Science and Technology in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods
2 min readThe Chinese philosophers in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods established schools and took on pupils，brilliantly discoursed and debated much.They left future generations a valuable legacy in philosophy，politics，education，and the military，and had a profound influence on the culture of China and the entire world.Besides ideology and culture，these periods saw a great upsurge in science and technology.
Mo Zi and Science
One of these illustrious philosophers was Mo Zi.Most historians believe that Mo Zi was a member of the lower artisan class who managed to climb his way to an official post.He was amaster engineer and craftsman，designing everything from mechanical birds to“cloud ladders” used to besiege city walls.Though he did not hold a high official position，Mo Zi was sought out by various rulers as an expert on fortification，and managed to attract a large number of followers during his lifetime，which rivaled that of Confucius.！His followers-mostly technicians and craftspeople-were organized in a disciplined order that studied both Mo Zi’s philosophical and technical writings.
The Book of Master Mo contains the following description:“The cessation of motion is due to the opposing force.If there is no opposing force，the motion will never stop.
This is as true as that an ox is not a horse.”Joseph Needham（1900-1995），British expert on Chinese science，claims that this is a precursor to Newton’s first law of motion.The Book of Master Mo also contains speculations in optics and mechanics that are similarly strikingly original，although，sadly，the ideas were not taken up by later Chinese philosophers.In this book，Mo Zi discusses principles of logic in detail，which is highly unusual in ancient China.
