A Historical Exploration Of Crystal Growth In Ancient China

This thesis reviewed the historical development process from natural crystals to synthetic crystals based on a brief introduction of some fundamental concepts and their importance through a systematic analysis of historical documents. The understandings of ancient Chinese on crystal materials are also summarized. Detailed illustrations are given on gem stones, mineral crystals, and medical crystals along with their applications on decorations and medicines in ancient China. The rise of alchemy and its roles in the scientific and technological development of ancient China are explored and discussed in a viewpoint of modern science. It is concluded that ancient Chinese had accumulated extensive experience and knowledge on the chemical processing of crystal materials. The alchemy of immortality is the earliest attempt of human beings on the growth of crystal materials through a vapor phase processing technology, and cinnabar is the earliest artificial crystal by using this method. In addition, the practices of ancient Chinese on table salt, sugar, saltpeter, and pearl are also summarized. The mechanisms governing the processing of crystalline glaze and the formation of tiny crystalline flowers within glaze are discussed.The history of crystal growth, scientific exchange of related techniques, and their propagation around the world are also reviewed in different points of view. The similarities between ancient China and Europe on the understandings of crystal materials and crystal growth are summarized. In addition, techniques utilized in ancient China and modern Japan on pearl culturing and manufacture of black crystalline glazes are also compared.The history of the growth of synthetic crystals is also systematically presented and described according to the historical documentations the author collected and collated. It is confirmed that the growth of synthetic crystals in ancient China has a long time history and the synthesis techniques also hold an important role in the world. It is believed that the ancient Chinese had made many significant contributions to the processing of crystal materials, which exceeded the rest of the world not only on the quality inspections of the crystal materials, but also on the evaluations of the macroscopic morphology, crystal symmetry as well as some physical properties. The intrinsic reasons for the ancient Chinese having made so many achievements and advances and why the modern Chinese gradually loosing their competitiveness are also discussed.It is proposed for the first time that the growth of synthetic crystals could be traced back to alchemy in ancient China and cinnabar is the first synthetic crystals. It is also found that the formation of crystalline glazes on pottery wears involves a typical flux growth process for synthesizing crystal materials. Furthermore, the international scientific exchanges between ancient China and the outside world on crystal growth are also summarized for the first time.