Cave art reveals ancient Chinese science thrived

[Dover]

Cave art reveals ancient Chinese science thrived
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-10-20 00:47


Chinese historians and relics experts claim they have discovered pictorial evidence for the study of ancient Chinese sciences and technologies from the frescoes inside the world-renowned Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang City, in Northwest China's Gansu Province.

The Mogao Grottoes, also popularly known as the Thousand Buddha Caves, consist of some 500 man-made caves that have survived some 1,600 years of volatile climate changes and other damage. Dunhuang's frescoes, painted on the ceiling and walls of the caves, carry the best preserved trove of Buddhist art in the world.

"We discovered frescos containing scientific and technological content in almost all of the caves which have frescoes," said Wang Jinyu, a noted expert of Dunhuang's science and technology and an associate research fellow with the Dunhuang Research Academy.

Wang said, Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes' frescoes date from the 4th to the 14th centuries, containing scientific and technological inventions by ancient Chinese in the spheres of math, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geography, agronomy, architecture, textiles, traffic and transportation, arms and military equipment and medical sciences....cont'd

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-10/20/content_383822.htm

[Maple]

1. Oooh thank you for this!

[GATOR MONROE]

2. THESE GUYS were good ...

their huge sailing ships first sighted tiny in comparison Mayan trading vessels and followed them to new world this was 250 years before Columbus. they had such giant sea worthy ships that comparable ones did not appear until after 1600, but such ships were around in 2500BC.

[newyawker99]

3. Thanks!

Great article!

[Dover]

4. New Article on other cave art discoveries >

A noble find reveals the life in the past
(China Daily)

2004-12-03 08:48


Chicken fighting, women dancing with long silk sleeves and other colourful mural portrayals of the ancient Chinese captivated archaeologists when they entered an ancient tomb in Shaanxi Province.

The murals have been considered a rare find, according to Cheng Linquan, deputy director of the Xi'an Research Institute of Archaeology.

They provide visual evidence for the study of the lives of the ancient Chinese in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24) and of the development of Chinese art.

The tomb where they were discovered recently was chanced upon at a construction site of Xi'an University of Technology, in the capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Dating back to the Western Han Dynasty, it is located in the southern suburbs of Xi'an, once the capital of the Western Han Dynasty. Back then, it was called Chang'an.

Local farmers say the tomb area was once a huge mound of earth. It was leveled off in the late 1960s and early 1970s for farming...cont'd

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-12/03/content_396983.htm