Historical and cultural landmarks

The Bronze Age begins with the Shang Dynasty, succeeding the Xia Dynasty about 1600 BC. This aristocratic and cruel regime is well known in archaeology; the first texts scratched in bone come from it. The influence of this dynasty is limited to the valley of the Yellow river to Shandong. Then about 1100 BC the Zhou, coming from the valley of the Wei (a tributary of the Yellow River in Shaanxi) supplant the Shangs. Under their more humane domination the Chinese civilization reaches not only further to the north, but also and especially toward the south as far as the Yangtze valley. The Zhou estab­lish their capital near Luoyang where the river flows out onto the plain. But the Zhou regime does not have a structure that is capable of coping with the growth of their domain. Several centuries after their advent, provincial powers begin to rival the influ­ence of the central power. This marks the onset of the feudal period, beginning with what is called the Spring and Autumn period (771 — 480 BC) and the Warring States peri­od (480 — 221 BC), a rather evocative name indeed.

The major currents of Chinese thought developed during this troubled period.[374] [375] Kong Fuzi, or Confucius lived from 551 to 479 BC and founded a social philosophy that seeks to establish justice and equity in the framework of traditional structures and cus­toms. Confucianism preaches peace, order, and return to the path of the “wise kings of Antiquity”, motivated by the desire to bring well being to the people. Later this becomes the official doctrine of the empire’s administrators, mandarins recruited competitively based on their literary knowledge. The principle disciple of Confucius, Meng Ke, or Mencius, was born in 374 BC and becomes counselor to the princes of the kingdoms of Liang and Qi. He brings the humanist aspects of Confucianism to the forefront: tradi­tions and customs are made for men, and not vice-versa. Opposing this trend of thought, Taoism appears at an indeterminate date during this same period. One of its best-known founders is Laozi (Lao-Tse), who lived in the 4th century BC. Rarely has a philosophy been so caricatured. Nonetheless, it contains the real premises of scientific thought. As a naturalist philosophy, based on observation of natural things, Taoism has as its ideal the search for causes, but without any aspiration to discover at all costs a unique model that might explain everything. Taoist thought, based in observation and experimenta­tion, is more descriptive than explanatory:

“All phenomena have their causes. In the ignorance of these causes, it can happen that one is correct (in regard to the facts), but it is as if one knows nothing, and in the end remains per­plexed. [….] The fact that water exists in the mountains and heads toward the sea does not arise from some antipathy for the mountains, nor from a love for the sea, it is simply due to the effect of altitude such as it is.”11

So, whereas Confucianism is oriented to action, Taoism is the calm search for an interior pathway. Naturally humble, it nonetheless willingly arrays itself against the powerful.

During the feudal period scholars move from one court to another. The more enlightened of the princes of these kingdoms create academies, the most celebrated being at Linzi, the capital of Qi in Shandong.[376] It is from within this academy that Zou Yan (305 — 240 BC), considered by Joseph Needham[377] to be the founder of Chinese sci­entific thought, formulates the theory of the five elements: water, fire, wood, metal, and earth.

“Of the five elements, the first is called Water, the second Fire, the third Wood, the fourth Metal, and the fifth Earth. Water (is the quality in nature) that moistens and tends to sink; Fire (is the quality in nature) that flames and tends to rise. Wood (is the quality in nature) that per­mits curved surfaces or straight edges. Metal (is the quality in nature) that can follow (the shape of a mold) and can harden. Earth (is the quality in nature) that permits sowing, (growth), and harvest.”[378]

This text shows how the Chinese view is something quite different from the Greek the­ory of four elements, popularized at about the same period by Aristotle.[379] The Chinese theory of five elements is not a model intended to explain nature, but rather a classifica­tion of processes or physical properties (Table 8.1). The theory is essentially descrip­tive, consistent with Taoism. It will be used throughout the evolution of Chinese thought, completing the vision well known in the West of competition between the opposing principles ying and yang.

The first dynasty of the imperial era, that of the Qin, is followed by the long Han Dynasty. The Romans maintained commercial relations with this dynasty and may have even had diplomatic relations.[380] From 221 BC to 190 AD, China knew four centuries of unity.

The feudal period and this first imperial era experience intense economic and demo­graphic development, both supported by hydraulics as we will see further on. The cen­sus of year 2 already reports more than 57 million inhabitants.[381]

The fall of the Han Empire is first followed by a splitting of China into three king­doms (220 to 310 AD) and then by a period of total anarchy (310 to 589 AD). These long centuries of chaos are often called the “Chinese middle ages”. It is in the 3rd cen­tury that Taoism, a philosophy but also an inspirational movement of secret societies, becomes a religion as well. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, Buddhism is introduced and develops in China.

In 589 AD China is reunified under the Sui and Tang dynasties. After a troubled period from 906 to 960 The Song Dynasty is again established, and under it the natural­ist Chinese movement reaches its greatest development. But starting in 1127 the power of the Songs recedes in South China following a series of invasions. From 1271 the Mongols occupy all of China and call themselves the Yuan Dynasty. The Mongol Empire extends from Persia to the Sea of China, naturally favoring commercial relations between China and the Middle East. In 1368 the Mongols are chased out by the Mings following peasant insurrections caused by famine. The Mings are eventually succeeded by the Manchu Qing Dynasty from 1644.

Naturalist Chinese thought is the inheritor of Taoism and excels in the observation and classification of things. But thanks to Confucianism, oriented toward action and often impelled to relieve manual labor, the Chinese invent many devices that spread toward the West. These include the axial rudder, the wheelbarrow, the magnetic com­pass, gunpowder, and the navigation lock. The Chinese excel in hydraulic technology as we will see further on in this chapter. But ancient Chinese science also uses mathe­matics to describe the laws of nature. The Jesuits, who get established in China during the Qing Dynasty in the 17th century, bring with them the methods of modern science.

We have seen that hydraulics is in the fabric of the founding legend of Chinese civ­ilization. Since the very beginning of Chinese history, hydraulic technologies are employed to make new lands productive through irrigation and drainage of swampy val­leys. Hydraulics is also brought to bear on the development of the infrastructure for waterborne transport. But there is no relief from a recurrent curse that returns regular­ly: floods and the associated changing courses of rivers, killing people and ruining entire regions. The inability to stabilize the large rivers, in particular the Yellow River, is often the cause of popular uprisings that end up bringing down dynasties. We therefore pro­ceed to describe this great river, one of the principle actors on the vast stage of China.