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Introduction to the Special Forum, “Approaches to Science, Technology, and Environment in Chinese History”

Introduction to the Special Forum, “Approaches to Science, Technology, and Environment in Chinese... How should we assess China’s understanding of nature before the country’s contact with Euro-American science? Does this earlier Chinese production of knowledge constitute veritable “science,” comparable to that of “the West”? Was the Chinese effort to transform the natural environment a success, or does the question itself merely present an interpretive trap? How did the Chinese experience, adapt, and adopt the forms of Western science and technology that were imported during the early twentieth century? Should we even use the terms science, technology, and nature to describe China’s historical experience, or do they suffer from an inherent Eurocentric bias? If we reject them as loaded with too much normative baggage, then what framework might replace them? How do we fashion analytical categories that relate China to a broader global story but also capture what is unique about it? With the emergence of Chinese studies in the United States since World War II, efforts to answer these questions have led to a broad range of historical inquiries and investigations. Nevertheless, these attempts have so far yielded only partial answers.We have created this special forum to take the scholarly debate over these questions to the next stage. Science produces a particular http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Asian review of World Histories Brill

Introduction to the Special Forum, “Approaches to Science, Technology, and Environment in Chinese History”

Zhang, Xin
Asian review of World Histories , Volume 11 (1): 5 – Jan 26, 2023
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
2287-965X
eISSN
2287-9811
DOI
10.1163/22879811-bja10009
Publisher site
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Abstract

How should we assess China’s understanding of nature before the country’s contact with Euro-American science? Does this earlier Chinese production of knowledge constitute veritable “science,” comparable to that of “the West”? Was the Chinese effort to transform the natural environment a success, or does the question itself merely present an interpretive trap? How did the Chinese experience, adapt, and adopt the forms of Western science and technology that were imported during the early twentieth century? Should we even use the terms science, technology, and nature to describe China’s historical experience, or do they suffer from an inherent Eurocentric bias? If we reject them as loaded with too much normative baggage, then what framework might replace them? How do we fashion analytical categories that relate China to a broader global story but also capture what is unique about it? With the emergence of Chinese studies in the United States since World War II, efforts to answer these questions have led to a broad range of historical inquiries and investigations. Nevertheless, these attempts have so far yielded only partial answers.We have created this special forum to take the scholarly debate over these questions to the next stage. Science produces a particular

Journal

Asian review of World Histories – Brill

Published: Jan 26, 2023

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