Research On Tong King-sing’s Thoughts And Practice Of Science&Technology

The western science and technology were introduced to China on a large scale with the help of the Westernization Movement in the1860s, Tong King-sing, as the minister and practitioner of the Westernization Movement, forming his thoughts of science and technology about equipments bringing-in as well as talents introducing and training in the process of running industries, and put them into some industries and fields, such as modern shipping industry, mining, railway transportation industry, building material industry and so on, which played a vital role not only in the introduction and innovation of western science and technology but also in the introduction and cultivation of talents.This paper mainly discusses both the thoughts and practice of Tong King-sing, and reveals its practical significance and far-reaching influence from two aspects mentioned above. The text, along with the study deepens, contains three parts, including the cause of Tong King-sing’s thoughts of science and technology as well as its contents and features, the practice of science and technology of Tong King-sing and the significance of it, revealing the outstanding position of Tong King-sing in the process of Chinese modernization. The first chapter mainly discusses the thoughts of science and technology of Tong King-sing from theoretical level. The second chapter concentrates on the activities of science and technology in industry and transportation from practical level, and the last chapter is a preceding part of the former two, summarizing the outstanding position of Tong King-sing’s thoughts and practice of science and technology in promoting the combination of science and technology with industries, leading the transformation of the productivity and opening new ideas for the adjustment of industrial structures.The first chapter shows the thoughts of science and technology of Tong King-sing from its causes, contents and features. Tong King-sing’s thoughts of science and technology originated from his living environment, expanded in the six-year western education and deepened and practiced in the Westernization movement. At the same time, the development of Tong King-sing’s thoughts of science and technology made his thoughts had the characteristics that from shallower to deeper and from outside to inside, thus, his thoughts of science and technology can be divided into two parts: implements ideas and thoughts about knowledge of science and technology, which throughout the industry and transportation industry longitudinally and permeate in the introduction of technology and talents horizontally.The second chapter mainly investigates the activities in industry and transportation from the perspective of the introduction and innovation of both technology and talents. He reorganized the Chinese Merchants, the first large-scale state-owned enterprise, managed Kai Ping coal mine, the first colliery exploited by machine in the mainland of China, presided over the first railway, built the first locomotive factory and established the first cement works in Tangshan……these activities, no matter in industries or transportation, are based on the introduction and development of both science and technology equipments and talents, at the meantime they are all the reflection of Tong King-sing’s thoughts of science and technology.Based on the former two, the third chapter analyzes the important status of Tang King-sing’s thoughts and practice of science and technology.On the one hand, his thoughts and practice of science and technology revealed the wishes of Yang Wu Group—aspiration for the self strength and prosperity, to some degree, being beneficial for boycotting the aggression from foreign countries and recovering the economic rights. On the other hand, Tong King-sing’s thoughts and practice in industry and transportation had the good effect in promoting the transformation of the productivity, combining the science and technology with industries organically and providing new ideas for the adjustment of industrial structures. So we can say there are many worthy points we can learn from the development of Tong King-sing’s thoughts and practice of science and technology. The paper, discussed and analyzed from the three parts above, deems that Tong King-sing plays a very important part in bringing and developing both scientific and technological equipments and talents no matter to the industries or transportation, giving an examples for the development of productivity and combination of science and technology with industrial structures in modern society. In addition, the paper collected some important events about Tong King-sing’s practice of science and technology during his lifetime by analyzing the latest research results and past materials, hoping to replenish the research on the thoughts and practice of science and technology in Westernization Movement periods of important people.