The Western Transmission of Chinese Science and Technology and Its Impact

Author: Han Qi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-08-01
Features: Traditional Chinese science and technology have made significant contributions to the progress of human civilization. Before the 15th century, many Chinese inventions and creations spread to the West, with the Four Great Inventions—papermaking, printing, gunpowder, and the compass—changing the course of world civilization. As the study of the history of science deepens, this fact has gradually been accepted by the world, especially by the Westerners. Traditional Chinese technology was—and still is—a vital part of scientific civilization because it continues to influence the development of science. Over time, traditional Chinese science gradually merged with modern European science, to the point where people have forgotten their origins, particularly for some Eurocentrists, this amnesia is even more severe. In fact, before the 17th century, China's contributions to Europe were far greater than the influence of Western science on China.