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A Study On Sci-Tech And Culture Underflows Of Wall-paintings In Shanxi Temples In Ming Dynasty

Posted on:2018-05-01Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:H L ShiFull Text:PDF
GTID:1315330521450092Subject:History of science and technology
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Rich scientific and technological connotations are usually found in Chinese ancient art works and the wall paintings are not exceptions.Shanxi ranks the first in terms of the number and coverage of year period of ancient wall paintings in China,so it is a treasury for probing Chinese ancient science,technology and culture.This dissertation selects the agricultural tools such as ploughing tools,sowing machines,grain-selecting tools,the primitive wind energy application tools,grain-processing machines and the measurement instruments,agricultural disaster,medical science knowledge and astronomical and cosmological ideas reflected by the wall paintings in the Taoist Temples of Ming Dynasty in Shanxi,which are closely related to traditional agricultural activities.The scientific and cultural information of the wall paintings are analyzed and interpreted from artistic,historical,sociological,physical,medical and astronomical perspectives with the complementary archaeological material objects,document literature(including the cultural anthropological materials on oral account history of sci-tech)and the simulation and restoration experiments to restore some aspects of Chinese science and technology history.This dissertation is made up of seven parts.The first part is general introduction consisting of the rationale and significance of the study,the related study at home and abroad,research plan,methodology and creativity of the study.The main body of the dissertation comes as follows.The first chapter focuses on the cultivating machines and tools illustrated in the wall paintings.The study is based on the cases from Ji yi Temple in Xinjiang County,Liu lang Temple in Wang jia zhuang Village of Taiyuan City.The artistic and sci-tech features are summarized through the author's field research.The highlights of the features are the combination of worshiping theme of murals' backdrop with the local history of agricultural disasters.A detailed description is made on the worshiping images on the eastern and western walls of Jiyi Temple.The plague of locusts,insect pest and birds trouble are illustrated on the western wall.The images on the murals are selected to analyze the related agricultural tools and a close study is made on the typical Lei si Picture and the Farming Cattle Picture with analysis on the structural evolution and mechanics principles of the intertilling modes of two cows lifting one plough and the plough with curving upper shafts.The second chapter discusses the reaping and threshing tools.The types,shapes and structures of the reaping tools are illustrated.The primitive wind energy application tools are categorized into huge wooden forks,brooms,fans,dustpans and winnowing baskets.The work mechanism and functions of cylindrical grinding stone in Northern China are discussed.A special multi-facet analysis on the selecting tool of fan cart,with the related image recording in classical agricultural books and a comparative study in cabinet structure,air system and driving principles,proves that it is the only evidence of horizontal type cylinder fan cart in the wall paintings of Ming Dynasty.The third chapter centers round the grain-processing machines and the structure and mechanical features of the treadle-operated tilt hammer for hulling rice and stone mills.The popular existence of the treadle-operated tilt hammer proves that the broom corn millet used to be the stable food in this region.The focus of this part is the evolution of this lever machine in agricultural production: from the sitting type to the standing type,from the double handrail to the single handrail,the machine is improved.The large amount of the stone mills represent the last step of grain processing and transformation.The two-ghost stone mills in the murals are not only the recordings of the mature type of stones mills,but also evidence of the widespread planting and food use of broom corn millet in Shanxi.The measurement instruments are introduced in the fourth chapter.Different types of Dou and the evolution of the measurement instruments in ancient China are introduced.The great influence of Wang Mang's reform on measurement unit and the precise presentation of Dou in the murals are discussed.In the fifth chapter illness treatment,which is closely related to ancient ordinary people's living,is discussed.The relationship between the plague's dissemination paths and source is inferred from the images of Five Gods of Plague.The source of the animal plague and human-animal plague and the panic caused are inferred from the romantic presentation of human-animal body on the murals.In addition,the human presentation of the Five Gods of Plague is the artistic reflection of the ancient famous Taoist doctors,from which the primitive Taoist medicine's development is discerned.The ancient surgery history is traced with the image clues of splintage treatment for bone fracture and prevention and treatment for snake or insects biting.The ancient Chinese astronomical and cosmological ideas are analyzed in the sixth chapter.A close study on the Tangmi mandala proves that it is the original form of northern Shuilu sadhana drubtab.This discovery is a breakthrough of the Chinese Tangmi mandala study's reliance upon Japanese Dongmi mandala.It is also a breakthrough in restoring the Buddhist image prototype in the early Han Dynasty.The Buddhist cosmological ideas and Taoist constellations expressed by the Tangmi mandala represent the ancestors' astronomical understandings.The constellations' expression of the Three Walls,the Four Gods,the Twenty-eight Lunar Mansions represent the highest cognitive level in astronomy ever since the Western science's influence during Wanli Years of Ming Dynasty.Meanwhile the large number of Taoist Gods of Stars in the murals reflects Taoist increasingly advanced study on astronomy and it is also a verification of Dr.Joseph Needham's argument of the early shaping of scientific ideas in China at that time.In the conclusion part,a summary is made concerning the sci-tech connotations,the significance and the application of the murals.The author's reflection is made concerning the murals' value for sci-tech history and learning from the religious images in modern artistic creation.An innovation is made in the methodology of the study.The large amount of the materials including the imaging data are collected by the researcher through field research and the advanced digital technology is applied to duplicate the images.With the precise combination of images and the cross-validation from the material objects and related literature,the rich information is carefully probed and unveiled by the author.By decoding one by one the paintings on the walls people could learn the sun,the moon and the stars far above the blue sky without worrying about being called to be peeking and discovering the secrets of the God.The pictures on farming can be called to be the representation of ancient people's real living and farming.The pictures on the Five Gods of Plague and treatment technology of bone fracture are unique.The images,although not precise mechanical graphing,are the ancient skillful painters' perfect expression of the ancient social culture,science and technology.In another sense,this study provides a typical and lively example for the research field of science and technology in arts,which is one research direction of science and technology history.
Keywords/Search Tags:Shanxi, wall-paintings in Taoist temples of Ming Dynasty, agricultural science and technology, medical science, astronomy
PDF Full Text Request
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