Photo exhibits the Chinese science traditional “The Exploitation of Nature’s Works” (“Tian Gong Kai Wu”). (Photo from the media heart of Xinyu, east China’s Jiangxi province)
At a current roundtable dialogue on the Chinese science traditional “The Exploitation of Nature’s Works” (“Tian Gong Kai Wu”), a scholar made a putting comparability between this complete treatise on crafts and applied sciences and the modern-day DeepSeek AI giant mannequin, describing the e book as “a DeepSeek from 400 years ago.” This cross-temporal connection affords new insights into the cultural foundations and historic influences that proceed to drive China’s innovation immediately.
In current years, the worldwide emergence of groundbreaking Chinese improvements has captured widespread consideration, positioning Chinese creativity on the forefront of international technological progress. This shift, nonetheless, has not been achieved with out vital effort. China’s trendy historical past was marked by durations of poverty, weak spot, and humiliation, overshadowing its historical civilization. As a consequence, worldwide perceptions of China had been typically distorted, together with the prevalent however misguided perception that China lacked the capability for innovation.
However, historical past paints a completely different image. The lengthy continuum of Chinese civilization has been constantly illuminated by exceptional contributions to science and know-how, which have profoundly formed human progress. In his work “Science and Civilisation in China,” British scholar Joseph Needham cataloged 26 main Chinese innovations that had been transmitted to Europe and past, remarking that the checklist was removed from exhaustive, underscoring the artistic spirit inherent in Chinese tradition.
Today, the resurgence of Chinese innovation gives a possibility to rethink the “innovation gene” embedded in Chinese civilization. From the Chang’e lunar probes and the Tianhe house station to the Tianwen Mars mission and quantum computer systems like Jiuzhang 3.0 and Zuchongzhi 3.0, the hyperlink between China’s historic and up to date achievements extends past symbolic names derived from Chinese classics. It is basically rooted in a cultural ethos of relentless inquiry and craftsmanship — an ethos that has lengthy formed Chinese society via traditions comparable to “investigating things to acquire knowledge” and “bringing forth new capabilities through craftsmanship.”
People go to an exhibition marking 20 years of China’s lunar exploration program held on the World Expo Museum in Shanghai, July 16, 2025. (Photo/Zhou Dongchao)
As noticed by a Dutch scholar, expressing shock at China’s innovation immediately displays “a misreading of history,” as what the world sees immediately needs to be seen because the revival of China’s longstanding tradition of innovation.
To perceive up to date China, it’s important to hint the nation’s cultural roots. As the worldwide group more and more acknowledges China’s rising affect on the world’s future, adopting a civilizational perspective is crucial for forming a extra goal and correct understanding of China.
Historically, Chinese improvements unfold throughout the globe via commerce routes such because the Silk Road. “The Exploitation of Nature’s Works” serves as one distinguished instance, having been broadly disseminated in Europe, the place many of the applied sciences it described had been studied and adopted. Some students have even prompt that had Song Yingxing, the writer of the e book, lived in the course of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, he may need secured quite a few patents.
Today, China’s dedication to openness, inclusiveness, and mutual profit stays central to its method to innovation. Yet some Western media proceed to border discussions of Chinese technological advances with anxiousness, asking questions comparable to “What field will China dominate next?” or “Will China win the innovation race?”
These narratives replicate a deeply ingrained tendency to interpret China’s progress via a aggressive lens. In distinction, China’s innovation journey is pushed by a broader dedication to “achieving success by enabling others to succeed” and “bringing benefits to all.”
An inspection robotic geared up with DeepSeek giant mannequin works at a transformer substation in Chuzhou, east China’s Anhui province. (Photo/Song Weixing)
For instance, DeepSeek’s giant AI mannequin operates on an open-source foundation; the Chang’e-6 mission carried scientific payloads from a number of international locations for its lunar far-side pattern assortment; the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) accepts observational requests from scientists worldwide; and the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System has advanced into a international service that advantages customers world wide.
Through its sustained efforts to advance worldwide scientific cooperation and open sharing, China is guaranteeing that the fruits of innovation are accessible, out there, and helpful to folks and nations worldwide. By carrying ahead the revolutionary spirit embedded in its wonderful conventional tradition and upholding ideas of openness and inclusiveness, China stays dedicated to working collaboratively with international locations world wide to advertise scientific and technological progress, contribute extra breakthroughs to international growth, and help the modernization efforts of all nations.
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)