In Retrospect

China, 16th century engraving. The Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) 
and the Chinese scholar who had converted to Christianity, Xu Guangqi (1562-1633).

Xiaosui Xiao wrote a interesting article on the contribution of Intercultural Communication to the topic of Exchange of Knowledge. He noticed the following problem: Historians would tend to be mainly concerned with the interaction between two cultural systems of thought (bodies of knowledge), rather than with the interaction between the speakers and listeners. He felt that historians were rather impersonal, meaning that the agency in communication of thought was rather neglected. Although I do not fully agree with his observation, I can see that Xiao, coming from a communication background, would like to see more detailed analyses of actual communication processes between people in history. Besides the historical approach, there is the communicative approach, specifically looking at the communication between people and on the use of various technologies in this communication. The topic of how knowledge is/was communicated is rather neglected in this social science discipline.

Having observed this problem, Xiao therefore proposed the following study: Intercultural Communication. The focus in this study would be on the intellectual dimension of intercultural transaction; the communication involved with cross-cultural exchange of ideas and thoughts.

Xiao made a theoretical framework based on historical examples since the Opium Wars. After the Opium Wars (1839-1861), the "assimilation of Western Learning" can be said to refer to the introduction and popularisation of Western ideas in China, which reached its heights during the Reform Movement (1890s) and the May Fourth Movement (1915-1925).

Xiao’s theoretical framework is as follows:
1. The assimilation of Western learning is a process of signification (meaning-building). For example, the concept of rén, having the connotation of hierarchy in Confucianism, was given a new meaning by Tan Sitong, namely the principle that all people are equal.
2. Signification is a site of social struggle. 
The new meaning of rén created a struggle between the new interpretation and Confucianism.
3. Signification inevitably involves the critical role of rhetoric.
 In the same example, rhetoric was applied by Tan Sitong to make his case stronger, namely the argumentation around the interconnectivity of rén in Neo-Confucianism.
4. The role of native interpreters and advocates of a foreign practice of signification.
 Tan Sitong’s initiative and effort was crucial in the assimilation of Western learning and the discussion that followed.

In short: Foreign knowledge was interpreted in China and trough translation and advocated within a long-standing tradition by means of rhetoric and by assigning new meanings to words. This causes strong responses and social struggles.

Although Xiao's examples seem to rule out any 'exchange,' rather suggesting an one-way assimilation of Western learning by Chinese initiative, the idea a signification, use of rhetoric, and the focus on agency can really provide a more comprehensive view on the the phenomenon of circulation of knowledge in history.

Filed under: Circulation of Knowledge

I introduce to you: Alan Sokal. A physicist who hoaxed the cultural studies journal Social Text by submitting a parody of postmodern science criticism. It aimed at some relativist positions held by sociologists of science. Sokal states that the sociological study of science can claim some things and that he's no arrogant physicist that 'rejects all sociological intrusion on our "turf," as he calls it. There are three propositions on which he thinks science and its critics can agree: 1)science is a human endeavour 2)there are some external factors to science (f.e. the prevailing attitudes of mind which arise in part from deepseated historical factors) 3)the outcome of science is in part due to external factors to science like politics. So science is done by people, who can be researched sociologically and historically, as can the content and outcome of their work. From the Sokal hoax there can be deduced that some cultural study of science is nonsense, but not all. Its content are for the most part direct quotes from postmodern Masters, whom he 'showers with mock praise.' The article was structured around some of the silliest remarks that were made about mathematics and physics. In two ways postmodernists went wrong; 1) meaningless and absurd statements, name-dropping, and a display of false erudtion were made, and 2) sloppy thinking and bad philosophy made glib relativism. 

WANG ZHEN’S APPLICATION OF ASTRONOMY IN AGRONOMY IN THE LATER CHINESE EMPIRE
Essay introduction for the course "Chinese and Chinese Culture," Xiamen University
Ruben Verwaal



In the intellectual history of China, one of the most distinguished works among the scientific classics is the Wáng Zhēn Nóng Shū 王禎農書 ("Agricultural Treatise of Wang Zhen," 1313). Written during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), the county magistrate Wang Zhen (1290-1333) had specifically designed this work to serve as a guide to agricultural production. The book consisted of three parts: first, a general outline on the origin of agriculture and on various agricultural aspects and techniques, such as its dependence on weather conditions, terrestrial productivity, and human effort; the second part consisted of discussions on the cultivation, protection, harvesting, storage and utilisation of crops, fruit, vegetables, bamboo and other plants and trees; the last and most extensive part consisted of a collection of about 270 illustrations of various farm tools and instruments (Deng Yinke, Ancient Chinese Inventions, 129). Many of these tools have long been lost, making this agricultural treatise an invaluable source of information. What has often been unexplored, however, was the agricultural calendar included in the Nóng Shū.

This essay will therefore investigate a sophisticated feature in Wang Zhen’s comprehensive work on agriculture, namely the yué lìng 月令 (monthly ordinances) or agricultural calendar. The reason for the neglect of attention to this agricultural calendar in the discourse on Chinese astronomy or on agriculture might be found in the reason that it fell exactly in between the two subject matters. Despite the fact that the genre of agricultural calendar was one of utilitarianism (Joseph Needham’s Science and Civilisation of China, Vol.6, Pt. 2, 52), I would be of the opinion that Wang’s agricultural calendar deserves special attention because his advanced creation was able to include ancient Chinese concepts of Heavenly Stems, the Earthly Branches and Solar Terms, as well as details for year-round farm management.

In order to show the exceptional standing of Wang’s agricultural calendar, we will first briefly look into the history of this literary form. Considering that China was an agricultural economy, farmers have made use of the study of phenology, the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, in an attempt to get a grip on the country’s often unpredictable climate. Second, we will discuss the ancient Chinese philosophical concepts included into the calendar and relate them to their practical use in Chinese society and agriculture. Third, we will investigate the influence of Wang’s agricultural calendar in the continuation of the yué lìng genre.

Ever since the beginning of agriculture in China, farmers made use of natural signals such as blooming in order to decide upon when to begin farming season. For example, before the availability of the calendar, Chinese people would observe the morning and evening stars in order to recognise the seasons. This remained a difficult practice, however. In an attempt to solve this problem, farmers and working people invented a system of the twenty-four jiéqi 節氣 (Solar Terms), with which the seasons could be better indicated and therefore useful for the farmers (Chen Jiujin ascribes the invention of the Solar Terms to the Chinese working people in Jiujin, “Chinese Calendars,” 46 ). Throughout Chinese history, scholars have attempted to perfect the calendar for various reasons, such as to provide new emperors with legitimacy, but the utility of its application in agriculture can be said to remain one of the most important reasons.

Filed under: History of the Natural Sciences

Could Schrödinger's cat also have been a dog?

Filed under: Art, History of the Natural Sciences

The following is a small hand-out I made of our reading of Faraday. As there were two elderly people in my class I added a slightly sneering comment to rouse them. 

On  Faraday the ‘Anthology of Nineteenth Century Science’ tells he was of middle class decent. He was a member of the Sandemanians, a group of religious Christians who thought there was no basis in the New Testament for a national church and wanted to go back to primitive Christianity. They believed in the unity and harmony of nature. Rather heroically, Faraday, being an apprentice in a book bindery, educated himself and was able to make a career in a field where being of lower descent made you appear a lesser scientist. The following excerpt is from one of his Friday night Christmas lectures. Interestingly to note in advance is that he tirelessly worked behind the scenes to make the experiments look natural on stage. He even got eloquency lessons to improve his public performance. The lectures were held by the Royal Institution to earn enough money for its endeavours.

His public experiments with candles give us an interesting image of science popularized. With crowd pleasers like pop! (ignition of gas) and crunch! (collapse of can after subsequent heating and cooling of inside gas) Faraday was able to excite his audience. Public participation in these experiments build up the entertainment value even more. A lady brings Faraday Japanese candles of luxury to do his experiments with and Faraday says the crowd will be able to make these experiments themselves, which in the case of his experiments with carbonic acid can do not much harm. Faraday uses a simple train of reasoning for explaining what he is doing. Everything is done step by step and in a matter of fact way. This makes the experiments and conclusions evidential, you can see the experiments and even redo them yourself. Faraday unveils the mysteries of nature and makes them intelligible to the public. In one case he even reflects on a social issue when he tells his crowd about the ‘impropriety of many of the arrangements of the poorer classes’  due to bad ventilation. In his chemical explanation of a burning candle Faraday shows how to extinguish the light by putting his mouth over a tube and breathe thereby explaining the necessity of oxygen for combustion. In the end of his experiment with candles Faraday turns his explanation of scientific principles to the public into a kind of sermon. He concludes by stating the beauty of the simple process of the use of oxygen by people. They breathe oxygen which the body turns into carbon dioxide which is used by plants to create oxygen which creates this magnificent circle of dependency. According to Faraday, his listeners are like the candles he used in his experiments. They have this energy to shine, but need oxygen (breathing) to make them live, move, act and do things; they are therefore dependent on their fellow existers, i.e. the plants. He employs his audience to shine as lights to those about them.

To whom is Faraday addressing his public display of science? In the introduction to his lectures, Faraday says he means to pass away from the seniors in the audience and instead claims ‘the privilege of speaking to juveniles as a juvenile myself.’ In his first lecture he further informs his audience of what candles are made of, thereby beginning from the basis in his instruction on chemistry. His listeners need little to no background in chemistry. His lectures are accessible and use the clarity of expression needed for public education; no difficult jargon or an explanation to the words used is given. Faraday further uses his lectures to address social questions such as the conditions of the poorer classes and even his Sandemanian background jumps up at the end of the lecture when he teaches his public the harmony of nature. 

Filed under: History of the Natural Sciences