INTERCHANGE OF GEOSCIENCE IDEAS BETWEEN THE EAST AND THE WEST

Proceeding of the XVth International Symposium of IHHIGEO, pp.15-22

China University of Geosciences, Beijing. China

Neptunism advocated by A. G. Werner (1787) played an important role in the formation or western geological science. Similar ideas were also put forward by ancient Chinese scholars especially in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1633) the idea of neptunisrn was most active. The ancient Chinese ideas already contained the basic ideas of neptunism, although less systematic and incomplete as compared with European ideas.

Lu Kun's idea of neptunism could be traced in more ancient writings with similar ideas Although only a small part of the ancient ideas was discovered today, it may be seen that they were not sporadic.

A little earlier than Lu Kun, Wang Wen-lu, who got his highest scholarship in 1531, suggested in his book Hai Yi Zi that when the chaos were burnt to form heat, it rained heavily and the flood came Then the strong wind blew the water to form foam. lie latter gathered and settled to form continents and islands Those rising high in the center were Kunlun Mountains and other mountains. Later, when the flood stopped, the rest water be came the four seas He also explained the cause of withdrawal of the water, which was thought due to the sun

Still earlier there was Ye zi Qi in late Yuan and early Min₈ Dynasty, who, was a very learned scholar. He wrote the hook Cao Mu Zi in 1378 when he was in jail. In this book there were many ideas about the formation or the earth from the sedimentation and accumulation in water. Also, he believed that "the hard ones in the earth became stones" and that "the rocks were formed gradually by the evolution of the sediments in water because of the "vibration of water and silt and their gradual accumulation and consolidation". Therefore, the mountains and rivers resulted from the withdrawal of the water and the rise ₀f the rocks. The rise and fall of mountain ranges appeared to he the movements of waves, somewhat similar to ideas of neptunism,

Before Zhu Xi. there was another famous scholar of the Song Dynasty, Shen Kuo(1029-1fo3), who in his Dream Pool's Essays also stated the idea that continent was formed by accumulation or the mud and sand in the water. He pointed out that the mud and sand were transported there by rivers. This was the conclusion based on his observation in the east flank or Taihang Mountains. He noticed that there were shells and pebble bands on cliffs, through which he obtained the view-point that the areas were previously near sea-shore.

The same proof had also been used by Yan Zhen-qing (Yen chen-ching, 709-785) of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). He associated the record of the existence or shells in the rocks of Magu altar hill with the event or the intertransformation of sea an laud.

The ancient Chinese had the idea that the land originated from water precipitation. This may he related to the fact that most of the farming land came from the deposition or rivers, lakes and seas. This change of water to land could even be seen during a person's life time-It is recorded in Song Shi by Shen Yue, a general called Zhan Xing-shi (420-478), witnessed such a case When he was born there was a small sandbar in the river in front or his house and the sandbar was enlarged to over 5000 square meters when he was 52.

At early in 1500 years ago the idea that blue sea may change into mulberry fields was widespread in China. This may be the reason why neptunism ideas could be produced and accepted by thc people.

Although there was the statement by ancient Chinese scholars that the world originated from fire, the case was different from neptunism which was based on some natural phenomena, while the origination from fire was deduced from religion. In China modern volcanic activities are rarely seen. so it is impossible that ancient Chinese could get the idea or plutonism as the Europeans.

Owing to the greater influence of the neptunism thought, the Chinese, in regard to the creation or the world, used to hold the view-point that substances in original chaos diversified because of different specific gravity. The arguments put forward by thc previously mentioned scholars that the clear and light rose and become the heaven and thc muddy and heavy settled down and become the earth may he traced to as early as thc late 2nd Century, B.C., in a literary account of creation of the earth. There is a clear statement in the book Huai Nan Zi. Edited in the name of Prince Liu An in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. -220 A.D), which says: "those that are clear and light will be tie heaven and those that are muddy and heavy will be the earth It is easy to combine the light things hut it is difficult to condense the heavy ones. Therefore the heaven should be formed before the earth was consolidated."

In fact. the book Huai Nan Zi was compiled by a group of intellectuals employed by Liu An Accordingly, the ideas about the creation of the world mentioned above had occurred before this book was compiled, mainly from the philosophers at that time But Yan Zhen-qing. Shen Kuo and Zhu Xi tried and partly succeeded to find the evidence in geologic records. much early than the establishment of geology as a science in the West This is of great importance in the historical study of science among Chinese academic circles Professor Jiang Meng-lin of Peking University affirmed Zhu Xi's contribution to geology in a lecture on October 10, 1920. On March 2,1922. H.T. Chang, the first President of the Geological Society of China. introduced the geological thought or Yan Zhen-qing and Zhu Xi' in his opening speech at the rounding session of the Society, published in the first issue of the Bulletin of the Geological Society of China. From then on, the contributions or Yan and Zhu became widely known among the geological circles, home and abroad Joseph Needham also mentioned Yan Zhen-qing. Zhu Xi and Shen Kuo, in his monumental work Science and Civilization in China. There are certainly more early geological thoughts kept in Chinese classical works waiting to be discovered.

Charles Lyell mentioned in his Principles of geology that what interested thc geologists most about the eastern and western ideas of creation or the world was the theory that the land was widely covered by the ocean again and again. He also noticed the Chinese legend about the floods. which showed that he was keen about the beginning of the eastern thoughts of geology.

Guan Zi, compiled by the later scholars in honour of Guan Zhong , is a well~known book stating the ways to run a country. Many sayings and behaviours of Guan Zhong were recorded in the book. Guan was a practical politician and acted as head of the Qi Government from 689 B.C. to 644 B.C. He paid attention not only to ethics and morality hut also to economic construction in particular so Qi became one or the strongest states in North China at that time.

The word Tu (earth) used by the ancient Chinese did not only mean the soil, but included all the substances, lands, and rocks, composing the whole earth. For example, thc word Tu in the phrase "the imperial heaven and earth¹¹ (Huang Tian Hou Tu) means Dicorresponding to Tian (heaven), and is similar to the English word "earth". also used to mean the earth and the globe

As early as more than 2000 years ago the Chinese got to know that rocks will become soil after breaking and that rocks will break more quickly after they are burnt and then cooled, In this way, the rocks blocking the traffic could be removed, as stated in the claasic Shui Jing zhu, Afterwards, they came to know that soils could be changed into rocks again. as stated before This kind ₀f process was generalized by Song Ying-xing (1589-165?). a scholar n the Ming Dynasty. that "the sands and stones are from soil, and they will be turned into soils again. since there is death where there is birth.".

It was also known to ancient Chinese that water could move underground and that surface water and ground water are connected to each other This kind of knowledge was widely spread as a poem of Liu Chang-qing of Tang Dynasty says: "the river tides are easy to overflow and the waters of thousands of wells are connected to each other".

One of the characteristics of the traditional Chinese philosophy is to understand the nature as a whole. The Chinese got the concept of Shui Tu(water and earth). the unified concept of geological environment in early times, which was of great significance for the Chinese to survive under difficult natural conditions. Tile Chinese paid great attention to the effect of water and earth on peoples life and found the way to dead with it.

It was acknowledged in Guan Zi "that the growth of plants depend on the properties of soil, the Quality and the depth of ground water Subsequently, the plain of Qi, the present Shandong Province, was divided into several types according to the above factors. and the characteristics of plants were mentioned and suggestions of suitable plants to grow were given.

One century later another learned politician Yan Ying remarked that the orange trees growing to the south or the Huai Rivcr would not hear fruits if they were moved to the north. due to the difference or water and earth between the north and the south.

The ancient Chinese also had good knowledge of the relationship of the water and earth with people's health. as shown in many ancient writings.

As cities are the center ₀r population, water and earth are important factors to be considered when they are built. especially the capitals in history.

About 3000 years ago the plains on either side of the We River in nowadays Shaansi Province already developed into the main economic and political center of China. More than 2000 years ago the First Emperor of Qin Dynasty first unified the whole China and established the first imperial state of centralized power. He built the capital in Xianyang over the Wei river, with the city center on the northern side. The following Han Dynasty also built its capital city of Changan there. but the location was moved about 10 km southeastwards. After numerous subsequent wars Changan lost its position at the capital When the first Emperor of the Sui Dynasty. Yang Jian, took it as the capita! in the late sixth century A.D., the location of the new city was moved about 10 km further to the southeast In the following Tang Dynasty, Changan remained to be capital and expanded into an international municipal city with one million people.

It seems that the repeated change of position of the capital city were mainly due to changes or the geological environment.

Yet the threat of salification of soil has never been eliminated in Ouanzhong Plain. and was more obvious after the irrigation system facilities was destroyed because or war or other factors. Although the Xianyang city of Qin. the Changan city of Han. Sui and Tang had moved ever away from the Wei river, from low to higher positions, successively, the problem still remained. It is clear that the movements of the city had an aim to evade the salification caused by the rise of ground water. The renowned minister of the Sui Dynasty Yu Ji-cai proposed to build the new city and, "It has been 800 years since the Han Dynasty built the city and the water is too salty to fit the people". The new city built had its ground even higher than the wall of the old city However, the salification threat came again after several hundred years In the middle of 15 century the problem again cropped out. as "the spring water was too salty to drink'. According to the History of Ming Dynasty, people had to open another canal to draw the surface water for drinking.

The ancient Chinese classical works related to geological thought are so numerous that this article could only deal with a very few of them. It would be a great comfort to me if this article could interest my colleagues and induce more people to explore into our historic treasure-house.

References