Illustrated History of Ancient Chinese Metrology

Author: Qiu Guangming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: The science of metrology originated in ancient times and expanded into the modern era. For 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, metrological technology has always been mutually promoting with social production and commodity exchange, becoming an important foundation for the development of Chinese science and technology. The greatest characteristic of ancient Chinese metrological technology was its profound influence from the Confucian system of rites and music. The ancient classic Shang Shu states: "Harmonize the times, months, and days, and unify the pitch pipes, weights, and measures." The Liji says: "The Duke of Zhou held a meeting with the feudal lords in the Bright Hall, established rites and music, and promulgated weights and measures, which won the universal obedience of the world." For over 2,000 years, the development of weights and measures was closely linked to musical pitch pipes. Qin Shi Huang unified weights and measures, establishing a single system based on musical pitch pipes, which was compiled into writing in the Book of Han and followed through generations, even by Kangxi and Qianlong during the Qing Dynasty, and even continued into the Republic of China period. At the same time, due to the constraints of ancient customs, reforms and innovations in weights and measures were difficult to accept. For example, the Song Dynasty scholar Li Zhao was ordered to create a musical scale for weights, proposing to change the 16-tael-per-jin system from the Qin and Han dynasties to a 10-tael-per-jin system, determining the weight of one jin based on the volume of one liter of water. However, this more scientific system was not adopted. Despite this, China's system of weights and measures continued to develop over time, ultimately forming a vast and profound scientific system that holds an important place in the history of world science and technology. This bilingual Chinese-English Illustrated History of Ancient Chinese Metrology selects the most representative artifacts from this historical treasure trove, accompanied by concise discussions, reflecting the wisdom of the Chinese nation and its contributions to world civilization from a special perspective. It is also an excellent book for exchanging ideas with peers in the history of metrology from around the world.