China had brilliant scientific and technological achievements in ancient times. Correspondingly, there was also a relatively advanced and developed scientific and technological archives work in the world at that time. Generally speaking, China ancient science and technology archives work has the following characteristics:

1. China ancient science and technology archives work is the oldest, most continuous and richest in the ancient world. We can briefly explain the antiquity of China's ancient scientific and technological archives from the following aspects: First, the earliest archival record in China-the ancient method of persuading Xia Jie recorded by Taishiling. Including map science and technology archives; Secondly, the earliest known archives in China-Oracle Bone Inscriptions Archives contains a lot of astronomy, geography, agriculture, medicine and other aspects. Thirdly, Tai Shiling, the earliest archivist in China, is a scientist who is proficient in astronomy. His archival books include scientific and technological archives (such as astronomical archives). Fourthly, the earliest known regular archives warehouse in ancient China should be the Shiqu Pavilion in Han Dynasty, and the archives collected by Shiqu Pavilion are the archives of Qin Library collected by Xiao He. As scientific and technological archives, maps occupy a large proportion. Above all, through the earliest records of archives, the earliest objects of archives, the earliest archivists and the earlier collection of official archives, it fully shows that the ancient scientific and technological archives work in China is very old and has a very long history.

China ancient science and technology archives work also has obvious continuity; First of all, this continuity is related to the continuity of the whole archival work in ancient China. Apart from being destroyed by the war, when the ancient dynasties in China changed, the new dynasty always tried to collect and use the archives of the previous dynasty, including scientific and technological archives. The most typical example is the story of Xiao He's collection of Qin Shu; Secondly, this continuity can also be confirmed from all kinds of information now. For example, the astronomical records of solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, comets and sunspots in ancient China are systematic and continuous; Thirdly, to some extent, the continuity of China ancient science and technology archives work is stronger than that of literature archives work. Because many scientific and technological archives, such as astronomical and geographical archives, are indispensable tools for the effective rule of the ancient rulers of China, as long as the rulers can get them, they will generally actively collect and preserve them. For example, Qin Shihuang in the war to unify China. He attached great importance to the collection, preservation and utilization of map archives, and it was by taking advantage of his eagerness to seek maps that Jing Ke almost succeeded in assassination by offering Du Kangtu. Moreover, after the reunification of Qin Shihuang, the ancient books of the six countries were burned, but some scientific and technological files and books were actively collected and preserved. For example, in the Historical Records of Qin Shihuang, it was said: "Those who don't go, the books of medical books, divination and tree planting." In a word, China ancient science and technology archives work has unparalleled continuity in the ancient history of the world. The antiquity and continuity of China's ancient scientific and technological archives work determine that its heritage must be very rich. Take astronomical archives for example: There are many astronomical records in ancient China, including solar eclipse, lunar eclipse, comet, meteor, meteor, meteorite, sunspot, nova and supernova, moon occultation, planetary convergence, planetary dynamics, daytime stargazing, zodiacal light and so on. These records account for the vast majority of the world's records in the same period, and some even account for more than 90%. The number is indeed unmatched by other countries.

Two, China's ancient science and technology archives are mainly composed of astronomical archives, geographical archives, agricultural archives, medical archives, architectural archives and other practical science and technology archives. The development of ancient science and technology in China is mainly manifested in practical technology. Developing practical technology is the need of governance and production development. Specifically, China's astronomical observation and preservation of astronomical archives in ancient times was to draw up a calendar in response to his theory of "the interaction between man and nature". Geographical research, especially the production and preservation of map documents, is for military purposes and agricultural production, tax collection, transportation and other needs; In ancient China, agriculture was the foundation of the country. Many speeches by local officials were related to agriculture, as were various documents of the central government. Ancient medical archives are the inevitable product of the development of traditional Chinese medicine, from the medical records of Chun Yu Yue to the court medical archives, the number is also considerable; Ancient palaces, palaces and other buildings were built by the Ministry of Industry of the government (also known as "masters"), and their drawings were also kept in the government, forming a certain number of architectural files. The "Style Lei" of the Qing Dynasty (the hereditary design officer of the Qing royal family) left thousands of drawings. In addition, other scientific and technological files are sporadic.

Third, the formation of ancient scientific and technological archives in China is mainly bureaucratic scientists. In ancient China, there was a special system of selecting officials, that is, seeking officials by skill. Most of the famous scientists are bureaucrats (or officials), such as Li Bing, Yan Shengzhi, Sima Qian, Cai Lun, Zhang Heng, Zhang Zhongjing, Ma Jun, Pei Xiu, Zu Chongzhi, Shen Kuo, Guo Shoujing, Li Shizhen, Xu Guangqi and Song. These bureaucratic scientists are different from ordinary civilian scientists. The purpose of their scientific and technological activities is to meet the needs of ruling activities and get the favor of the emperor. The results are generally dedicated to the emperor and kept as official files. After these bureaucratic scientists abandoned their posts, their loyalty to the monarch remained deeply rooted. Li Shizhen, for example, gave up his official position and devoted himself to medical research, but after he finished writing Compendium of Materia Medica, he died, and his descendants will dedicate this masterpiece to the emperor. One advantage of this practice is that because scientists are officials at the same time, their achievements can be preserved as archives, and they also become the creators of official scientific and technological archives. Civilian scientists do not have this condition. If their achievements cannot be circulated as works, it will be difficult to preserve them, let alone be used by future generations.

Four. The preservation of ancient scientific and technological archives in China is in the form of centralized preservation by professional departments and key preservation by courts, and there is a good collection system of scientific and technological archives. Most of the official scientific and technological archives in ancient China were formed by various related scientific and technological departments. Generally speaking, the scientific and technological archives formed by this department are mainly kept by this department. Let's take the bone-sign file as an example: the bone-sign file was formed by the industrial and official departments of the Han Dynasty, and it was kept in the handicraft management file of this yamen. It is said that it is "preserved in this yamen" because it was unearthed. Because it is a huge amount of manufacturing management files (up to more than 30 thousand pieces) found in the same place-the architectural site of the Ministry of Industry and official institutions affiliated to Weiyang Palace in the Western Han Dynasty. This massive file with the same content cannot be kept by the department for a long time. In addition, there are astronomical archives, map archives and medical archives. It is also preserved in a large number of corresponding organs such as Qin, Ministry of War, and Imperial Medical Supervision. In addition to the scientific and technological archives formed by the relevant authorities, important scientific and technological archives are generally written by the emperor and kept in the court. Let's take the astronomical archives of the Qing Dynasty as an example. Every February, Qin presented it to the emperor in the form of the constitution book (almanac) of the following year, and the emperor began to formally compile it after reading it correctly. In November, the completed constitution book was presented to the emperor, and the imperial examination book was kept as a file in the palace. Qin also observed the celestial phenomena and measured his body at the sun, the moon and the five stars. All rain or shine, meteors and alien stars are recorded monthly, compiled into a book, submitted in February of the following year, and so on. In addition to the astronomical archives played by Qin, there are also astronomical and meteorological archives played by local officials in the Qing court. For example, Jiangning, Suzhou and other places in the Qing Dynasty submitted a beautiful Record of Qing Yu to the central government every month. It can be seen from the above that the preservation of official scientific and technological archives in ancient China mainly adopts the combination of centralized preservation by professional departments and key preservation by courts. This method was reasonable and effective at that time. This is one of the important reasons why we can inherit the rich archives heritage today. In ancient China, there was still a strict collection system of official scientific and technological archives. Let's take the collection of map files in the Tang Dynasty as an example: the map files in the Tang Dynasty are managed by the Ministry of War. The Map of Outland was commissioned by the Ministry of War and drawn by Hong Jingqing. The Ministry of War in the Six Codes of the Tang Dynasty stated: "Hong Jing was entrusted to inquire about the mountains and rivers of his country for the purpose of drawing." The domestic map is "entrusted by the state government every three years, and the version is in the province." Such as the change of mountains and rivers, the change of counties, the abolition of towns, and the battle on the battlefield, etc., must be corrected at any time and reported to the employer. In the first year of Jianzhong (AD 780)165438+1October 29th, the system of making drawings once every three years and sending them to employers was changed to once every five years. If the geographical elements change greatly within one year and are not limited by five years, the drawings will be sent to the Ministry of War in time. In addition, the drawing paper is uniformly distributed by employees, and the drawing method and quality are clearly defined.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) The carriers of ancient scientific and technological archives in China are diverse and have their own characteristics. Compared with other countries in the world at the same time, the carriers of ancient scientific and technological archives in China are various and have their own characteristics. In addition to paper, there are Oracle Bone Inscriptions (including dominoes), silk, bamboo slips, metals, stones and other forms of carrier materials. 1. Oracle Bone Inscriptions science and technology archives. The scientific archives of Oracle bones first refers to the archival materials made of tortoise shells and animal bones unearthed in Yin Ruins, including astronomy, meteorology, agriculture, medicine and so on. For example, in astronomy, astronomical records such as solar eclipse, lunar eclipse, nova and solar bait are by far the oldest archival records in the world, and so on. Not long ago, a new member was added to Oracle Bone Inscriptions's science and technology archives family, which is the oracle files of Han Dynasty unearthed in recent years. As an industry management file, bone signature file is made of high-grade aggregate, with small volume, easy centralized placement, high technical content and neat and smooth surface. The words on it were carved with a book knife and filled with mineral color. The knife and pen are powerful and are high-standard archival materials. 2. Silk science and technology archives. In ancient China, some scientific and technological archives were extremely precious. Therefore, expensive silk is often used to make them. The famous silk science and technology archives include three ancient maps and five-star Zhan unearthed from Mawangdui No.3 Han Tomb. 3. Jane's science and technology archives. Simple strategy is a widely used carrier of scientific and technological archives. The famous files of Jiance Technology include the earliest genealogical file in China-the resume of seven-year bamboo slips of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty unearthed in Linyi, Shandong Province, and the earliest forensic file in the world-the forensic file of Qin bamboo slips unearthed in Yunmeng, Hubei Province. 4. Stone carving science and technology archives. The physical objects of stone carving science and technology archives are one of the more physical objects left in the science and technology archives before Ming and Qing Dynasties in China. On the one hand, stone is easy to be preserved for a long time, on the other hand, the ancients often carved various patterns and other scientific and technological files on stone, and called it stone appreciation. The famous stone carving science and technology archives include the huahe map of anbeilin; Various inscriptions on floods and low water in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River; Luoyang Longmen Grottoes, Fangzi Cave, stone carvings, prescriptions, etc. 5. Scientific and technological archives of metals and other special materials. Other special carriers of China ancient science and technology archives include metal, wood board, wax, etc. The famous scientific and technological archives of metal materials include the bronze version of Zhao Yu map unearthed from the tomb of King Zhongshan in the Warring States Period, the panoramic map of the royal family in the Qing Dynasty, and the map of Gan Long Neifu. The famous woodcut science and technology archives include the earliest ancient maps in the world-seven maps unearthed from Qin No.1 tomb in Fangmatan, Tianshui, etc. The famous wax figure science and technology archives include the three-dimensional geographic model map made by Shen Kuo.

The use of ancient scientific and technological archives in China is generally limited to official ruling activities and official scientific and technological research. China's official institutions have established a relatively strict system of scientific and technological archives work, mainly to serve their ruling activities. We only take ancient maps as an example: in ancient China, map archives were mainly used to serve the government for political rule, military activities and tax collection. First of all, map archives are endowed with strong political significance and regarded as a symbol of national territorial sovereignty. Han Feizi once said, "If you give a map, you will cut the land ... If you cut the land, you will cut the country." Therefore, anyone who surrenders should show a map of his own country or local area to show that the territory belongs to the other side. Secondly, map archives play an important role in military activities, which is reflected in Guanzi Map. "All the main soldiers must know the map first, ... then they can March and attack the city and know the order of action without losing their geographical position. This picture is also common. " It is precisely because of this important military significance that the Ministry of War became the traditional organization for keeping map files in ancient China. Thirdly, the broader practical significance of China's ancient scientific and technological archives lies in its service for the country's administrative and economic activities. According to Zhou Li Tianguan, "Xiao Zai ... three days later, he listened to the territory of Lu Li." The map mentioned here is an administrative map used for both administrative management and household registration, which has been widely used as a powerful tool for administrative management in ancient China. From the "territory" of the Zhou Dynasty to the "picture books" of the Qin and Han Dynasties (Xiao He's picture books of the Qin Dynasty belong to this category), and then to the yellow books and fish-scale books of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it comes down in one continuous line. This kind of map is closely related to the country's economic income, is the basis of tax collection, and plays a huge role in the country's administrative and economic activities.

In addition, China ancient science and technology archives also played a certain role in scientific research. For example, Pei Xiu, a famous geographer, founded a new theory of "six-body mapping" because of his "position as a local official" and his contact with a large number of map files and geographical data.

In a word, China has had a certain level of scientific and technological archives work practice in ancient times, but it must be pointed out that according to the existing data, there is no relevant theoretical research in ancient China, let alone the establishment of scientific and technological archives management ~