First, the turn of the Tang and Song Dynasties
It is an important task of history to divide historical stages according to the basic laws of social development. "The biggest feature of history is' change'. Studying history is to understand its changes. If it is not divided into stages, it is not easy to explain the truth of its changes. The purpose of historical staging is to help us find out the change point of history and further observe its qualitative and quantitative changes, so as to understand the characteristics of each era. " (Selected Papers on General History in China, Taiwan Province Province)
"Unification of ancient and modern changes" is a fine tradition of China's historiography. The so-called changes include homogeneous changes and heterogeneous changes. The change of homogeneity is a major internal change under the natural unity; The change of heterogeneity reflects the fundamental change.
"In short, between Tang and Song Dynasties, it was a period of transformation from the big landlord system to the landlord system, and its change was as great as that in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period" (Zhang's Introduction and Reflection on the Theory of "Tang and Song Transformation Period"). Its great transformation can be roughly summarized as five aspects:
"Politically, from aristocratic politics to dictatorship, doctor of law, Shu Ren is in the ceremony; Economically, the state-owned land system has been changed to the landlord's private land system, and the Ministry system has been changed to the tenant farming system. "The land system is not established" and "the merger is not suppressed"; Culturally, from aristocratic culture to civilian culture, things like "chin beauty" such as words and songs have become elegant and fashionable one after another, and the status of novels has also improved; Ideologically, Confucianism, which pursues ideals and pays attention to benevolence and righteousness, has evolved into Neo-Confucianism, which pays attention to reality and advocates morality. In social customs, hierarchical boundaries have been broken, and innovation and change have become social trends. All this not only constituted a brand-new look of the society in the Song Dynasty, but also laid the foundation for the basic customs of China society. "
The period between the Tang and Song Dynasties is a period of great change in the history of China, which has become an indisputable knowledge in the field of history from ancient times to the present. Through historical research, this "change" covers all aspects of politics, economy, culture and society, which can be described as extensive, massive and particularly remarkable. Therefore, there are theories such as "the theory of reform in Tang and Song Dynasties", "the theory of approaching the body in Song Dynasty" (Japan), "the new traditional period" (British economic historian R.H. Tawney), "the new situation" (Chen Yinke), "the previous generation remained unchanged" (Qian Mu), "the study of approaching the body" (Wang Guowei) and "the study of modernity".
Although there are different emphases on the use of historical materials or methods, the general appraisal trend is a great change during the Tang and Song Dynasties, reaching a certain degree of "turning point" or "change" (fundamental change). But is this great change "turning point" or "change", or "homogeneity" or "heterogeneity"? This is where the differences lie.
Second, the changes of science and technology in Tang and Song Dynasties
Unfortunately, the study of Tang and Song Dynasties has always paid more attention to the relations of production or economic system, but the study of productivity and science and technology has not been paid enough attention by historians.
For more than a century, scholars at home and abroad have set off a wave of research on the history of Tang and Song Dynasties from multiple dimensions, discussing the great changes between Tang and Song Dynasties, and some even compared this period with the European Renaissance.
But the Renaissance made the bourgeoisie in Western Europe truly become an independent class (this is the first time in human history). Whether a class can become an independent force is judged by whether it has a unique ideological weapon. The reason why ancient businessmen in China could not change the social trend was that they did not have their own ideological system, which made them not only unable to get rid of the influence of the old forces, but also dependent on them. In other words, although they are rich, they are still thinking about old things. Therefore, the great geographical discovery laid the material foundation of the bourgeoisie, and what really made the bourgeoisie in western Europe stand up and transform the old order was the great ideological liberation brought about by the Renaissance.
It can be said that in terms of class and ideology, there was no change in the degree of "Renaissance" in Tang and Song Dynasties. Because the economic base determines the superstructure.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, China's agriculture and the whole social economy reached a higher level. British Emmanuel and American Hao Ruobei even called the Song Dynasty the period of economic revolution, while French scholar Etienne Balazs and China scholar Shu Shicheng regarded the Song Dynasty as the early stage of capitalism. But there was no economic basis for qualitative change in Tang and Song Dynasties.
Chinese civilization developed in a semi-closed geographical environment. The natural geographical barriers, such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the southwest, the Gobi Desert in the northwest and the sea in the southeast, are insurmountable on the one hand, and create a stable environment suitable for agricultural economic development on the other. Therefore, the natural economy based on agriculture has always been an important cornerstone and leading economy for the development, derivation, unification and integration of "closed" China.
"Science and technology are the primary productive forces." The agricultural leading economy achieved rapid development and staged promotion in the Tang and Song Dynasties, which could not be separated from the power of science and technology. What can promote the vigorous development of economy and culture is advanced science and technology, and developed material civilization and spiritual civilization will in turn accelerate their development through science and technology.
1, the light of science and technology in Tang and Song Dynasties illuminates the world.
Joseph Needham, a British biochemist, sinologist and expert in the history of science in modern times, once said that China maintained a level of scientific knowledge that was beyond the reach of the West from the 3rd century to the 3rd century, and China's inventions and discoveries "often far surpassed that of Europe in the same period, especially before the 5th century". The middle Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty was a peak in this period. The three great inventions—printing, gunpowder and compass, which Marx called "indicating the arrival of bourgeois society", appeared in this period and were quickly transformed into commodities, which promoted the all-round development of social culture and economy.
The social nature of traditional agriculture determines agronomy and astronomy, calendar, mathematics and medicine closely related to agronomy, which is the main aspect of ancient science and technology in China.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, agricultural technology and water conservancy projects developed unprecedentedly, and many lineages of animals and plants appeared, such as the traditional step plow, the "smart agriculture" waterwheel ("truck"), the seedling raising and sowing technology, the tea monograph "Tea Classic", the agricultural works "Chen Fu Agricultural Book" and "Chrysanthemum Shop". Imoko's masterpiece "Historical Model of China" studies in detail the agricultural level of China in13rd century, including tools, fertilizers, crop varieties and their introduction and improvement, irrigation system, commercialization of agricultural products, etc. Yi Maoke believed that the agricultural revolution had taken place in China in Song Dynasty, the south became the national granary, the Grand Canal was like a commercial passage, and China had the highest agricultural productivity in the world at that time.
For the needs of agricultural production and calendar making, many breakthroughs were made in astronomy and geography in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Monk and his party (real name Zhang Sui) were the most famous astronomers in the Tang Dynasty. He is proficient in Buddhism, calendar, mathematics and astronomy. He is the first person in the world to accurately measure the meridian length and the first astronomer in the world to discover the change of the position of stars. Before his death, he compiled a draft of Da Yan Li, which was later compiled into a book by Zhang Shuo and others. This is an important almanac in ancient China. The "Waterborne Observatory" in Song Dynasty was the first astronomical clock in the world. Essentials of New Instruments and Images directly influenced European astronomy after 100 years. The Nine Chapters of Mathematics finally solved the approximate calculation of rational and irrational roots of mathematical higher-order equations, the first congruence problem, the triclinic quadrature problem and so on, and became a mathematical work that influenced the world. Geographical works include National Records, Flowers in the Sea and Yuanhe County Records, the earliest local annals in China, which have great influence.
There were specialized medical universities in the Tang and Song Dynasties. During Wang Anshi's political reform, a special medical education institution "Taiyi Bureau" was established, and the medical administrative institutions were relatively perfect. There have been "black technology" surgical operations such as cleft lip repair, wooden artificial eye and making dentures with amalgam. Sun Simiao, the "King of Medicine", summed up all the medical achievements of past dynasties as a "thousand gold prescriptions" and became a medical classic handed down from generation to generation. Song Tiansheng's Acupuncture at Tongren Point contained in Wang's Illustration of Acupuncture at Tongren Point is an important pioneering work of medical acupuncture in the Northern Song Dynasty. The publication of the world's first systematic forensic work, The Collection of Inquiry Records, marks the establishment of an autopsy system. 300 years later, the first western forensic work, Doctor's Report, came out.
In addition, Shen Kuo's Meng Qian Bi Tan is definitely a masterpiece of science and technology in the Song Dynasty, and it is a comprehensive summary of science and technology in the Song Dynasty. Meng Qianbi's many scientific and technological achievements recorded by Tan Can rank first in the world: according to fossils, the paleoclimate change is inferred, which is more than 400 years earlier than that of Western Europe; The origin of North China Plain and Yandang Mountain is expounded by running water erosion theory, which is 700 years earlier than similar western theories. His new calendar is 800 years earlier than the similar European Bernard Shaw lunar calendar. Shen Kuo calculated that the total number of chess games in Weiqi is 36 1 power of 3, and estimated its layout. If it is expressed by numbers, it needs tens of thousands of words, which is unique in the ancient world. Joseph Needham, a historian of western science and technology, praised this book as "the coordinate and milestone in the history of science in China" and Shen Kuo as "the most outstanding figure in the whole history of science in China".
The Tang and Song Dynasties were the peak period of China's ancient scientific and technological development, especially the Song Dynasty, which was the intensive period of scientific and technological innovation, leading the world in mathematics, astronomy, calendar, geography, physics, chemistry, medicine, agriculture, water conservancy, architecture, smelting, mining, machinery and many other aspects.
2. Behind the prosperity of science and technology in Tang and Song Dynasties
? "Scientific and technological progress is the driving force to promote the breadth and depth of economic development" (Zheng and Xu Dongsheng, Research on the Relationship between Science and Technology and Economic Development in Tang and Song Dynasties).
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, a large number of large-scale handicraft workshops appeared. Industrial agglomeration began to appear, such as porcelain production base in Jingdezhen, silk production base in Chengdu, paper production base in Huizhou and book publishing base in Hangzhou. All of them have promoted industrial innovation and upgrading. The prosperity of market economy has also promoted the development of monetary economy, and the financial industry in the form of shop-to-cabinet has begun to appear. Financial services such as flying money and convenient money like bills of exchange sprouted and developed, and the earliest paper money exchange in the world also appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty. The emergence of financial industry and financial capital has further promoted the accumulation of wealth and the expansion of various industries.
The combination of market and technology has also brought about profound changes in industrial structure. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the internal differentiation of agriculture has been very obvious, the proportion of cash crops has been rising, and the scale of industry and commerce has been expanding. The profound changes in the industrial structure have brought about profound changes in the tax structure. From the Northern Song Dynasty to the end of Daoism (997), the end of Tianxi (102 1) and the tenth year of Xining (1077), the proportions of agricultural tax and non-agricultural tax were 60: 40, 40: 60 and 28: 72, respectively, and industrial and commercial tax exceeded agricultural tax for the first time in the history of China. )。
All of the above can best support the social "reform" theories such as "the theory of reform in Tang and Song Dynasties" and "the theory of modern times in Tang and Song Dynasties".
Third, the essence of scientific and technological prosperity in Tang and Song Dynasties
For China history researchers, there is an eternal proposition: Why didn't China develop capitalism independently and open the door to modernization by itself?
The prosperity of science and technology has indeed greatly promoted the economic development and the birth of new social factors, but in the final analysis, the prosperity of science and technology in the Tang and Song Dynasties was based on the needs of agricultural production, the development of agricultural society and the stable product of ruling power on this basis. China has been a big agricultural country since ancient times, which determines the road of China's scientific and technological development and influences the shaping of China's ancient economy. The development of science and technology, economic system and commodity economy based on agricultural production have shaped the basic economic model of ancient China.
In the traditional way of life of "building the country by agriculture", the institutional orientation of state machinery is "persuading agriculture", handicrafts related to agricultural product processing are particularly developed, and agriculture and water conservancy technologies that play a fundamental role in social and economic development can also be fully developed. But generally speaking, industries such as brewing, sugar refining and oil extraction basically stay in the stage of family sideline, and workshop-style production is not common among the people except the government. The experience in production technology is outstanding. Technology itself is not a commodity, but a personal skill, which is not diffuse enough to quickly become a scale productivity. The cultural tendency of attaching importance to politics over technology and Taoism over weapons also makes the rulers and people pay attention to science and technology only at the practical level, which is reflected in the technological achievements in astronomy, geography, mathematics and medicine. The four great inventions are also technological inventions and innovations of non-scientific theories.
As mentioned above, the commodity economy developed rapidly in the Song Dynasty. But in fact, the rulers are more aware of attaching importance to agriculture than before. According to Tuotuo's History of the Song Dynasty, "If a king wants to have a good life, he should not plough until he has accumulated grain, and salt and iron will be the last." The combination of small farmers and cottage industries is stronger. The centralized Song Dynasty strengthened the policy of "emphasizing agriculture and restraining business" and changed the tax structure, with business tax higher than agricultural tax. At the same time, monopoly is implemented in the field of commodity production and circulation, official shipping services are set up, and local overseas trade is strictly restricted. The overseas trade in Song Dynasty was mainly official monopoly trade (Zhang Wenfang's On the Self-obstacle of Commodity Economy Development in Song Dynasty). The commodity economy in Song Dynasty was dominated by the government, supplemented by the private sector, and contained each other. Therefore, the commodity economy under the unprecedented powerful centralized rule in Song Dynasty is only a necessary supplement, and it is not and cannot grow into a negative factor of agricultural natural economy, let alone disintegrate it and become a dominant factor, thus causing changes in production methods. Therefore, it is impossible to bring qualitative changes to society.
To sum up, China has been an agricultural society for a long time since the Tang and Song Dynasties. The most important thing in an agricultural society is experience, and the most important thing is practicality. The science and technology needed from this is also practical, and most of them serve agriculture and handicrafts, strengthening the ruling power of the unified system. The science and technology in the Tang and Song Dynasties was unprecedented, but it was by no means independent. Just as China's 5,000-year-old civilization is endless, the science and technology in the Tang and Song Dynasties can also be said to be "a link between the past and the future", which is at the commanding height. In other words, compared with the previous period, the science and technology in the Tang and Song Dynasties developed continuously, with the same quality and the highest level under the framework of natural economic development.
The changes in the Tang and Song Dynasties caused a lot of concern and controversy because of the scope and depth of the changes. However, under the framework of historical materialism, these changes and differences are not qualitative changes, but only quantitative changes. Strictly speaking, this is a stage "turning point" in China ancient society. If we have to apply the historical summary of feudalism, as Qi Xia and Deng Guangming said, this is "the two saddle-shaped peaks of China's feudal economic development", "the highest stage of China's feudal social development" and "the highest level of material civilization and spiritual civilization in China's feudal society, which can be said to be unprecedented in the historical period of China's feudal society", pushing it to a huge turning point in politics, culture and society.