China and The Far East
The first recorded observations of solar eclipses and supernovae were made in China. On July 4, 1054, Chinese astronomers observed a guest star, the supernova now called the Crab Nebula. Korean contributions include similar records of meteor showers and eclipses, particularly from 1500-1750 in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture and herbal medicine were also practised, with similar medicine practised in Korea.
Among the earliest inventions were the abacus and the "shadow clock". Joseph Needham noted the "Four Great Inventions" of China as among some of the most important technological advances; these were the compass, gunpowder, papermaking, and printing, which were later known in Europe by the end of the Middle Ages. The Tang dynasty (AD 618 - 906) in particular was a time of great innovation. A good deal of exchange occurred between Western and Chinese discoveries up to the Qing dynasty.
However, Needham and most scholars recognised that cultural factors prevented these Chinese achievements from developing into what might be considered "modern science".
It was the religious and philosophical framework of the Chinese intellectuals which made them unable to believe in the ideas of laws of nature:
It was not that there was no order in nature for the Chinese, but rather that it was not an order ordained by a rational personal being, and hence there was no conviction that rational personal beings would be able to spell out in their lesser earthly languages the divine code of laws which he had decreed aforetime. The Taoists, indeed, would have scorned such an idea as being too naïve for the subtlety and complexity of the universe as they intuited it. —Read more about this topic: History Of Science In Early Cultures
Famous quotes containing the words china and/or east:
“The roof of England fell
Great Paris tolled her bell
And China staunched her milk and wept for bread”
—Karl Shapiro (b. 1913)
“The East knew and to the present day knows only that One is Free; the Greek and the Roman world, that some are free; the German World knows that All are free. The first political form therefore which we observe in History, is Despotism, the second Democracy and Aristocracy, the third, Monarchy.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)