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月 巳 叫 “ σ b nu h υ r 尸 甘 心 The 間，examination of early Chinese works in natural science presented here, though limited only to three specific topics (the physics of motion, acoustics and astronomy) and a brief account of early scientific ideas and thoughts of nature, serves to illustrate that the traditional characterization of early Chinese work in natural science requires substantial modification. The common claim that the physics of motion as being ‘totally absent from Chinese physical thinking' is in direct conflict with the extant Chinese records. Not only the physics of motion was not absent in Chinese physical thinking but the Chinese approach to motion was highly theoretical and, in many ways, is compatible with the ‘modern' approach. The common view that the Chinese work on acoustic as being ‘highly empirical and non, analytic' is not supported either by the extant Chinese records or by recent archaeological discoveries. In fact, the ancient Chinese not only had a highly developed physical acoustics but also provided, in musical acoustics, the only known analytic method from antiquity which is capable of generating musical scales in the pentatonic, heptatonic and chromatic intonations. And in addition, it is highly probable that Chinese acousticians had already developed, in the -5th century, an analytic method of generating chromatic scales in the natural (just) intonation. The study of early Chinese works on astronomy also reveals that the common characterization of Chinese works on astronomy as ‘lacking theory' is not valid (see p.l59 to p.165). In many ways, the physical theories in the Chinese cosmological views are quite compatible with the ‘modern' views. Thus, the re, examination of the early Chinese works in natural science presented here serves to illustrate that the problem with the lack of early Chinese participation in the development of modern science and technology is not a consequence of the lack of early scientific traditions in ancient China as commonly assumed. The ancient Chinese had remarkable early achievements not only in mathematics but also in science. The early scientific ideas and thoughts of nature shared by the Chinese philosophical schools were also conducive rather than inhibitive 228 Early Chinese Work in Natural Science to the development of science. The decline in science and technology in China is not due to the failure of their culture but due to the failure of the post，Sòng 宋 Chinese to overcome setbacks caused by social, political and world events and to build upon the sound foundation laid down by their ancestors. It is certainly true that science and technology in China were on the decline soon after the death of the early Yuán scholars such as Wáng Xún 王悄(1 235-81) ， GuδSh凸u，Jìng 郭守敬(1 231-136 1)， and Zhü Sl泣， Jié 朱世傑(且 1268-1303) .293 This was a consequence caused by the long costly war between the Mongols and the Sòng and by the gross neglect of the successors to Yuán S尬，Zlí 元世祖. Following this decline, science and technology in the Ming dynasty entered a long period of stagnation and it was at this juncture in the late sixteenth century that cross, currents between the East and West were brought on by the appearance of the Jesuits in China. At that time, even with the decline and stagnation in China, the difference between the East and West in the level of science and technological achievements was not significant. When Matteo Ricci first entered B話ijïng in 1601, for example, Galileo's revolutionary work Sidereus Nuncit泌的tarη Messenger) ， which brought Europe to a new level of intellectual awareness, was not yet in existence. A pertinent question that one needs to investigate is what had happened in China during the crucial century that followed this initial encounter with the West? One needs to know what had prevented China from responding to the rapid changes in science and technology that took place in Europe in this crucial century? It is beyond the scope here to address these questions in depth, but a brief review of the subsequent events that occurred in the cross, currents in astronomy during this crucial century is instructive since astronomy was one of the major early fields that sparked the ‘scientific revolution' and was also one of the major fields involved in the exchanges between the East and West. When historians talk about cross, currents in astronomy between the East and West in the period that began in the late sixteenth century, the main topics are usually the heliocentricity of...

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