Ancient Chinese Attitudes toward Technics: Chinese Philosophy of Technology Prior to the 1800s

Abstract

Chinese scholars began to reflect on technics and technology during ancient times. The earliest effort in recorded history is the Yijing, which has been attributed to the Western Zhou dynasty. What was originally a book of divination also contains philosophical reflections on technics which have influenced views of later generations. The philosophical traditions of Confucianism and Daoism have also contributed to Chinese philosophy of technics and technology, although they tended to promote opposing attitudes. In addition, there are influential practical texts such as two technical manuals, the Kaogong ji and Tiangong kaiwu. Summarizing from all these sources, three key ideas that distinguish Chinese from Western thinking about traditional technics and eventually modern technology are the absence of a Creator god (or, more positively, a sense of the material world as self- subsisting), an emphasis on practice (and the primacy of practical or political affairs in human life), and a concern for harmony between heaven and earth (that is, between human beings with the larger world in which they live).