Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

“I dare to ask my friends, what is ‘natural science’ and what is ‘social science’?”

Zhuo Jing asked, twisting his beard, curiosity showing in his cloudy eyes.

Jiang Xinghuo replied: "Natural science is the science that studies the material form, structure, properties and laws of motion of nature; social science is the science that takes social phenomena as the research object, and its task is to study and explain various social phenomena and their development laws. .”

Although I don’t quite understand what “science” means, I just think it is a subject called “science”. As for “nature” and “society”, these two people can understand it without any obstacles.

If the "science" aspect is excluded, then Zhuo Jing and the inmate looked at each other for a moment, and then thought about it carefully, but they felt that what the other party said was indeed an extremely accurate definition.

Therefore, combined with what Dao Yan said before, Old Man Zhuo's curiosity was once again aroused.

"So, my friend, what kind of knowledge does natural science include?"

Jiang Xinghuo said simply: "Mathematics, astronomy, geography, physics, chemistry, life."

As soon as these words came out, the two of them were a little confused.

Zhuo Jing dared to speak, and there was no shame in asking if he didn't understand. He asked again: "Please explain it in detail, little friends. Some old people can understand it, but some old people have never heard what the little friends said." Yes, it’s unheard of.”

"Mathematics is the study of numbers."

"Astronomy is the study of astrology and astronomy."

"Geography is the study of geographical theory."

"Physics is the study of the principles of all things."

"Chemistry is the science of turning decay into magic."

"Vital science is the study of the body mechanisms of humans, birds and animals."

"These six disciplines are the foundation of natural science."

In fact, Jiang Xinghuo has already made plans these days regarding the promotion of modern science.

Without overthrowing Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, it would be impossible to promote these disciplines.

The most important thing is philosophy.

We must create chaos from the philosophical level to the currently dominant Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, and then find ways to overthrow Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism with a new philosophical system in order to free our thinking.

Otherwise, relying solely on those subjects in social sciences will not have much effect.

Of course, most people can't quite understand philosophy, and those who can understand it all have their own explanations.

Therefore, it is a huge problem to combine the current background of the times and create a new philosophical system that can at least compete with Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.

Only Jiang Xinghuo can overcome this problem. Others have already tried it and can't do it at all.

As long as Jiang Xinghuo can fight against Cheng Zhuli, the Buddhist and Taoist families who have been suppressed by Cheng Zhuli for a long time will naturally provide assistance and beat up the lost dog.

The easiest way, of course, is to directly use the big killer weapon of "Yangming Xinxue".

History has proven that "Yangming's Xinxue" is enough to impact the dominance of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.

But there is a small problem here, that is, the idealist philosophy of "Yangming Xin Xue" is still somewhat contrary to the rationalism required for the development of modern science.

Therefore, Jiang Xinghuo still needs some time to figure out how to do it.

If you can't understand a better way, that's really not possible. Of course, you can only use "Yangming Xinxue" first.

Coming back to the present, old man Zhuo Jingzhuo understands only half of the six natural sciences.

Among them, Zhuo Jing understood mathematics, astronomy, and geography, but he did not understand the physics, chemistry, and life sciences that followed.

Zhuo Jing asked: "Based on the astronomy mentioned just now, do you think it is connected with other subjects? If so, please tell me where the connections are?"

Seeing the polite words of the white-haired old man, Jiang Xinghuo decided to do some research with the intellectuals of this era to see if there was any big cognitive deviation from the people of the world regarding the six basic natural sciences.

Therefore, Jiang Xinghuo organized his thoughts and said slowly.

"Sequentially speaking, starting from astronomy, there are astronomical phenomena first, such as the Yinghuo Shouxin we just mentioned, Jupiter's opposition, and the twilight meeting, and then there is the ability to measure, for example, Jupiter's opposition every other day Years and thirty-four days of mathematics, but there is a problem here, that is, Jupiter's opposition to the sun can be interpreted using mathematics, but Yinghuo Shouxin cannot. I wonder if the old man has ever thought about why this is?"

Zhuo Jing thought first, and finally shook his head.

"Maybe Yinghuo Shouxin can't figure it out?"

"No."

Jiang Xinghuo didn't agree with it and only said: "It's not that it can't be calculated, but it's that there is no physical model, or in other words, the basic theory passed down by Chinese literature is not quite correct."

"Mathematics is the basis of physics. China has mathematics but not physics. However, physics, as the leading subject of natural science, studies the most basic forms and laws of motion of everything from the universe to the invisible, so , naturally some astronomical phenomena cannot be explained.”

physics.

Zhuo Jing put this concept aside first. After all, he didn't know these things well and couldn't understand them, but there was one thing that didn't prevent him from asking clearly.

"Why do you say that the basic theories passed down by Chinese literature are not very accurate?"

Jiang Xinghuo rummaged through the straw and pulled out the globe that Zheng He had longed for.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the two old men opposite and asked, "The earth under our feet may be round, do you know that?"

The inmate next to Zhuo Jing obviously looked a little ridiculous, but Zhuo Jing nodded.

Different from Jiang Xinghuo's previous impressions, many people thought that ancient China believed in a round sky and a round earth, and did not know that the earth was round.

Did ancient Chinese know that the earth might be round?

Of course I know!

In fact, there are three main types of cosmology in ancient China.

The Huntian theory, the Gaitian theory, and the Xuanye theory are collectively known as the "Three Schools on Heaven".

The theory of armillary sky originated during the Warring States Period. Zhang Heng, an astronomer of the Eastern Han Dynasty, proposed in "Notes on the Armillary Sphere" that "the sky is like a chicken's egg, and the earth is like a yellow, living alone in the sky." Wang Fan, a native of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period, proposed that "the shape of the sky is like a bird's egg, and the earth is like a bird's egg. Living in it, the sky encompasses the earth, like a shell wrapped in yellow, and round like a bullet."

The Huntian theory holds that the earth is a sphere and the sky is also a sphere, which is outside the earth. The sun, moon and stars slide around the earth from east to west on the celestial surface.

The armillary sphere, circle by circle, is the orbit of the five planets of metal, wood, water, fire and earth that ancient Chinese astronomy can observe, with the earth in the middle. In other words, the armillary sphere theory is the movement of the planets observed from the perspective of the earth.

This theory can correctly explain a solar eclipse because the moon blocks the sun.

The theory of "covering the sky" started from "the sky is round like a cover, and the place is like a chess game", and later evolved into "the sky is like a bamboo hat, and the earth is covered by laws". In other words, the sky is like a bamboo hat covering the earth, and the earth is like a bamboo hat. Curved like an upside down plate.

Xuanye theory can generally be traced back to "Zhuangzi·Xiaoyaoyou" and Liezi's books. This theory believes that there is no finite "celestial sphere". The sun, moon and stars are naturally born in the void and move under the impetus of Qi. This is a bit modern. The meaning of the universe theory.

The Huntian theory, after the Yuan Dynasty, completely defeated the Gaitian theory.

The main reason is that in the Yuan Dynasty, a ruthless man named Guo Shoujing conducted an experiment to measure the earth across the vast territory of the Yuan Dynasty. Later generations called it the "Four Seas Test."

This experiment is not that far away from the current Ming Dynasty. Many literati know it clearly through records in classics, and Zhuo Jing is one of them.

"The earth is round, which has been proved in the Yuan Dynasty."

Zhuo Jing nodded and said: "In the 16th year of the Yuan Dynasty, Guo Shoujing suggested to Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, that because the territory of the Yuan Dynasty is now much larger than before, the length of day and night, sunrise and sunset, and the time of each place are also different in different areas, the old The calendar is no longer applicable, so it is necessary to conduct nationwide astronomical observations to compile a new calendar. The "History of the Yuan Dynasty" compiled by Song Lian records that there were 14 supervisory officials, who were divided into separate lanes, stretching from Goryeo in the east to Dianchi Lake in the west. , crossing Zhuya in the south and reaching Tiele in the north, there are twenty-seven places to test from all over the world."

The observation point reaches Wanli Shitang in the south, the Mongolian Plateau in the north, Gansu in the west, and North Korea in the east. The maximum difference in longitude between east and west is about 25 degrees, and the maximum difference in latitude between north and south is about 50 degrees. Before modern globalization, there was no one in the world. The country has such amazing measurement conditions.

During this measurement project, Guo Shoujing personally went to various places to preside over the work and measured a series of geographical and astronomical data such as the height of the sun on the summer solstice, the height of the North Pole, the angular distance of the twenty-eight stars, the angle of the Yellow and Red Cross, and finally calculated that the length of the earth's year is 365.2425 days. , while the modern measurement result is 365.2422 days, the difference between the two is only 0.0003 days (26 seconds).

At the same time, in order to calculate the area of ​​the earth, Guo Shoujing derived the calculation method of high-intensity equations based on the mathematical solution of quartic equations in the Song Dynasty. He used this algorithm to solve spherical trigonometric functions, directly proving that the earth is round, and the accurate area can be calculated Out.

"So, the earth is indeed round. Anyone who knows astronomy knows this."

The inmates beside Zhuo Jing were a little confused: "But why didn't anyone tell me?"

This means that starting from the Ming Dynasty, the rapid development trend of ancient Chinese astronomy from the pre-Qin to the Han and Tang Dynasties, to the Song and Yuan Dynasties could not be continued.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, restrictions on astronomy hindered the progress of astronomy.

Emperor Gao, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, did many good things in his life, but there is one thing that definitely deserves to be named and criticized.

After Zhu Yuanzhang destroyed the Yuan Dynasty, Si Tianjian entered the crystal carving chamber and installed two puppets in it, who could beat the drums and drums on time.

Since Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born in a mud-legged family, had never seen it and could not correctly understand the role of astronomy, he thought it was useless and smashed it.

Smashed.