Editing Science and technology in China (section)

==History==
{{History of science and technology in China}}
{{main|History of science and technology in the People's Republic of China}}
{{for|historical China|History of science and technology in China}}

[[File:Dunhuang star map.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Dunhuang map]], a [[star map]] showing the North Polar region. circa 700. The Dunhuang Star map is to date the world's oldest complete preserved star atlas.{{sfn|Xi|1981|p=464}} The whole set of star maps contains over 1,300 stars.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://idp.bl.uk/education/astronomy_researchers/index.a4d|title=The Dunhuang Chinese Sky: A comprehensive study of the oldest known star atlas|author=[[Jean-Marc Bonnet-Bidaud]] |author2=Françoise Praderie |author3=[[Susan Whitfield]] |publisher=International Dunhuang Project, British Library|access-date=March 13, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402021617/http://idp.bl.uk/education/astronomy_researchers/index.a4d|archive-date=April 2, 2014}}</ref>]]

{{multiple image
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 | image1 = Su Song Star Map 2.JPG
 | alt1 = Su Song Star Map 2
 | caption1 = Star map of the [[map projection|south polar projection]] for Su's celestial globe, ''Xin Yi Xiang Fa Yao'', 1092
 | image2 = Su Song Star Map 1.JPG
 | alt2 = Su Song Star Map 1
 | caption2 = One of the [[star chart]]s from [[Su Song]]'s ''Xin Yi Xiang Fa Yao'' published in 1092, featuring the cylindrical [[equirectangular projection]] and the corrected position of the [[pole star]] thanks to Shen Kuo's astronomical observations.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Miyajima |first=Kazuhiko |year=1998 |title=Projection Methods in Chinese, Korean and Japanese Star Maps |journal=Highlights of Astronomy |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=712–715 |doi=10.1017/s1539299600018554 }}</ref>{{sfn|Needham|1986d|p=569}}{{sfn|Needham|1986b|p=208}} Su Song's celestial atlas of five star maps is actually the oldest in [[printing|printed]] form.{{sfn|Sivin|1995|p=32}}
}}

China was a global scientific and technological leader up until the early years of the [[Ming dynasty]]. Ancient and medieval [[List of Chinese discoveries|Chinese discoveries]] and [[List of Chinese inventions|Chinese innovations]] such as [[papermaking]], [[History of typography in East Asia|printing]], the [[compass]], and [[gunpowder]] (the [[Four Great Inventions]]) contributed to the economic development of ancient and medieval East Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Chinese scientific activity began to neuter and wane around the fourteenth century. Unlike in Europe and other parts of the [[Western World]], Western engineers and scientists did not attempt to reduce observations of nature to mathematical laws and nor did they not form a scholarly community with criticisms and progressive research. In the Chinese Confucian cultural ethos dating back to the [[Han dynasty#Structural and geotechnical engineering|Han dynasty]], Confucian philosophers held a strong focus by placing an overemphasis on literature, the arts, and public administration, while scientific and technological pursuits were looked down upon in terms of prestige and respectability and regarded to be unworthy endeavors that were fell far beneath their social pay grade as such domains of inquiry were seen as trivial or restricted to limited practical applications.{{sfnp|Fraser|2014|p=370}}<ref name="LOC">{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cntoc.html|title=Country Studies - China - Federal Research Division - The Library of Congress|work=loc.gov}}</ref> One contributing factor is believed to be the [[imperial examination]] system, which deprived the incentives that encouraged up-and-coming Chinese intellectuals to actively engage in scientific and technological endeavors. The absence of motivating factors rooted in the imperial examinations stifled the development of scientific and technological innovation and resulted in a stagnation of Chinese scientific and technological creativity and development over the last several centuries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://assets.cambridge.org/97805211/91807/frontmatter/9780521191807_frontmatter.pdf|author=Justin Yifu Lin|title=Demystifying the Chinese Economy|year= 2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press, Preface xiv}}</ref> By the 17th century, Europe and the Western world surpassed China in scientific and technological advancement.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chinese Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology |volume=179 |year=1996|publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers|pages=137–138 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jaQH6_8Ju-MC&pg=PA137|isbn=978-0-7923-3463-7}}</ref> The causes of this early modern [[Great Divergence]] continue to be debated by scholars to this day.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Frank |first1=Andre |author-link=Andre Gunder Frank |title=Review of ''The Great Divergence'' |journal=Journal of Asian Studies |volume=60 |issue=1 |year=2001 |pages=180–182 |doi=10.2307/2659525 |url=http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/agfrank/pomeranz.html|jstor=2659525 }}</ref>

After being defeated repeatedly by [[First Sino-Japanese war|Japan]] and [[Eight-Nation Alliance|Western nations]] in the 19th century, Chinese reformers began promoting modern science and technology as part of the [[Self-Strengthening Movement]]. After the Communist victory in 1949 science and technology research was organized based on the model of the [[Soviet Union]]. It was characterized by a bureaucratic organization led by non-scientists, research according to the goals of central plans, separation of research from production, specialized research institutes, concentration on practical applications, and restrictions on information flows. Researchers should work as collectives for society rather than as individuals seeking recognition. Many studied in the Soviet Union which also transferred technology. The Soviet Union provided 10,000 experts to China to facilitate its development.<ref name=":152">{{Cite book |last=Zhong |first=Yang |url=https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/vx021h696 |title=China as Number One? The Emerging Values of a Rising Power |last2= |first2= |date=2024 |publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]] |isbn=978-0-472-07635-2 |editor-last=Zhong |editor-first=Yang |series=China Understandings Today series |location=Ann Arbor, Michigan |chapter=Attitudes Toward Religion, Science, and Technology in China |format=EPUB |editor-last2=Inglehart |editor-first2=Ronald |editor-last3=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=356}}

China began a formal computing development program in 1956 when it launched the Twelve-Year Science Plan and formed the Beijing Institute of Computing Technology under the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]].<ref name=":Mullaney23">{{Cite book |last=Mullaney |first=Thomas S. |title=The Chinese Computer: a Global History of the Information Age |date=2024 |publisher=[[The MIT Press]] |isbn=9780262047517 |location=Cambridge, MA}}</ref>{{Rp|page=100}}

From the 1950s until the end of the Mao era, China emphasized self-reliance in scientific and technological development.<ref name=":152" />{{Rp|page=356}} This resulted from its relative international isolation and its ideological stance.<ref name=":152" />{{Rp|page=356}}

Beginning in 1964, China through the [[Third Front (China)|Third Front]] construction built a self-sufficient industrial base in its hinterlands as a strategic reserve in the event of war with the Soviet Union or the United States.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Meyskens |first=Covell F. |url= |title=Mao's Third Front: The Militarization of Cold War China |date=2020 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-108-78478-8 |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |doi=10.1017/9781108784788 |oclc=1145096137 |s2cid=218936313}}</ref>{{Rp|page=1}} The Third Front construction was primarily carried out in secret, with the location for Third Front projects following the principle of “close to the mountains, dispersed, and hidden” ({{lang-zh|s=靠山, 分散, 隐蔽|p=kàoshān, fēnsàn, yǐnbì|labels=no}}).<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last1=Marquis |first1=Christopher |author-link=Christopher Marquis |url= |title=Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise |last2=Qiao |first2=Kunyuan |date=2022 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-26883-6 |location=New Haven |doi=10.2307/j.ctv3006z6k |jstor=j.ctv3006z6k |oclc=1348572572 |s2cid=253067190}}</ref>{{Rp|page=179}} From 1964-1974, China invested more than 40% of its industrial capacity in Third Front regions.<ref name=":6223">{{Cite book |last=Lan |first=Xiaohuan |title=How China Works: An Introduction to China's State-led Economic Development |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2024 |isbn=978-981-97-0079-0 |translator-last=Topp |translator-first=Gary |doi=10.1007/978-981-97-0080-6}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=297-298}} After [[1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China|Nixon's China trip]] in 1972, investment to the Third Front region gradually declined.<ref name=":03" />{{Rp|pages=225-229}} Rapprochement between the United States and China decreased the fear of invasion which motivated the Third Front construction.<ref name=":9" />{{Rp|page=180}} Through its distribution of infrastructure, industry, and human capital around the country, the Third Front created favorable conditions for subsequent market development and private enterprise.<ref name=":9" />{{Rp|page=177}}

The [[Cultural Revolution]] (1966-1976), which sought to remove perceived [[bourgeois]] influences and attitudes, caused large negative effects and disruptions. Construction of the Third Front slowed during its early stages.<ref name=":03" />{{Rp|page=12}} Among other measures it saw the scientific community and formal education attacked, intellectuals were sent to do manual labor, universities and academic journals were closed, most research ceased, and for nearly a decade China trained no new scientists and engineers.<ref name="LOC" />

In 1966, China transitioned from vacuum-tube computers to fully [[Transistor computer|transistorized computers]].<ref name=":Mullaney23"/>{{Rp|page=101}} In the mid-1960s through the late 1960s, China began a [[Semiconductor industry in China|semiconductor]] program and was producing [[Third generation computer|third-generation computers]] by 1972.<ref name=":Mullaney23"/>{{Rp|page=101}}

After [[Mao Zedong]]'s death, S&T was established as one of the [[Four Modernizations]] in 1976. The new leader [[Deng Xiaoping]], and architect of the [[Chinese economic reform]], was a strong promoter of S&T and reversed the policies of the Cultural revolution. The Soviet inspired system was then gradually reformed. Media began promoting the value of S&T, scientific thinking, and scientific achievement.<ref name=LOC/> The [[Generations of Chinese leadership|third and fourth generations]] of leaders came almost exclusively from technical backgrounds.

In March 1986, China launched the large-scale technology development plan, the [[863 Program|863 Project]].<ref name=":Minami">{{Cite book |last=Minami |first=Kazushi |title=People's Diplomacy: How Americans and Chinese Transformed US-China Relations during the Cold War |date=2024 |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |isbn=9781501774157 |location=Ithaca, NY}}</ref>{{Rp|page=88}}

The [[State Council of the People's Republic of China]] in 1995 issued the "Decision on Accelerating S&T Development" which described planned Science & Technology development for the coming decades. It described S&T as the chief productive force and affecting economic development, social progress, national strength, and living standards. S&T should become closely associated with market needs. Not only Soviet style institutes should do research but also universities and private industries. State institutions should form [[joint venture]]s with Chinese or foreign [[venture capital]] in order for S&T developments to reach the industry. S&T personal should become more occupationally mobile, pay should be linked to economic results, and age and seniority should become less important for personal decisions. [[Intellectual property]] rights should be respected. Information exchange should improve and there should be competition and open bidding on projects. The environment should be protected. Chinese indigenous S&T in certain key areas should be especially promoted. Public officials should improve their understanding of S&T and incorporate S&T in decision making. Society, including Communist Party youth organizations, [[labor union]]s and the [[mass media]], should actively promote respect for knowledge and human talents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/english/sandt/stdec2.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010303150429/http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/english/sandt/stdec2.htm|title=State Council Decision on Accelerating S&T Development|archive-date=3 March 2001|work=usembassy-china.org.cn}}</ref>

{{multiple image
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 | image1 = Clock Tower from Su Song's Book desmear.JPG
 | alt1 = Clock Tower from Su Song's Book desmear
 | caption1 = An interior diagram of the [[Astronomical clock|astronomical]] [[clocktower]] of [[Kaifeng]] featured in [[Su Song]]'s book, written by 1092 and published [[Woodblock printing|in printed form]] by the year 1094.
 | image2 = 11th century long serpent fire arrow rocket launcher.jpg
 | alt2 = 11th century long serpent fire arrow rocket launcher
 | caption2 = A depiction of the 13th Century "long serpent" rocket launcher. The holes in the frame are designed to keep the rockets separate, from the 1510 edition of ''Wujing Zongyao''.
 | image3 = Chain drive, Su Song's book of 1092.jpg
 | alt3 = Chain drive, Su Song's book of 1092
 | caption3 = The oldest known illustration of an endless power-transmitting chain drive. It was used for coupling the main driving shaft of his clock tower to the armillary sphere gear box.
}}

Since the 1990s, China has concentrated on building physical infrastructure such as roads and ports.  During the 2010s, a policy was implemented requiring technology transfer as a condition for foreign companies wanting entry into the Chinese market. However, China has shifted its growing focus towards prioritizing indigenous innovation to meet its national scientific and technological requirements.<ref name=Battelle2011/> During this period China has succeeded in developing an innovation infrastructure, founded on the establishment of over 100 science and technology parks in many parts of the country, along with encouragement of entrepreneurship outside the state-owned sector.  Yip and McKern argue that Chinese firms have evolved through three phases as their innovation capabilities have matured and that by 2017 many of them are of world standard. They are now strong competitors in the China market and increasingly in foreign markets, where they are establishing local operations.<ref>{{Cite book|title=China's Next Strategic Advantage:from Imitation to Innovation.|last1=Yip|first1=George|last2=McKern|first2=Bruce|publisher=MIT Press 2016|isbn=978-0-262-03458-6|location=Boston|date=2016-04-08}}</ref>