SCIENCE AMONG THE CHINESE 23 



China to-day, not counting, of course, the few who thus far have been 

 strongly influenced by western learning. 



2. The Ether. — In the writings of these five worthies. Dr. Martin 

 finds evidence (as exhibited in his " Lore of Cathay ") that the doctrine 

 of an all-pervading medium was familiar to the Chinese a thousand 

 years ago, possibly even in the " Book of Changes," 1100 B.C., and that 

 it was a full-fledged doctrine in several writers of the eleventh century 

 A.D., who ascribed to this ether all the properties at present claimed for 

 it except its electric and magnetic manifestations. 



Here are some of the passages which bear on this point : 



Chang (in "Cheng Meng," or "Eight Discipline for Youth"): The 

 immensity of space, though called the great void, is net void. It is filled with a 

 subtle substance. In fact there is no such thing as a vacuum. . . . Within the 

 immensity of space matter is alternately concentrated and dissipated, much as 

 ice is congealed or dissolved in water. . . . The great void is filled with a pure or 

 perfect fluid. Since it is perfectly fluid, it offers no obstruction to movement. 

 There being no obstruction {i. e., nothing to bring about a change of state) a 

 divine force converts the pure into the gross. 



3. Wave Theory of Light. — In another place, according to Dr. 

 Martin, we read : " The primal essence moved, and light was born ;" and 

 he says that the idea of vibrations was also grasped. In this he sees a 

 forecast of the modern undulatory theory of light. 



4. Vortex Theory of Matter. — In the work of Chou Dr. Martin 

 thinks we may discern the forerunner of the modern vortex theory of 

 the constitution of matter. Chou devised a diagram of cosmogony, 

 consisting of a ring, or circle, of uniform whiteness, representing the 

 primitive medium surrounded by a ring partly dark, which shows the 

 original substances difi^erentiated into the two forms or forces — yin and 

 yang. Chu Hi, speaking of this diagram says : " It shows how the 

 primitive forces grind back and forth like millstones, in opposite direc- 

 tions, and the resulting detritus from their friction is what we call 

 matter." 



But when we read in the context of the two writers concerning these 

 two principles — yin and yang — and follow them in their absurd ram- 

 blings of fancy, it seems unwarrantable to suggest that the language of 

 these selected sentences anticipates the idea of Lord Kelvin and leading 

 present-day scientists. 



5. Conservation of Energy. — Dr. Martin also claims that these 

 Chinese thinkers apprehended with great clearness the doctrine of the 

 Conservation of Energy, though they failed to fortify it by systematic 

 induction. In the writings of one of the Cheng brothers there is this 

 passage : " Body in motion is force. Its contact with another is followed 

 by a reaction or effect. This effect, in turn, acts as a force producing 

 another effect, and so on without end." " Here," he adds, " is a vast 

 subject for the ' student of philosophy.' " But alas ! Chinese " students 



