The Influence Of Confucianism On Science And Technology In Northern Song China

How did Confucianism influence science and technology in ancient China? This is a common question which has been confronted the study of the history of thoughts, society and science and technology in China since the May Fourth Movement in 1919.Looking science as the body of pure knowledge, earlier research took the study of the thoughts and words of the most important representatives of the Confucian school, such as Confucian and Zhu Xi, and showed that Confucianism hindered the development of science and technology in ancient China.In recent ten or twenty years, the study on the question has changed greatly and improved very much. Firstly, the old 'hindrance' theory has been overcome and many researchers has either argued in favor of Confucianism or suggested that an all-around and dialectical study is the must for the ultimate solution of the question. Secondly, new research patterns have emerged. Representatives of the Confucian school have not been the only topic yet.This paper is just a new study on the question beyond the old research pattern. It takes the influence of Confucianism on the development of science and technology in Northern Song China (960-1127) as its point and tries to be helpful for the solution of the question.Because both the Confucianism and science and technology in the period had changed greatly, the Northern Song China period deserves for a thorough study on it. On the Confucianism side, there had been a Confucianism Revival Movement which made tremendous impact on almost every aspects of Northern Song China-politics, economy, education, civil service examination system, literature and arts. On the science and technology side, Northern Song China saw great development of science and technology and laid the foundation of the Song-Liao-Jin-Yung peak of Chinese science and technology.As far as the influence of Confucianism on science and technology in the Northern Song China period concerned, the paper argues that Confucianism indeed promoted the development of science and technology. That is to say, forthe development of science and technology, Confucianism was a kind of positive power. Meanwhile, the promotion of Confucianism was limited and conducted in indirect way.