We discuss a question, that is, Needham's position in the history of culture, science and technology in China. Only by studying China's social, cultural and economic system can we understand why China's theoretical science and applied science developed greatly in ancient times and the Middle Ages, but after the era of rites and music at the beginning of the 7th century, modern science did not develop in China, or it can be said that it did not develop at all. Broadly speaking, we can say that between the 3rd century BC and 5th century AD, China's science and technology were much more advanced than Europe's (except for the brilliant climax of Greek theoretical construction), but after the Renaissance, European science began to take the lead. Indeed, in Galileo's era, it can be said that science invented technology itself, and thus produced a unified world of modern science, which was owned by all mankind, thus eliminating the racial imprint that marked various forms of science and technology in the Middle Ages. As I said before, what emerged in Europe after the Renaissance was not "European science", but modern science which was widely applied all over the world. Men and women of all cultures were free.
Although this breakthrough occurred in Europe, and only in Europe, it does not prove that Europeans have the special quality of the so-called "Faust soul" often advertised by German mystics, nor can they insist on listing European culture as the highest "world culture" like some writers. Because there are many special factors that must be considered in Europe: the specific conditions of European historical development, the formation of European feudal system, the growing needs of European mercantilism and industrialization, and the consistent promotion and promotion of European cultural history by Greeks since the Soviet Union-all these and other similar factors are enough to fully explain the mystery of Galileo's miracle. Therefore, we have no reason to attribute the emergence and growth of modern science in Europe to the European spirit or the mysterious fate of European talents. At the same time, seeing the great contributions made by other nationalities to the establishment of modern science, we feel that we should not say this. As for China itself, the question we want to study is still: Why was China society more conducive to the development of science than the western society before the 8th century, but it stopped the development of science after18th century?
What happened in Renaissance Europe: for example, the vigorous development of post-modern science in Galileo's era, the perfection of mathematical proof reasoning methods and so on; All these have had a far-reaching impact on the relationship between the people of the East and the West. We all know the consequences. As we know, due to the development of modern technology, the living standard in the west has been greatly improved; We also know that in the past two or three hundred years, westerners have gained a dominant position in the military and easily conquered other cultures, resulting in such a bad influence. However, if the whole world can prevent itself from being destroyed by the infinite power produced by modern science, then the benefits we can get from modern science are endless. (Although China has made so many great achievements in the fields of science, mathematics and technology in the past) Why did the rise of modern science take place in Europe instead of East Asian civilization? Behind this problem, all the problems concerning the nature and development of China society are involved.
We have put forward some ideas before to explain why there has never been a European Renaissance in China's history. In China, the concept of the ancient Greek city-state did not exist at all. In the west, the interests of businessmen play an important role in the prosperity of modern science; In China, the interests of businessmen have always been dominant. In addition, there are ideological factors. On the one hand, it is the sanctified clan ancestor system; On the other hand, it is the personification of God's creator, and people think that God's rational instructions can be barely explained in their own mathematical language. On the one hand, it is the internal "Tao" of everything that makes them naturally achieve harmony; On the other hand, the theory of atomic action and mechanical propulsion. The emergence of modern natural science seems to need an enlightened natural simplicity factor, which China lacks in his natural wisdom.
It is this problem that first prompted me to make up my mind to compile a comprehensive and systematic work on China's science, scientific thought and technological development with concrete strength in the future. Later, I realized that behind this question, there is another question that is at least as important: Why did China always make much progress than Europe during the period from 200 BC to about AD 1400 or before the Renaissance 1450? Another question needs to be answered: Why can China's bureaucratic feudalism better apply science (it often seems to be a theoretical science that does not exist objectively, so it is much better than Greek nationalism or medieval western feudalism? This situation seems difficult to explain; But we can cite many examples to prove that not all of them are within the scope of technology. Apart from the three famous inventions of printing, gunpowder and compass, they were popular because of Francis Bacon's reputation. I once talked about the invention of cast iron technology and the method of molten iron casting-I didn't know about it until Europe AD 1380, and in China, as early as the 2nd century BC, people were used to making farm tools by casting. Of course, I can't explain how to vote in detail here. I think everyone knows this. This is a special case, which shows that China's technology has far surpassed that of the West in a long time. It is also surprising that although China did not have the deductive geometry created by Ogritt and Apolloni, it was China, not Europe, who invented the equatorial device and mechanical clock on the telescope long before the Renaissance. The development of mechanical clocks is particularly surprising, because China has always been described as an agricultural society with no concept of time.
In this regard, it may be very important that some of these medieval inventions are closely related to the bureaucratic nature of China culture. We can cite seismographs, rain gauges and snow gauges as examples. In the tightly structured bureaucratic system, the upper-class intellectuals with high organization and foresight, even feudal ones, felt it necessary to know where the earthquake occurred in time, so as to give immediate relief, or send troops to the severely affected areas. Obviously, it was this situation that prompted Zhang Heng to manufacture and use the earliest seismograph in the 2nd century AD. For the same reason, rain gauges and snow gauges are also important, because floods may occur anywhere and the ruling group must predict them. In some math books of 1 1 and12nd century, the exercises about the beginning of rain gauge were listed, from which I learned that this kind of rain gauge is widely used and may be set at the foot of the western foothills near the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to understand how rainfall and snow amount are formed. For another example, my collaborator and I recently wrote a detailed article about an amazing geodetic survey: an expedition sent in 723 AD made real observations for 2-3 years, and the meridian was determined by combining the observation results. This masterpiece was completed under the leadership of the royal astronomer Nangong Shuo and the outstanding monk mathematician. There is no doubt that this is the most amazing organized geodesy in the whole Middle Ages. From the Mongolian border to zhina, nine main observation stations were set up along the route of about 2,500 kilometers, and the length of the solar shadow and the polar height of the solar solstice in summer and winter were systematically observed. I don't believe that in any other medieval civilization, it is possible to conceive and implement such a large-scale geodetic survey organized by people. This is indeed memorable, which is also inseparable from the bureaucratic characteristics of China's feudal society.
Today, China is exploring the scientific achievements of these generations and compiling the history of science. Now he shows a high degree of enthusiasm for science, because only by relying on scientific development can the living standards of Asian people catch up with other advanced countries in the world. But China people began to realize that their ancestors also made great achievements in scientific discovery, observation and invention. They are eager to know many stories buried by the dust of history for centuries, but modern western historians are reluctant to reveal them. For example, in the17th century, the west discovered the illusion of the sun (the illusion of sunlight, solar halo and arc formed by ice accumulation in the upper atmosphere), while astronomers in China observed this complex phenomenon before 1000 years ago, and described and named each component. How important it is for Asian thinkers and technical experts who have lost their historical heritage to know such a fact! For another example, since Watt, the wonderful connecting rod and piston rod structures in all steam engines and internal engines were first invented not by Italian Renaissance engineers, nor by Leonardo da Vinci, nor by Alexandrians, but by Wang Zhen of China in A.D. 1300, who was first used in his smelting hydraulic blast furnace. If Asian thinkers and technologists know this fact, can they not be proud? Now even in children's picture books in China, there are pictures and descriptions of seismograph made by Zhang Heng, papermaking invented by Cai Lun in 1 century, movable type printing invented by Bi Sheng in1century and so on. China's "Universal Joint" hanger can be traced back to Ding Huan in A.D. 180, and the "Pascal" triangle was founded by Zhu Shijie in A.D. 1303. All these achievements have been confirmed by the research of sinologists. Therefore, westerners must realize that in China's view, science is not due to the generosity of Christian missionaries, nor is it rooted in China's own culture. On the contrary, science has a brilliant and profound foundation in China culture. These China people know each other better and better now. If China's medieval society was really as absolute as some people advertised, and there was no freedom, we could not explain how so many creations and civilizations came into being for thousands of years, nor could we understand why China had been in a leading position than Europe for such a long time. Perhaps because of social stability, some scholars described it as a typical "social stagnation" in medieval China culture. Where does this start?
I don't mean to belittle the amazing achievements made by the current government of China under the leadership of the * * * production party to improve the fate of the "old people" in China. At the same time, if any westerner really wants to understand the work done by the modern China government, he must also understand some characteristics of the long-standing cultural traditions of China and China; On the one hand, westerners have little knowledge. Indeed, China's own scholars sometimes belittle their past history and underestimate the great achievements in philosophy and art for thousands of years to show the profound changes that have taken place in the newly born China. This situation can only be said to be self-inflicted! In fact, other countries in the world need to learn from China with an open mind, not from modern China, but from historical China, because from the wisdom and experience of the Chinese, we can get many good medicines to cure modern diseases and the necessary elements to promote the future development of all human philosophy.
[Edit this paragraph] Needham and the study of the history of science and technology in China.
Dr Joseph Needham (1900- 1995) is a famous expert in the history of science and technology in China, a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, a member of the British Academy of Literature, and the president of the British-Chinese Friendship Association. The English version of the seven-volume History of Science and Technology in China, edited by Dr. Needham, has been published by Cambridge University Press since 1954. It is considered as one of the main academic achievements completed in the 20th century and the highest achievement of European academic research.
For the first time, Dr. Needham comprehensively and systematically expounded China's 4,000-year history of scientific and technological development with convincing historical materials and evidence, and showed China's scientific and technological achievements in ancient and medieval times and its contribution to world civilization.
Dr Needham's great achievements in studying the history of science and technology in China are well-known in international academic circles. 1974+0977 won the George Sarton medal in 12 international union of the history and philosophy of science, and was elected as the chairman of the branch of the history of science of the international union of the history and philosophy of science.
Dr. Needham's research methods can be summarized in six aspects: eclectic ancient documents, pictures and archaeological historical materials, on-the-spot investigation of production and life traditions, simulation experiments and technical restoration research, comparative study between China and the West, combination of internal and external history research and international cooperation.
A comprehensive collection of ancient documents, pictures and archaeological materials.
One of Needham's basic methods to study the history of science and technology in China is to collect relevant information, make a card index, establish a huge data storage and retrieval system, and absorb ancient documents, pictures and archaeological materials.
Needham knew nothing about China before he was 37. He himself said, "I have no family ties or missionary activities with China or East Asia." At that time, he was a promising biochemist and embryologist at Cambridge University in England, and worked in the biochemical laboratory of Sir frederick hopkins at gonville-Caius College.
During the period of 1936, three young China students, Lu Guizhen, Wang Yinglai and Shen, came to the Biochemistry Laboratory of Cambridge University to pursue their doctoral degrees. Needham lived with them day and night, and began to learn about China from his colleagues in China, China's scientific and cultural background and China's language and writing tradition. These excellent, intelligent and witty China students let him discover that on the other side of the globe, some ancient civilizations in China are similar to those in the west, and China people are not "uncivilized people" as some westerners say. Needham became interested in China. In order to read China's original works, he decided to learn Chinese from the age of 37. Every week, he takes time to study Chinese alone with Professor Xia Lun, a famous sinologist. The first original porcelain he read was The Pipe. Solid knowledge of ancient Chinese laid a solid foundation for Needham's later research.
Needham began to study the history of science and technology in China before modern computers were used, so he paid special attention to sorting out the card indexes. He edited data folders, photo folders and attachments according to the subject scope, and established a huge data storage and retrieval system. Because this is the first multi-volume book written in western languages, each volume should list a wide variety of bibliographies, and he also specially arranged the bibliography card index for long-term verification. In addition, there are other special card indexes, such as China's technical term card index, and a name index including thousands of ancient scientists, engineers and doctors in China. These materials later formed the collection of East Asian Science History Library of Needham Institute.
Dr Needham attached great importance to the comprehensive collection and textual research of ancient documents in China. In addition to consulting important books handed down from generation to generation in various disciplines, he also found a lot of important materials from relevant dictionaries, collected astronomical, calendar and acoustic materials from official histories of past dynasties, and consulted thousands of biographies of people who have made achievements in science, technology and medicine. He attached great importance to the textual research of ancient documents. Needham said: "We always have the experience that whenever we start to write a new chapter, we are faced with the situation of terminology confusion. There were so many misinterpretations and mistranslations, so many false legends, so many wrong dates and misunderstandings in the past. Furthermore, it is difficult to express a particular discipline or technical term, that is, the so-called necessary jargon. It exists in the western languages of modern science as well as in the Chinese of ancient and medieval science. In some cases, technical terms are quite difficult to understand. For example, China Medicine, the translation problem is almost impossible to solve. "
Dr. Needham is good at using second-hand materials, that is, looking for shortcuts to use literature materials from published works on the history of various specialized disciplines, such as consulting published works on the history of mathematics, astronomy, entomology, medical history and so on.
Dr Needham also emphasized the reference to non-Chinese literature, and thought that non-Chinese literature should also be considered before making a conclusion. These documents include not only Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and other East Asian languages, but also Sanskrit, Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Greek, Latin and later European languages. In order to master all the above words, you often need to refer to the translation.
Dr Needham's research on the history of ancient science and technology in China is not limited to written evidence. He believes that all kinds of images and pictures carved on tombstones and temples, murals painted on walls, woodcut illustrations or other replicas inserted in books are all important research materials. Archaeology also provides important historical images. He once argued with the tomb based on images: the stern rudder must have been invented in the Three Kingdoms period (the third century AD) or earlier. Later, he and Lu Guizhen found a vessel with a stern rudder in the Han tomb in Guangzhou, thus correcting the original statement. Another example: there is a painting in Dunhuang Grottoes, which is now kept in Guimet A Paris, France. In this painting, the Buddha is meditating, demons are disturbing him, and some of them are armed to their teeth. One of the demons was decorated with three snakes on his head, holding a flame launcher in his hand, and the flame went straight ahead. This is the earliest picture of a flamethrower. From this, he concluded that the flamethrower was not earlier than the gun that projected the explosive charge, but it was definitely earlier than the rocket.
2. Traditional field trip of production and life
Dr Needham's second method of studying the history of science and technology in China is to pay attention to on-the-spot investigation and feel the application of traditional crafts in production and life, so as to understand the science and technology described in China's ancient books, and to communicate extensively with China scholars, from which he can get inspiration.
Dr Joseph Needham, Scientific Counselor of British Embassy in China, curator of Sino-British Science Cooperation Museum, was born in Chongqing, 1943.
He said: "In order to study the tradition of life, it is necessary to grow up in China or live in China for a period of time;" Otherwise, it is difficult to really understand many things in the book. A person must be specially trained to perform vacuum distillation or complete titration by himself. One must sail on a ship in China to really understand sailing. You must also be familiar with small tofu factories and soy sauce factories in China to know how tofu and soy sauce are made. "
1942, Needham was sent to China by the British government as a representative of the Royal Academy of Sciences to help China scientists who were blocked by the Japanese army. Needham used to be the Scientific Counsellor of the British Embassy in China, and later he was responsible for establishing the Sino-British Scientific Cooperation Office to provide assistance to China scientists, engineers and doctors, including providing scientific documents, instruments and chemical reagents, transmitting scientific information and communicating scientific exchanges between China and foreign countries (especially Britain and the United States). During his work in China, Needham traveled to more than half of China, starting from Fujian in the east and reaching the Thousand Buddha Cave in Dunhuang in the west. He met scholars from all walks of life in China and broadened his horizons. These scholars are mathematicians, physicists, chemists, engineers, doctors, astronomers, historians, archaeologists, linguists, economists, historians of ideas and sociologists. They discussed with him a series of academic issues such as China's ancient history and culture, scientific development, social economy and so on. They told him what books to read, what books to buy, and the key issues in the history of each subject. Needham gradually accumulated a sufficient number of China classics.
Needham inspected the current scientific situation in China and learned about the ancient scientific civilization in China. He thinks that China people are no less than the Europeans in Greek and Roman times, and even far above the Europeans in many fields. Some achievements spread from China to the west, and ancient science in China is a part of world science. He later elaborated various basic viewpoints in the various volumes of the History of Science and Technology in China, which was almost formed at this time. After the four-year mission of aiding China, he thinks that the only urgent work to be done in the future is to write a historical work on China's science, technology and medicine that has never been seen in the west.
Research on Three Simulation Experiments and Technology Recovery
The third way for Dr Needham to study the history of science and technology in China is to attach importance to the study of simulation experiments and technical recovery. The most typical example is to prepare some gunpowder in the Royal Ordnance Development Bureau to test the gunpowder formula recorded in the ancient documents of China.
Needham, through the study of the whole history of gunpowder, came to the conclusion that the composition of nitrate in gunpowder is increasing gradually. It is likely that the proportion of nitrate, sulfur and carbon is equal at first, or the proportion of nitrate is less. Later, the greater the power of gunpowder, the faster the burning speed, and finally the nitrate content gradually rose to 75% or 80%. This is the best quantity in theory. In order to demonstrate this point, he and his collaborators persuaded the Royal Arms Development Agency to prepare some gunpowder with nitrate content between 20% and 90%. One day, they went to the Healthstead in Fort Kent, where the Development Bureau was located, and lit these gunpowder one by one for observation.
Needham tried to sort out the different components of gunpowder recorded in historical documents and compare them with charts. From the summary of China's martial arts classics, fire dragon classics and earlier ancient books before 14 and 15 centuries, it is found that the equilibrium points of nitrate, sulfur and carbon are scattered all over the place, indicating that experiments of different formulas were still being carried out at that time, and later formulas were also carried out around the composition of nitrate, which was about 75%. From the records of early Arabia and Europe, it is found that this equilibrium point is always concentrated near the center where the nitrate content is 75%. It seems that Arabs and Europeans knew how to prepare the best gunpowder from the beginning. Gunpowder was introduced to the west from China. At the same time, the knowledge of gunpowder and basic formula was introduced to Europe.
Fourthly, the comparative study of Chinese and western scientific and technological achievements.
The fourth method used by Dr. Needham to study the history of science and technology in China is to put China's scientific civilization in its proper position in the world history from the perspectives of the history of world science, the history of comparative science and the history of scientific exchanges between China and foreign countries, so as to correct all kinds of misunderstandings, misunderstandings and serious underestimation of China's science and culture in the past. His important findings in the comparison between China and the West are as follows:
[1] Horner's method for solving higher-order equations was established in 18 19 by the French mathematician Horner (W.G. Horner, 1786- 1837), but the method proposed by the mathematician Qin in the Song Dynasty was actually the same as Horner's.
[2] When westerners were arguing about who first discovered sunspots around 16 15, sunspots were recorded in China as early as 18 BC, which was 1500 years earlier than in Europe. From 1400 BC to 1600 AD, there were 90 supernovae recorded in China, of which 1054 supernovae were the remnants of the crab nebula, which was of great interest to modern radio astronomers, but unheard of in the west. There was a solar eclipse in China as early as 136 1 year, and there was a record of 58 1 comet between 1600 BC and 1600 AD, and there was a record of Halley's comet in 467 BC.
[3] The key instrument of the modern scientific revolution is the clock, and its soul is the escapement, which is considered to be the invention of14th century Europeans. China made this device in 723, and in 1090, Su Song developed a water vehicle in Kaifeng, including a mechanical clock. After the China clock was repaired by the Englishman John Cambridge, the error per hour was only within 20 seconds.
[4] When westerners knew nothing about magnetic polarity, China people were already concerned about magnetic declination and magnetic induction. Before the Englishman Alexander Nekam (1157-1217) first mentioned the magnetic polarity and magnetic induction in Europe in 1 190, Shen Kuo (103/. Compass knowledge spread to the west by land through the Western Liao Dynasty in the12nd century.
[5]/kloc-Westerners didn't know what saltpeter was before the 3rd century. As early as 850 AD, it was recorded that China used saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal to make gunpowder mixture, and the earliest military gunpowder formula was given in 1044' s "Wu Yao".
[6] 1380 years ago, Europeans could not produce a small piece of cast iron, while China had already produced cast iron on an industrial scale as early as the fourth century BC. By the first century, China was already a master of cast iron, and Europeans were behind 1500 years. He also compared the ancient smelting furnaces in China with those in the west according to archaeological data, and concluded that China was in the leading position in iron and steel smelting technology for a long time in ancient and medieval times.
[7] In botany, the Herbal Medicine for Disaster Relief published by Zhu Kui in Ming Dynasty in 1406 lists 4 14 kinds of wild plants that can be used for disaster relief, and explains their ecological characteristics, geographical distribution and treatment methods, with exquisite plant illustrations. It was not until18th century that Breshin began to notice the edible value of wild plants in Europe, which was 400 years later than that in China. The first printed map of plants in the West appeared in Nature in Conrad 1475, but it was 69 years later than Herbal Disaster Relief.
[8] China's extraction of sex hormones from human urine in the Middle Ages was the greatest biochemical achievement. In the west, urine is regarded as a dirty thing. It was not until 1927 that Asheim and B. Zondek obtained sex hormones from urine. In China, Ye Mengde (1077- 1 148) described the method of extracting sex hormones from urine in Lu.
[9] Immunology is the greatest and most beneficial subject in modern medicine, which was born in the practice of vaccination against smallpox. Ge Hong first recorded this disease in 300 years, and in 1000, he invented smallpox vaccine. 1500 Chinese medicine published a book to introduce this treatment. At this time, Europeans knew nothing about it, and many patients died. After China's vaccine spread to the west, it was introduced to Britain through Turkey in 1700 (1722,-Mrs. Mary wolseley montague, the wife of the British ambassador to Islamabad, Turkey-let all her children get vaccinated and bring the vaccine back to Britain, which was widely publicized in Europe). 1At the beginning of the 9th century, edward jenner (1749- 1823) discovered that vaccinia can safely prevent smallpox.
[10] At the latest in the early Han Dynasty in 200 BC, China had an effective chest harness, and there was a more advanced collar harness in the 6th century. These two effective harnesses did not appear in Europe until AD 1000. In the past, the west used to use a neck harness, and the pulling force came from the neck, which easily suffocated the livestock.
The combination of internal history and external history research
The fifth method of Dr. Needham's research on the history of science and technology in China is to combine the research of internal history and external history, emphasizing both the internal cause of scientific development and the external influence of social and economic factors, and demonstrating the roots of the backwardness of science and technology in modern China.
Dr Needham is a historian of science with a philosophy of science. As early as 1930s, he was not only a promising first-class biochemist at Cambridge University, but also interested in philosophy, religion and ethics, and began to dabble in the history of science and technology. Professor Partington (1886- 1965), a chemical historian at Cambridge University, had an influence on Dr. Needham. Professor Partington's representative works include four volumes of Origin and Development of Applied Chemistry, History of Greek Fire and Guns and History of Chemistry. He met Professor Sanger (1876- 1960), a famous London historian of science, through Partington, and often discussed the history of science with him. He also read Michael Foster's History of Physiology and Sir Dampier Dampier Whitham's History of Science. He also likes reading Engels' Dialectics of Nature. The second international conference on the history of science was held in London in 193 1. Soviet scholars have accepted the Marxist research method of the history of science when studying the prehistoric history of science and technology in China. 193 1 the second international conference on the history of science was held in London, and Soviet scholars put forward Marxist Scientific Outlook on Development. What Needham first heard was the debate about the relationship between science and production practice, socio-economic background and other ideologies. He began to publish some articles on the history of science, and combined with his major, published the History of Embryology at 1932, which became the cornerstone of the history of this discipline.
In the process of writing the History of Science and Technology in China, he raised several basic questions:
Why did the modern science related to systematic experiments and mathematization of natural hypotheses and the industrial revolution that followed it rise rapidly in the west at first?
Why did China develop science and technology more effectively and far ahead than the west in the long years from 1 to15th century?
Why is it that China's traditional science has been in the original empirical stage, but it has failed to spontaneously produce modern science and the industrial revolution that followed?
In order to answer these questions, Needham studied the history of Chinese and western science and technology from a holistic perspective, combed its development context, and found out their advantages and disadvantages, similarities and differences; From the perspective of sociology of science, this paper comprehensively analyzes the influence of social system, economic structure, historical tradition, ideological system and other factors in China and the West, and investigates the social status of businessmen, scientists and engineers in China and the West. When studying the combination of internal history and external history, we not only pay attention to the internal cause of scientific development, but also emphasize the external influence of social and economic factors.
He believes that the gap between China and the West in science and technology is mainly caused by social and economic reasons. The feudalism experienced by the West is completely different from that experienced by China and India. The west experienced feudalism ruled by soldiers and nobles, while China experienced bureaucratic feudalism. Military feudalism in the West seems to be strong, but in fact, bureaucratic feudalism in China is stronger, which can prevent the bourgeoisie from seizing power. The rise of modern science in the west is related to two things: the first is the Reform Movement, and the second is the rise of capitalism. When the bourgeoisie gained the leadership of the country, modern science also rose. The bourgeoisie was indeed a progressive force in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and they really played a role in launching the scientific revolution.
He said: "We don't accept the opinions of any ancestors, but we admit that Marx and Engels have always insisted on the importance of social and economic structure and production relations. This method has been generally accepted by western historians. Even if they swear that they are not Marxists, they have to admit it. "