zhang Heng (78–139), Sun Simiao (581–682), Ge Hong (c. 21–341), Shen Gua (1031–1095) and Song Yingxing (c. 1587–1665). Moreover, as modern research has shown, China was, at least until about A.D. 1400, moreadvanced scientifically and technologically than Western Europe in many respects. Thesmall minority of late Qing scholars who showed any interest in the natural world or intechnology could console themselves that they were working within a noble but neglected side-stream of Chinese culture.