An overview of different approaches to the interpretation of Needhams Grand Question

The development of science and technological innovations are important factors of the economic prosperity of any country. After many centuries of advanced scientific and technological progress China had been retarding European countries for several centuries both in the field of basic scientific and technological researches. The article focuses on systematisation and analysis of scientists’ opinions on " Needham's Grand Question " that is formulated in the form of two interrelated questions: "Why was the Chinese civilization more successful than the Western one in acquiring natural knowledge and applying it to the needs of human practice since I until the 15th century AD?" and "Why science has been developing in European civilization, but not in Chinese (or Indian) ones since the 16th century?"

The article offers the explanation of that phenomenon which is given by Chinese and foreign scientists. The explanation can be divided in three types: the mental characteristics of Chinese society (an organic understanding of nature, excessive respect for traditions, the philosophy of spirituality in combination with applied pragmatism, contempt for physical labor), environmental factors (vast territory, favorable climate, limited access to the sea) and institutional structure (a rigid estate-bureaucratic system with clearly built social elevators, a system of imperial examinations, academic stagnation).

Keywords

"Needham's Grand Question", Chinese economics, Chinese civilization, science, technology, mental models, institutional system, environment and economic development

Received

20.01.2022

Publication date

18.06.2022

Number of characters

34565

Cite

GOST	Changlin Y. An overview of different approaches to the interpretation of "Needham's Grand Question" // Ekonomika i matematicheskie metody – 2022. – V. 58. – Issue 2 C. 43-53 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://emm.jes.su/S042473880018316-6-1 (circulation date: 28.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S042473880018316-6
MLA	Changlin, Yu "An overview of different approaches to the interpretation of "Needham's Grand Question"." Ekonomika i matematicheskie metody 58.2 (2022):43-53. DOI: 10.31857/S042473880018316-6
APA	Changlin Y. (2022). An overview of different approaches to the interpretation of "Needham's Grand Question". Ekonomika i matematicheskie metody 58(2), pp.43-53 DOI: 10.31857/S042473880018316-6

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