Shen Kuo

Shen Kuo (1032-1096), whose courtesy name was Cunzhong, named himself Mengxi Zhangren, Mengxi Weng, and Anlao in his later years. He was originally from Qiantang County, Hangzhou, and settled in Wuxian County, Suzhou since childhood. He was an official in the Northern Song Dynasty, and he was a direct bachelor of Longtuge and the third envoy of Quan. Shen Kuo was born in an official family in Hangzhou. He traveled with his father in the officialdom during his childhood. After his father's death, he took care of the Shuyang bookkeeper. Shen Kuo successfully governed Shushui during his tenure, but was never promoted, so he took part in the imperial examination and passed the Suzhou Jieyuan and Jinshi examinations. He was appointed Yangzhou manager and joined the army. In Yangzhou, he was recommended by his future father-in-law Zhang Ji to serve in the imperial court in Beijing. Later, he was promoted by Wang Anshi to participate in the Xining Reform. During the reform period, Shen Kuo reformed the Tianjian, managed the Bian River, inspected the water conservancy in Zhejiang and Zhejiang, inspected the affairs of the west of Hebei Province, and went to the Liao Dynasty. With many achievements, he was highly regarded by Song Shenzong and promoted to Quan Sansi Envoy. , took over the country's financial power, but due to political disagreements, he was suspected and excluded by the New Party. Under Cai Queli's advice, Song Shenzong had to issue an edict to remove Shen Kuo and demoted him to the magistrate of Xuanzhou in the 10th year of Xining (1077). In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), Shenzong of the Song Dynasty transferred Shen Kuo to the front line of the Song-Xia war and appointed him as the economic and strategic envoy of Yanyan Road. Later, he was awarded the direct bachelor's degree of Longtuge for his military merits. Soon Shen Kuo was demoted to Suizhou and placed under house arrest due to the tragic defeat of Yongle City. It was not until the death of Song Shenzong that he regained his freedom. He spent his later years in Mengxi Garden in Runzhou and was buried in Qiantang, Hangzhou. Shen Kuo was involved in a wide range of affairs throughout his life. Historians say that he was very knowledgeable and talented. He was knowledgeable about astronomy, local chronicles, laws and calendars, music, medicine, and divination, and he wrote on them all. There are only 6 types of Shen Kuo's works left today, and "Mengxi Bi Tan" is his representative work, recording what he heard throughout his life. Shen Kuo was ideologically inclined to Wang Anshi's new learning, agreed with Mencius' idea that the people valued the monarch over the people, and affirmed the creativity of the common people. In "Mengxi Bi Tan", he recorded in detail the deeds of Bi Sheng, who invented movable type printing, and Yu Hao, who compiled the "Wooden Classic", as well as inventions such as dry docks and double locks. When he was in charge of the Si Tianjian, he vigorously promoted Wei Pu, who was born as a commoner, improved astronomical instruments such as telescopes, engravings, and armillary spheres, and compiled "Feng Yuan Li" with Wei Pu. Shen Kuo also proposed the theory of soil erosion and sedimentation based on his observations in the Taihang Mountains and Yandang Mountains, inferred climate changes based on unearthed fossils, and recorded geomagnetic declination for the first time based on his own experiments. Shen Kuo also made great achievements in literature and art. He started collecting paintings and calligraphy since he was a child. He was also proficient in music theory. He recorded in detail the folk music of the time, calculated the length of the twelve-tone pipe, and explained the resonance phenomenon between musical instruments. In his later years, he kept the piano as his companion. Shen Kuo believed in fate but was not superstitious. He was particularly curious about strange things in the world and was also interested in Buddhism and Taoism.