Researches Of Exchanges Between Ming Dynasty And Other Countries In The Field Of Scientific And Technical Literatures

The scientific and technical literatures among Chinese ancient cultural classics are not only materials about scientific and technical literatures, but also the records of the brilliant achievements in China ancient science and technology. With the further study on the scientific and technical history of Ming dynasty, the scientific and technical literatures of Ming dynasty have gained more and more attention and interest. The study on the communication of scientific and technical literatures between Ming dynasty and other countries in the field of scientific and technical literatures in Ming dynasty not only shows that Ming dynasty was far from a country of absolute "isolation" and it had its own unique characteristics and influences, but also finds the use of scientific and technical archives when these scientific and technical literatures were completed.The emperors of Ming dynasty obvious were in favor of learning. However, the scientific and technical level in Ming dynasty still had great development and improvement under the background of the steady and stable society. Several scientific and technical literatures printed and circulated in this period were all of practical significance and value, for example, Xu Xiake Travels by Xu Xiake and Heavenly Creations by Song Yingxing and so on. The scientific and technical development in Ming dynasty experienced2phases. The first phase was the early and middle stages of Ming dynasty. The developments of Chinese traditional agriculture and handicraft industry and other technologies occurred in this period and at the same time this was a period in which the export of Chinese ancient scientific and technical literatures to the subordinate states took priority. The second phase was the end of Ming dynasty. This was a period in which the import of western new scientific and technical literatures took priority. The import of those materials contributed to the slowly-developing technologies, such as mathematics and astronomy.The communication of scientific and technical literatures between Ming dynasty and other countries was mainly in form of government grant, trade exchange and clergy activity. In this period, the representative work among the exported scientific and technical literatures should be Compendium of Materia Medica by Li Shizhen and the ones among the imported literatures should be the math and geography literatures translated by Matteo Ricci and Chinese scholars Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao, for example, The Elements and j ointly drawn "map of the world"With the background of the development of Chinese traditional science and technology and the entry of missionaries, the communication of scientific and technical literatures in Ming dynasty has many characteristics, for example, a wide variety of science and technology as well as a number of translation and print of the exported scientific and technical literatures. Also the communication of scientific and technical literatures in mathematics, astronomy and medicine had profound influences on the relevant fields. In a word, though there was no good platform for literature communication in Ming dynasty, this period still had certain classic works and religious development, which partially promoted the communication of scientific and technical literatures between Ming dynasty and other countries.