652 replies to this topic

[vinceliang]

Razor Scooter

The Razor scooter is a very popular foldable scooter. It was invented by a team of people at the J.D. Corp. (a company that sells aluminum bicycle parts and electric scooters in Changhua, Taiwan Province).

Gino Tsai, the president of the company, wanted a way to get around his factory floors faster (he says that he is a slow walker and he needed a more efficient means of getting around). It took about 5 years for the team to develop their current model, which uses airplane-grade aluminum and polyurethane wheels. It was introduced in 1998 at the NSGA World Sports Expo, when Tsai scooted around the show, attracting the attention of Sharper Image Corp., who ordered the first Razor scooters. The scooters quickly became popular world-wide.

http://bbs.chinadail...h...tra=&page=3

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[vinceliang]

Hi all, I recently recieved a reply for a fellow forum compatriot in regards to the things I have talked about in this forum. After reading the reply I came which the following:

Regarding some ideas, Gavin Menzies isn't a reliable source nor his is information really credible. I've checked with other forum members, a researcher at the Needham institute and several Chinese scholars have mentioned the same. If you want to make your point, it might be best to ask around other places besides this man or wikipedia.

In regards to Gavin Menzies 1421 and 1434 theory. Menzies has stated enough evidence to back up his theory. I recently finished reading 1421, and yet I am very impressed with all that evidence in his book. Menzies had the evidence that all the European great names had maps to take them where they were going, its all in their logs. Europeans even met Chinese people in the American continent and again that is in their logs. e.g. Columbus states in his logs that the people of Cathay reached Greenland. The Chinese DNA in the American Indians, Austalian Abouriginies and the New Zeland Maroies. The plants which the Chinese transported, e.g. China suddenly had maize during Zheng He's time. Maize originated from the American continent. And many more evidence. I am not saying that I agree with everything that Menzies says but no one could simply invent large amount of evidence, you simply can't prove every evidence to be wrong so anyone who had read the book would naturally agree that the Chinese discovered the whole world and Europe followed their shadows to colonize it. As for why some scholars disagree, it is because they don't want the Chinese to fully dominate the history of the age of discovery. And what about the several Chinese scholars? They are those spent years researching Zheng He and failed to research what Menzies have found. They rather disprove it to get a reputation. Infact there are many great Chinese Scholars of Zhenghe who strong agrees with Menzies. Yet Menzies admitts that there Scholars seem to have evidence he originally didn't. Menzies mention about a Chinese scholar who has records of Brazilian comming to China to pay Tribute in 1501.

http://www.gavinmenz...-1421/index.asp

Also, in some cases, it is a bit of a stretch to say our Ancient Ancestors (I'm also ethnic Chinese) had ideas such as a form of calculus or other studies or saying such and such idea comes from the Chinese. It might be helpful to provide not only several reliable links (in whatever language, sinology has many researchers besides Chinese and English) but whenever you post in this forum, make sure your whatever you type is very detailed, precised

I do try to be as detail a I could. Could you please tell me where you want me to be mor detailed?

A real scholary conversation doesn't have to sound like a debate or lecture all the time,

I am not here to debate, I am just here to post interesting topics for net citzens to read

I really believe studying history is more of interpretating the past rather than "stating the facts". It's not like a court case.

I pefer to state the facts. Like I said, as long as there is evidence to prove the truth, then it is true. I agree that history isn't and should not be a court case.

Also, nowadays, science and technology is far too global for any culture/nation/civilization to take all the credit. Plus, there are many overseas Chinese involved throughout the world contributing to humanity in many ways, so in some sense, we do not have to prove anything to anybody.

Chinese Mordern Science is nearly as contributary to the world as it is for its ancient science. There are many elite enginering intellectuals who have invented something brilliant e.g. the 4 Mordern inventions. At the same time, you have stated that many overseas Chinese involved throughout the world contributing to humanity in many ways. I am not trying to prove anything, I am just here to tell the truth and talk about some interesting.

Edited by vinceliang, 23 August 2009 - 08:06 AM.

[Gan]

I only come to this site to read the interesting conversations and extra information I could get by reading other people's opinions.
I won't post too much but I'm going to say something because I got an email from a friend who told me about this particular issue, in which interests me as well.

I think that there is a somewhat complicated issue when people want to attached a specific nationalistic/cultural trait to many topics, especially ones that aren't necessary dependent on any particular group of people.

Sometimes, I get the impression some people confused the terms and images with Science, Engineering and Technology, with the later being a very broad term.

Since this is a history forum, I understand why there would be much talk and interest in discussing what happen in the past within these areas, but I think people probably should think more critically when trying to tie in to the current age. What is a little frustrating, both in a good and unpleasant sense, is that people try to squeeze topics such as this one, into specific boxes when there are so many exceptions, possibilities and other interesting "thorns" to those limits.

I sort of hate speaking in first term so much but then I don't won't to make claims of speaking for others who may not agree so all this is my personal opinion and critique which is subject to any criticism and change of course. I also apologize for my bad grammar and run-on sentences.

I understand the arguements over what the term "Chinese " means but here is one reason why I think it's a little un-necessary to make the grouping of "Chinese" technologies. Unless it's specific like Technology in Han dynasty or technology infusing with Chinese culture such as adjusting to the characters on computers, to have "Chinese" technology in the overall general sense;both tying past and present, is redendent because technology itself doesn't have to respect such boundaries.

Depending on people want to define "Chinese" as, virtually anything could be Chinese. Whether these innovations are Ancient Origins, Modern inventions, Independent versions and prototypes, the "engineering" of it, improvements made, applications, design and whatever intellectual claim people want to make (this does not include manufacturing things, buying parts, reverse engineering or the infamous counterfieting and espionage) the "Chinese" have been a part of everything. If people want to step into the demographic idea of including the Chinese diaspora with their contributions to technology, literally every thing in human society has a "Chinese" touch on it. Which is probably close to reality strangely speaking.

Based on the same logic, I could argue that every thing has a "Western" touch, an "American" touch, a "Middle Eastern" touch , etc. Those boundaries really blurred when people want to look at the entire picture.

The other topic I want to talk about is Science. From my perspective, in a nutshell, Science is basically knowledge people obtained through applicable methods and processes SO FAR, and expanded by making connections with some calculations and imagination. In a way, science belongs to the world but sometimes Academia, the Media, the Business world, governments and many others try to squeeze this into their own boxes. I could go on and on about Science but that's pretty much what I have to say regarding this thread.

Edited by Gan, 24 August 2009 - 05:04 PM.

[vinceliang]

Chinese were the first to use negative numbers and make the rules for them. Together with the concept and use of Zero is an absolute necessity for modern mathematics.

http://www.chinahist...showtopic=19965

[vinceliang]

I'll read more into the Menzies theory.

I did read his book before and other articles that support it, it's just when I checked it with those who studied this phase (the Chinese scholars was on a Chinese TV program I saw and some things I read online) they seem to overwhelm or dismissed entirely. Also, a lot of the Zheng He/America idea I read was more hypothetical than as it is. A What if most of the time.

I have already mentioned before in my previous threads why western scoholars and some Chinese scholars chose to dismiss the the theory. Yet there are also many chinese scholars from the Zhenghe Associations who agree with the theory and has also stated evidence for it. In regards to the theory there a enough evidence to prove that the theory is true. I have mentioned some of the evidence in my previous threads. I am not saying that every evidence Menzies has stated is all true but inorder to prove his theory wrong, you would have to prove that every evidence is false and ofcourse you cannot invent such large amount of evidence. So I wouldn’t say his theory is hypothetical if he has the evidence to state his prove.

Edited by vinceliang, 25 August 2009 - 09:35 PM.

[vinceliang]

Global Propagation of Plants

For centries it has been believed that golbal propagation of the world's plants began after Columbus landed on the Americas. In fact, Zhenghe's star fleet began the propagtion and has already propagated the most important agricutural plants before the Europeans started. Europeans found the most important crops flourishing when the came to the American continent. No fewer than 27 important cash crops were brought to Hawaii from India, Asia, Indonesia, the Americas and Africa. Sweet potato, sugar cane, bamboo, cocunut palms, arrowroot, yam, bannana, turmeric, ginger, kava, breafruits, mulberry, bottle ground, hibiscus and the candlenut tree were growing in Hawaii before the Europeans first arrival. None of those plants were indegenous to the island.

This pattern was repeated throughout Polynesia and halway across the world to Easter Island. The first Europeans found totara reeds from Lake Titicaca, tomatoes, wild pine-apples and sweet potatoes from South America, tobacco from Central and North America, gourds from Africa, papayas from Central America, yams from South East Asia and cocunuts from the South Pacific. The first Eurpeans reaching the Caribbean found cocunuts, Megellan loaded Maize in the Phillipines which originated in Central America. California had Chinese roses and South America has Asiatic Chickens. Over 94 genera of plants were common only to South America and Australia, 74 genera, including 108 distinct species are only common to tropical West Africa and topical America.

Rice, an imprortant chinese crop, is the most diverse and addaptable crop in the world. The Chinese developed varieties of species that could flourish on dry mountain slopes while others needed to be sumberged. Some took months to ripen, others took 2. Some were sensitive to temperatures, others to sunlight. Some crossbred species were tolerant to salt that they could be planted on the sea shores. Rice is highly nutritous and it stores well and is easy and economical to cook. Until the 20th century rice produced 7 times as many calories per hectare of land as any other grain and China was the most efficient agricultural nation of the world. In the Ming era China exported rice to the Pacific and imported plants. They showed their inventive genius by utilizing the crops they found in distant lands. Later sugar canes, bannas, ginger and some species of citus fruits, and cotton was impotant from India. The Chinese also brought Maize to their nation from the America which is the world's most polific crop, after rice.

[vinceliang]

Sunlight OLED

Professor Zhou Zhuohui and his research team of Tsinghua University had invented a type of OLED (Organic Light emitting diode 有機發光二極體) that is capable of emitting lights very close to "Sunlight".

In our normal daily, we often see lights in only one color, be it florescent, yellow, white etc, but never a light that can emit "Sunlight". This technology breakthrough is an innovation.

"Sunlight" OLED can possibly find its application in TV, light bulbs etc. Now, Professor Zhou Zhuohui is marketing the patent to commercial companies.

In the 1980's the first OLED was invented at Eastman Kodak by an American Chinese Dr. Ching W Tang.

http://www.chinahist...showtopic=31706
http://en.wikipedia....-emitting_diode

[vinceliang]

Invention of Steel

Another major invention of the Chinese, that led to other achievements, is steel. The common belief today is that Henry Bessemer discovered the process of refining iron into steel. The fact is Chinese had developed the process to refine iron into steel in the second century BC The Chinese learned that by injecting oxygen into the blast furnace, they could remove the carbon from the iron. The Chinese called this process the “hundred refinings method” since they repeated the process that many times. The finished product was highly prized in China for its strength and ability to hold an edge on a sword. The Chinese would weld the steel onto weaker iron thus creating a strong edge and a superior weapon. The Chinese iron and steel workers were the best at making different types of metals into modern times. But then, no one else could have done so at the time, since iron existed nowhere else but in China.

http://bbs.chinadail...h...tra=&page=1

Edited by vinceliang, 05 September 2009 - 07:26 AM.

[vinceliang]

Invention of Paper

In 2006, an archaeological discovery at north-east China's Gansu province , has been reported from near Dunhuang of paper with writing on it dating from 8 BCE. The paper was in use by the ancient Chinese military. In AD 89, a court eunuch, Cai Lun (traditional Chinese: 蔡倫; simplified Chinese: 蔡伦; pinyin: Cài Lún; Wade-Giles: T'sai Lun) was promoted with the title of Shang Fang Si, an office in charge of manufacturing instruments and weapons; he also became a paperwork secretary (中常侍). In 105 CE, Cai Lun invented the modern method of papermaking (inspired from wasps and bees) from rags and other plant fibers. This was known as the composition for paper along with the papermaking process. His technique of felted sheets of fiber suspended in water, draining of the water, and then drying into a thin matted sheet is still used today. His papermaking process included the use of materials like bark, hemp, silk, and fishing net; his exact formula has been lost. Emperor He was pleased with the invention and granted Cai an aristocratic title and great wealth. Sadly, in 121, Consort Song's grandson Emperor An of Han assumed power after Empress Deng's death and Cai was ordered to report to prison. Before he was to report, he committed suicide by drinking poison after taking a bath and dressing in fine silk robes.


Paper was used in China for wrapping and padding since the 2nd century BCE and became widespread as a writing medium by the 3rd century.

Further Use of Paper

During the Tang Dynasty Paper was folded and sewn into square bags to preserve the flavor of tea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cai_Lun
http://en.wikipedia....istory_of_paper

Edited by vinceliang, 05 September 2009 - 07:49 AM.

[vinceliang]

Invention of Hybrid Rice(One of the 4 Great Mordern Inventions)

In the 1960s, a series of natural disasters and inappropriate policies had plunged China into an unprecedented famine that caused many deaths. This lead an agricultural scientist, Yuan Longping (Chinese: 袁隆平; Pinyin: Yuán Lóngpíng; born September 7, 1930)to come up with an idea for hybridizing rice. Since then, he has devoted himself to the research and development of a better rice breed.

In 1964, he happened to find a natural hybrid rice plant that had obvious advantages over others. Greatly encouraged, he began to study the elements of this particular type.

In 1973, in cooperation with others, he was able to cultivate a type of hybrid rice species which had great advantages. It yielded 20 percent more per unit than that of common ones.

In 1974 their research made a breakthrough in seeding. They successfully developed a set of technologies for producing indica (long-grained non-glutinous) rice, putting China in the lead worldwide in rice production. For this achievement, he was dubbed the "Father of Hybrid Rice."

The rice is any genealogy of rice produced by crossbreeding different kinds of rice which outputs 30% more than ordinary ones and has been widely used in the rice fields. The hybrid rice by Yuan and his co-researchers has made the earth produce extra rice equivalent to food for 80 million or more people.

At present, as many as 50 percent of China's total rice fields grow Yuan Longping’s hybrid rice species and yield 60 percent of the rice production in China. Due to Yuan's hard work, China's total rice output rose immensely. About 300 billion kilograms more have been produced over the last twenty years. The annual yield increase is enough to feed 60 million people.

Currently, a new "Super Rice" in Yuan's experimental field produces rice output per unit area three times as the average in the world. The rice is one of the most important measures to combat world food crises.

http://en.wikipedia....iki/Hybrid_rice
http://en.wikipedia....i/Yuan_Longping
http://www.china.org...01/Mar/8452.htm

Edited by vinceliang, 28 August 2009 - 01:12 AM.

[vinceliang]

The World's Longest Gas Pipe

China is yet to build a pipe line which is to be longer and greater than the first West-East natural gas transfer project. It is to become the longest gas pipe in the world. The pipe line will cross 15 regions, carrying 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year to Zhejiang, Shanghai, Guangdong, Hong Kong SAR, etc. It is the nations’s most expensive energy project in decades. It is of great importance to ensuring China’s energy security, coordinating regional economic development, deepening the ties between Hong Kong and inland provinces and promoting economic growth.

The 8,704 km pipeline will be made up of one trunk line and eight sub-lines. Construction of the west segment of the pipeline was started in February 2008 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2009. The whole line will be operational by the end of 2011.

As China battles the financial crisis and expands its domestic demand, this second West-East gas pipeline project is a landmark project that will boost people’s confidence to overcome the crisis, said an official with the National Development and Reform Commission.

The total investment of the second West-East gas pipeline was 142.2 billion yuan (20.82 billion U.S. dollars). The eastern segment stretches 2,472 km, with an investment of 93 billion yuan.

The government approved the east segment project during an executive meeting of the State Council or the Cabinet last November, in a hope to ease natural gas shortage, boost economic development and popularize utilization of clear energy.

Zhou Dadi, a researcher with the Energy Research Institute of National Development and Reform Commission said the construction of the gas pipe is essential for China to increase gas resources and ensure energy security.

It is hoped that construction will boost consumption and increase investment amid a world economic downturn, Zhou added.

It is estimated that investment will top 300 billion yuan in other relevant industries, including machinery production, electric technology, and construction material sectors.

Dong Xiucheng, professor with China University of Petroleum said this project will help China increase clean energy consumption.

In China, coal makes up 70 percent of the total energy consumption, 40 percentage points higher than the world average. Natural gas consumption only accounts for three percent of the total.

The completion of the second pipeline is expected to save 11.06million tons of coal every year.

The first West-East gas pipeline was finished in 2004. It has provided 42 billion cubic meters of gas to 3,000 factories and nearly 200 million people over the past five years.

http://www.tehrantim...asp?code=188984

[vinceliang]

JFYI, there is also probably a mountain of evidences against it. There is a thread on the forum for that debate.

As I have mentioned the mountain of evidence for it which nobody could possibly invent, then what sort of mountain of evidence against it?

http://www.gavinmenzies.net/

Edited by vinceliang, 30 August 2009 - 10:06 PM.

[vinceliang]

Chen Jingrun

In 1966, a great Chinese mathematician, Chen Jingrun, researched on the twin prime conjecture, Waring's problem, Goldbach's conjecture and Legendre's conjecture, which lead to the progress of the analytic number theory. In his 1966 paper, he proved what is now called Chen's theorem: Every sufficiently large even number can be written as the sum of either two primes, or a prime and a semi-prime (the product of two prime numbers).

In his 1973 paper he proved a 2nd Theorem. That is if h is a positive even integer, there are infinitely many primes p such that p+h is either prime or the product of two primes.

http://www.china.org...nt_18405012.htm
http://en.wikipedia....n's_theorem
http://en.wikipedia....ki/Chen_Jingrun

Edited by vinceliang, 31 August 2009 - 07:11 AM.

[vinceliang]

Tao Chi-Shen

In regards to Chen's Theory. A prime number p is called a Chen prime if p + 2 is either a prime or a product of two primes. The even number 2p + 2 therefore satisfies Chen's theorem. Also all of the supersingular primes are Chen primes.

In 2005 an Australian Chinese Mathamatician Tao Chi-Shen (Chinese: 陶哲軒, Simplified Chinese: 陶哲轩) proved that there are infinitely many three-term arithmetic progressions of Chen primes.

In 2004 Tao Chi-Shen proved the Green–Tao theorem. The theoremstates that the sequence of prime numbers contains arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions. In other words, for any natural number k, there exist k-term arithmetic progressions of primes. The proof is an extension of Szemerédi's theorem.

In 2006, Tao and Tamar Ziegler extended the result to cover polynomial progressions. More precisely, given any integer-valued polynomials P1,..., Pk in one unknown m with vanishing constant terms, there are infinitely many integers x, m such that x + P1(m), ..., x + Pk(m) are simultaneously prime. The special case when the polynomials are m, 2m, ..., km implies the previous result that there are length k arithmetic progressions of primes.

Tao is also the founder of Tao's Inequalities:
http://en.wikipedia.....27s_inequality

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Chen_prime
http://en.wikipedia....iki/Terence_Tao
http://en.wikipedia....een-Tao_theorem

[Alexander39]

Vinceliang, it might be a good idea to split the thread up since you have mixed several subjects that really haven't that much to do with each other.

Example: You have Engineering which demands a thread of its own since it has little to do with science as such other than applied science that is.

You have Historical *Maybes* (Menzies et al) which lets be honest have nothing to do with science except to confirm or debunk said Historical postulations/facts.

Then you have science in the broad sense, + some claims that is not altogether true.IE They really can't be proved and should have been place in a thread by them self, such as the origin of steel manufacturing (Bessemer process in particulary) and the first production of same.
This doesn't mean that you are wrong, just that your (Or others) claim are unverifiable in the practical sense.

Sincerly yours Alexander..