The Research Of Mineral Name Of Ancient Chinese

The mineral exists prior to human being. Human being constantly recognizes them in the process of choosing materials, making tools and developing economy. At the beginning, mineral was only used in making tools. Gradually, it was used in alchemy, metallurgy, porcelain and medical treatment, which are closed to people's daily life. About two thousand years ago, books on minerals had already appeared in China. Henceforth, the description about minerals has become more and more detailed and richer. Thus, from the ancient Chinese study of the mineral as a named object, we can explore the part of the word creation basis, so as to explore the ancient state of knowledge of natural objects.This thesis researches the name of the 30 minerals by combining cognate words with physical mineral.By combining research and interpretation of the previous name of some minerals, the source of the English name of minerals, we reach the following conclusions:First, there are four aspects on ancient Chinese of Characteristics of mineral names1. Physical properties dominate the naming.2. The vision plays an important role in the naming.3. There is few or no minerals named because of its crystal structure and mineral composition.4. The name of mineral reflects the ancient Chinese philosophy. Second, the ancient Chinese's Knowledge of minerals is bases on pragmatism and empiricism.