Abstract
In this transdisciplinary investigation, we focus on the invention and development of gunpowder. We aim to answer the questions regarding (1) the inspiration behind the invention, including historical, mythological, and intellectual backgrounds, (2) how it came about in concreto, and (3) its impact on the history of science in China. We argue that the invention has to be viewed in a broader context and that various factors come into play with regard to the above questions. The discussion starts by examining the preconditions of the invention of gunpowder in ancient Chinese mythology, natural philosophy, and the idea of life extension. After that, the invention, its direct contexts, and historical developments during the first millennium CE are investigated. To complement the former analysis of historical worldviews, the modern perspective of chemistry is applied in this context. From the angle of the additional question of “open individuals,” namely as agents of progress, this is also taken into consideration from the perspective of personality analysis. Finally, we investigate how the development of scientific understanding was embedded in the innovative philosophical developments of Song dynasty Neo-Confucianism. In our view, the early Chinese gunpowder research exemplifies the preceding and contemporary development of the scientific stratum that is part of the concept of the “investigation of things” (gewu) in the sense of the teachings of Zhu Xi (1130–1200).
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Notes
Gregory Blue, who worked closely with Joseph Needham, makes a distinction between localized clusters of various developments of science in different civilizational and cultural contexts, which then have gradually integrated to finally form the “ecumenical” (Blue, n.d.) characteristics of modern science.
For a more extended overview, see also Bartosch (2015, pp. 534–556).
Already the early historian of Chinese thought Ernst Victor Zenker therefore remarked: “Thus, at the heart of ancient Chinese philosophy, we find a naturalistic and not a materialist idea. Nature is everything, not only matter, but also spirit. God, briefly called [Di] or the Lord in the [Yijing], is […] in nature, and the cosmos becomes cosmos, order, or, as the pseudo-Aristotle says, σύστημα [ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς καὶ τῶν ἐν] τούτοις ηεριεχομένων φύσεων, only through the mind” (Zenker 1932, 46, tr. and insertions in brackets DB; also quoted in Bartosch 2023, 148).
From a comparative East–West perspective, alchemy can be characterized in two directions, outer and inner alchemy, or rather, material alchemy (which also led to the development of modern chemistry) and, as one might best put it, spiritual alchemy.
An intellectual portray of his is to be found in the book Liezi. He was categorized as a Daoist thinker later on.
See also the discussion regarding wu 巫 magic/shamanism in Zhang (2023, 107–126).
Needham (1991, 243) states “that the conception of the [five operational phases] was not so much one of a series of five sorts of fundamental matter (particles do not come into the question), as of five sorts of fundamental processes. Chinese thought here characteristically avoided substance and clung to relation.”
See also the extended discussion on yin–yang in relation to the foundational logic of the unity of unity and difference in Bartosch (2015, 69–114).
Of course, it has to be noted that Needham already said that the “portion at least of the Hung Fan which treats of the five [operational phases] must be regarded as a [Qin-era] interpolation of—3rd century or at least not older than [Zou Yan]” (1991, 242, insertions DB/AK/BP).
Confucius had rejected the investigation of unusual natural phenomena (see further below). Han Confucianism made the first steps towards a Confucian participation in “local” or “indigenous” Chinese developments in the world history of science.
From the perspective of information theory, the unexpected (e.g., an event or finding) contains or provides more information. Therefore, it also is a precondition for the evolution of scientific understanding.
Considered to be a semi-legendary author, probably even representing a collective of authors.
The pronunciation of the characters differed from modern standard Chinese, of course.
See further below, the quote from Lunyu 論語 [Analects], n.d., “Shuer 述而”, para. 21.
This is also the reason why some sinologists have replaced the older category “Confucianism” with “Ruism.”
Source text: “多識於鳥獸草木之名。”
Source text: 古之欲明明德於天下者，先治其國；欲治其國者，先齊其家；欲齊其家者，先修其身；欲修其身者，先正其心；欲正其心者，先誠其意；欲誠其意者，先致其知，致知在格物。”
Needham translates this, quite positivistic, as “matter energy.”
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All authors contributed equally to the conception and design of this paper. The first draft of main sections 1 and 3 was prepared by DB and BP, and the first draft of main section 2 was prepared by AK. All authors contributed equally and cooperatively to the introductory and concluding sections, as well as to the further revision process and completion of the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript.
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Bartosch, D., Kondinski, A. & Peng, B. Novelty and innovation, the joy of experimentation, and the “investigation of things” (gewu) in pre-modern China: the example of gunpowder. Int. Commun. Chin. Cult (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40636-024-00283-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40636-024-00283-1