"The reason why China is weak is because it was weak in science.” Those words were etched in my mind ever since I first heard that from my science teacher in the first science class in Form 1 in high school.
As Joseph Needham, a famed scientist and sinologist has observed in his series of books entitled Science and Civilization in China, China was more advanced than Europe prior to the European Age of Enlightenment. As an example, he noted that the first iron suspension bridge, the Luding Bridge, was built in China in 1706, 36 years before the first such bridge was built in England. We all know that China invented the printing press, gunpowder and the compass. He then asked this question, which has since been phrased as the Needham Question:“Why did modern science, the mathematization of hypotheses about Nature, with all its implications for advanced technology, take its meteoric rise only in the West at the time of Galileo [but] had not developed in Chinese civilisation? … between the first century B.C. and the fifteenth century A.D., Chinese civilization was much more efficient than occidental in applying human natural knowledge to practical human needs.” Henry Olerich (1851–1927) a utopian author from Nebraska, phrased that question another way, “Why didn’t China have a scientific revolution considering its early scientific accomplishments?”
The chance for Hong Kong youths to have a conversation with the astronauts is an invaluable opportunity which should not be missed. By participating in a conversation with the astronauts in space, hopefully, that will bring the youths of Hong Kong back down to earth, on the reality of Hong Kong being a part of China and now able to participate in the scientific endeavors of China
Various answers have been given to that question, and they include: lack of property rights laws, science and technology were subjugated to the needs of the feudal families, new discoveries were sequestered by the government for its use, the sociopolitical institutions inhibited intellectual creativity, and passing the imperial exams to join the civil service was more rewarding.
Whatever the reasons might be, it is obvious the approach to scientific endeavors and education in China today are very different from its imperial past. China has now landed a Mars explorer on that planet, and has a cadre of astronauts. At this very moment, it has three astronauts, Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo in the space station Tiangong. It is a tremendous honor to Hong Kong youths that they were able to chat with the astronauts while they are in space. This should inspire the youths of Hong Kong to aspire to study the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects, which are vital to the advancement of mankind in general and Hong Kong in particular. Moreover, this will bring home the reality that the China of today is very different from the China of yesteryear.
This essay, emphasizing the importance of science, is not meant to denigrate the study of the liberal arts. In the West, there is a tradition of the learning of the seven liberal arts and sciences, in addition to whatever one is specializing in, being necessary for the complete education of man. The seven liberal arts and sciences being grammar, logic, and rhetoric, collectively known as the trivium, and arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy, collectively known as the quadrivium. In Chinese culture, we have the Liuyi (Six Arts), being: rites, music, archery, chariotry, calligraphy, and mathematics. Traditionally, a Junzi, a term often translated as “gentleman” or “the superior man”, neither of which captures the true meaning of the term, is expected to have mastered those Six Arts. So yes, for the development of society and of the nation, it is important to study the STEM subjects, but to round off one’s education, the liberal arts are just as important. The main point is the liberal arts as taught in the West now, has been highly influenced by postmodernism. Postmodernism has a heavy dose of anti-science and the belief that there is no such thing as an objective truth. That should give one pause for thought as to how the liberal arts are to be taught today.
The chance for Hong Kong youths to have a conversation with the astronauts is an invaluable opportunity which should not be missed. By participating in a conversation with the astronauts in space, hopefully, that will bring the youths of Hong Kong back down to earth, on the reality of Hong Kong being a part of China and now able to participate in the scientific endeavors of China, endeavors which are turning that nation into a rich, scientifically advanced and vibrant society.
The author is a physician by training, and a specialist in hematology who works in Singapore.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.