The Needham puzzle is very intriguing. It is like a complex "higher order equation" in the kingdom of science.

Joseph Needham, a famous British biochemist, has made great achievements in the biochemical research of embryo development. Later, he became an authority with his outstanding contribution to the study of the history of science and technology in China, and formally put forward the famous Needham puzzle in his 15 volume History of Science and Technology in China: "If my friends in China are exactly the same as me intellectually, why are great people like Galileo, Tolley, Steven and Newton?" Why does modern science and scientific revolution only happen in Europe? ..... Why was China more advanced than Europe until the Middle Ages, but later let Europeans take the lead? How did this change happen? "

As we all know, China is a world-renowned ancient civilization, which once had a proud glory in science and technology. In addition to the four world-famous inventions, there are as many as 100 scientific inventions and discoveries that are ahead of the world. Robert Temple, an American scholar, wrote in his famous book "China, the Country of Invention": "If the Nobel Prize was established in ancient China, then the winners of all the prizes will undoubtedly belong to China people."

However, since the middle of17th century, China's science and technology, like a declining river, has fallen into a dilemma. According to relevant data, from the 6th century to the beginning of17th century, the proportion of China in the world's major scientific and technological achievements has been above 54%, but by19th century, it dropped sharply to only 0.4%. Why China and the West have plunged and soared in science and technology, which has opened such a big distance, is a puzzle that Needham has long found incredible and puzzling.

Needham not only raised questions in the history of science and technology in China, but also tried to find the answer to this difficult problem. Although the answer he sought was not systematic and profound, and even he was not satisfied, it left us traces of exploration and provided valuable thinking results for the answer to this difficult problem.

solve

1949 since the founding of new China, especially the strong impetus of the reform and opening up in the past 20 years, science and technology in China have ushered in a new spring, and various disciplines have made remarkable achievements. But on the whole, there is still a big gap compared with developed countries. Although the gross domestic product ranks seventh in the world, the competitiveness of science and technology ranks 28th in the world, and the international competitiveness of scientific research and patent indicators ranks 32nd and 2 1 respectively, which is far behind the economic competitiveness. The number of scientific papers published in China is relatively small. According to the statistics of the Institute of National Defense Management and Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, 1997, the number of papers published by China ranked ninth in the world, and the number of papers published by scientific papers index ranked 12, accounting for only 1.6% of the total world papers in that year, equivalent to 6% in the United States and 19% in the United Kingdom. None of the 200 universities that publish the most papers in the world is from Chinese mainland. For another example, the United States now applies for more than 200,000 domestic invention patents every year, while Japan has more than 400,000, and China has only 6.5438+0.3 million. It seems that in today's great economic progress, we still haven't got rid of the Needham problem.

Where is the solution to Needham's puzzle? That is, how to get rid of the hat that China is backward in science and technology, or how to make science and technology and economy develop harmoniously and at the same frequency? The practice of scientific development has repeatedly proved that man is the pioneer of the primary productive force, and the quantity and quality of scientific and technological talents directly determine the scientific and technological level of a country. From June1996165438+10 to August 1997, China conducted the largest public scientific literacy survey since the founding of the People's Republic of China. The calculation results show that the proportion of people in China who understand the social impact of science is 3.3%, the proportion of people who understand the scientific research process is 2.7%, and the proportion who have scientific literacy is only 0.3%. According to the World Science Report published by UNESCO, the number of scientists and engineers per thousand people is 4.7 in Japan, 3.8 in the United States, 2.8 in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, 1.9 in Europe, 1 person in newly industrialized countries or regions in Asia, and only 0.0 in China. The above two sets of figures are quite helpful to decipher the Needham puzzle. It is precisely because of the absolute advantages of talents in quantity and quality that western developed countries are at the forefront of world science and technology. It is conceivable that a country lacking scientific and technological talents will inevitably be in an embarrassing situation of backward science and technology.

It should be noted that scientific thought has not been sufficiently rooted and excavated in this ancient land of China, which is a very critical historical and social root. There is no obvious difference in quality between China scientists and foreign scientists. Zuckerman, an American social scientist, analyzed 3 13 Nobel Prize winners, and found that many of them were members of excellent scientists and had been taught by famous teachers. Only the Cavendish laboratory in Britain has produced 17 Nobel Prize winners. Some people think that western science has a good tradition of "seeking difference" when analyzing the reasons why China has missed the Nobel Prize in Science so far, so they always deliberately seek innovation. However, Chinese traditional culture attaches great importance to the ideological control of "keeping one" and "keeping one", which seriously affects the germination of science and inhibits people's creative spirit. Nowadays, it is clear to the whole world that the main theme of the 20th century is science and technology. Whether you can become the excitement or even the concern of a nation, the most important thing to pay attention to is what you think and admire, which is the same as the reconciliation of the Needham problem.

use for reference

Where is the key to the rise and fall of science? "Needham Problem" and its enlightenment to us should be sober-minded, that is, with a strategic vision and task, vigorously cultivate fertile soil on which the scientific spirit depends and speed up the pace of training scientific and technological talents as the key chain and lever link for our great and ancient Chinese nation to stand on its own feet in the world. Only in this way can we catch up with the advanced, recreate the brilliance and usher in a scientific spring with birds singing and flowers changing with each passing day!

A solution

Before, I wrote a paper on "Why China was humiliated in modern times", which mentioned three historical events, namely, "The Hongwu period was too strict, the Chongzhen period was too negligent, and the Qianlong period was too pedantic", which directly led to the humiliating history of China. In fact, throughout the 4,000-year history of Chinese civilization, there is only one fundamental reason that can really make modern China backward and wronged, and that is the feudal autocracy that has persisted in China for more than 2,000 years.

Feudal autocracy was born in the Qin Dynasty. This autocratic system is actually the product of decadent feudal society, because in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the long-term division and war caused by the imperfection of feudal system greatly affected China's economy, even people's livelihood and social unrest. In view of this depressed, decadent and disappointing social outlook, many writers at that time were struggling to find a way out and turned to philosophical exploration. Kong Qiu called for the restoration of the etiquette system of the Zhou Dynasty and then the traditional feudal rule. At the same time, in order to avoid another turmoil, he asked the ruler to "be benevolent"; Zhuang Zhou is worse. He is extremely dissatisfied and disappointed with the reality, and his works are filled with a pessimistic mood. Han Fei is a man with a little foresight. He put forward an epoch-making proposal, that is, to rule the country by law and concentrate power on the monarch; Mo Zhai's greatest achievement was in science, and his analysis of social phenomena at that time was superficial. He only thinks that the greed of all those in power has led to years of war, so he advocates "universal love" and "non-attack", completely excusing the ruling class. Dong Zhongshu, a later generation, summed up a set of thoughts on maintaining absolute monarchy by synthesizing various thoughts. The successful implementation of this idea had a great influence in the history of China, and its success was inseparable from the coronation of Qin Shihuang.

At the end of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, because the traditional feudal system could not survive, the country faced a serious crisis. In order to adapt to the development of historical trend and maintain the status of feudal rulers, the monarch of the Western Qin Dynasty was crowned emperor after reunifying the whole country by force, and all his powers were in one. His actions did not disturb the Chinese people because his performance in stopping the war made them not only hate him, but also thank him. After Qin Shihuang succeeded to the throne, he was arrogant and extravagant, which made people wake up from their dreams and realize that there is no happiness in the world that can be bought without spending money. The angry people rose up against tyranny and the country fell into chaos again. The people found that the revolution did not make them happy, but made them more miserable, so the kind people who yearned for a peaceful life laid down their weapons. After four years of Chu-Han War, Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang learned from Qin Huang and became emperor himself. The rulers of the Han Dynasty kept in mind the lessons of the past, recuperated and won the hearts of the people, and then let go of their hands and feet to eliminate political dissidents and consolidate the autocratic monarchy. This situation remained until the late Qing Dynasty.

Why did the monarch of China strengthen the autocracy to a terrible degree? Because China people are too smart. China people know that to achieve a goal requires unremitting efforts, the efforts passed down from generation to generation by foolish men, and the need to constantly cheat others' trust. Autocratic emperors took the first step towards autocracy in Shang Dynasty or even earlier: eldest son inheritance system and royal autocracy. This is a sign of unprecedented strengthening of clan power. Although people with foreign surnames can still hold official positions, they have no right to be in charge of major events. The second step is to abolish the priests. Abolishing priests will mean that in the near future, perhaps after several generations of monarchs, the monarchy and theocracy can be combined into one. In this way, by the beginning of the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty, monarchical power, divine power and clan power had actually been trinity. Then what we have to do is the system of rites and music. It stipulates the hierarchical affiliation of monarch, minister, father and son, husband and wife and brother, and the monarch is the son of heaven. After that, the king simply called himself the "emperor", and even the prince became the "crown prince" directly, and the throne was hereditary. Political and economic obedience is not enough, but also cultural and ideological restrictions. From "burning books to burying Confucianism" to "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", the victory of ideological unity has come to an end. In this way, the emperor basically removed all obstacles and could do whatever he wanted.

As mentioned above, the monarch of China is impeccable in integrating political power, theocracy and clan power. The separation of monarchs, nobles and popes in the western kingdom could have urged each other, but it caused the three to collude with each other to squeeze the people. But at the same time, people are easy to resist. For example, I can say that I oppose theocracy for freedom, but I won't admit that I oppose the king for the time being. The reason why I support the king is that the Pope maliciously interferes with state power. Anyone can exploit the loopholes of the three and break them one by one to achieve the goal of opposing feudal rule. China is not like this. Opposing the authority of heaven is "bullying the monarch and treason", and opposing bureaucrats and nobles will not come to a good end, and the people cannot resist. More importantly, the ancient ruling class in China implemented the policy of "emphasizing agriculture and restraining commerce", severely suppressed private businessmen and nationalized commerce, thus restraining the emergence of advanced modes of production. In addition, because Europe has a tradition of democracy since ancient times, people hate the monarch's violation of tradition. In China, although the story of Yao, Shun and Yu abdicated is circulated among the people, it is unrealistic after all.

In fact, the idea of "great unification" is also extremely useful for consolidating authoritarian regimes. For example, Emperor China and the French king wanted to build luxurious palaces for their own enjoyment, so they needed the same financial resources, so they extorted manpower and talents from the whole country. At this time, because there are many adults in China, there are fewer tasks assigned to everyone, and people's grievances are also light; France, on the other hand, is sparsely populated. In order to satisfy the king's extravagant desire, every citizen has to make great efforts, so of course the people will not do it. So the French Revolution broke out, and China was already dead. This ensured the development of science and technology in France and the whole European continent, while China was still in the shadow of absolute monarchy. Because of this, China's absolute monarchy was guaranteed, and modern China's science and technology fell into a trough.

Is the above discussion the final answer to Needham's question? Nobody knows. However, through the in-depth discussion of Needham issue, we can learn from the past and strive to improve the scientific and technological level of China.

Actually, there is no need to say so much. Why did China lag behind in modern times? It was because after the Qing army entered the customs, three butchers in Jiading changed Hanfu into clothes covered in clothes, and a series of atrocities such as "leaving no hair, leaving no hair" suppressed the national pride and pride of the Han nationality, the main ethnic group in China, especially the nomadic "post-Jin" people. If they want to rule the Han nationality, which is extremely developed in culture and thought, there is only one way, and they are closed to the outside world. This is why China had frequent contacts with foreign countries in the Ming Dynasty, but by the Qing Dynasty, the communication between China and the outside world had completely disappeared!

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the gate was smashed open by western guns, and the history of China's humiliation was revealed. However, when Zheng He went to the Western Ocean for the first time in the Ming Dynasty, there were 62 large treasure ships, more than 200 small boats and more than 27,800 officers and men. Weave a neat and orderly formation, tread the blue waves, ride the wind and waves, and go abroad vastly. On the third voyage to the West, there were 48 large treasure ships with more than 27,000 officers and men. On the fourth voyage to the West, there were 63 large treasure ships with more than 27,600 officers and men. On the seventh voyage to the West, there were 6 treasure ships1ship, with more than 27,500 officers and men. Zheng He's fleet was dominated by treasure ships, in addition to horse ships, grain ships, boats, warships and other ships, which was the largest fleet in the world at that time. Zheng Hebao is 44 feet long (over 138 meters) and 18 feet wide (56 meters). This treasure ship has nine masts and twelve sails. It is "majestic, and it is impossible for two or three hundred people to set sail and break down." This was the largest ship in the world at that time. Da Gama went to India with only four ships, about 160 people, Columbus went to America with only Minlang elegy, with more than 80 people, and Magellan went to the Philippines with only five ships, with more than 260 people, which was dwarfed by Zheng He's fleet.

Moreover, when Zheng He went to the Western Ocean, all the ships were equipped with the most advanced guns in the world at that time, and the most were equipped with 183 guns, and each gun could fire three shots in succession, causing devastating damage! However, look at the so-called strongest "Beiyang Navy" in the Qing Dynasty, which used the so-called German-made armored ship, but it was beaten to pieces and completely annihilated! If China can develop for another 400 years according to the development trend of the Ming Dynasty! Only when we invade the west can we say that we will be defeated!