Dr. J. Needham (1900-1995), a famous British scholar, has long been committed to the study of the history of Chinese science and technology and has made outstanding achievements. He raised this question in the first volume of "History of Science and Technology in China" published in 1954: In the 14 centuries before modern times, China's knowledge of natural phenomena and technologies used to benefit mankind were far superior to those of Europe. , but why is modern science and the tradition of Galileo, Harvey, Visades, Gesner, and Newton that has withstood the test of the world and received reasonable universal praise-this tradition is destined to become one world family? Theoretical basis - developed along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts rather than in China or anywhere else in Asia? This problem was later named the "Needham problem" by academic circles. Regarding this issue, scholars at home and abroad have done a lot of exploration from various perspectives such as society, economy, way of thinking and culture. Recently, some scholars have begun to consider this issue from the perspective of the intellectual property system.

1. The Origin of the Needham Dilemma

Tracing back to the origins of the "Needham Dilemma", we will learn that long before Joseph Needham, someone had asked questions similar to the "Needham Dilemma". As early as the seventeenth century, missionaries who came to China had already noticed the "backwardness" of Chinese science. "Matteo Ricci's Notes on China" (1615) written by the early missionary Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) is the first comprehensive and systematic introduction to Chinese science and technology after the Spanish author Mendoza's "History of the Great Chinese Empire" book. [1] D. Parrenin (1665-1741), the French missionary who came to China after Matteo Ricci, was the first person to raise the "problem of backwardness" in the early days. Due to the missionaries' introduction to China and their comments on the "problem of China's scientific backwardness," Europe even set off a "frenzy" to study China in the 17th and 18th centuries. Some famous thinkers and scientists, such as Bo Ear, Leibniz, Cassidy, Voltaire, Quessler, Hume, Diderot and Montesquieu all paid attention to Chinese science and technology at the beginning of the twentieth century. , when China's New Culture Movement reached its climax, "the issue of backwardness" also became a hot topic for discussion among Chinese scholars. In 1915, Ren Hongjun (1886-1961), the founder of the China Science Society and "Science" magazine, wrote in "Science" in 1915. "The reason why China has no science" was published in the first volume of the magazine. Since then, many Chinese scholars have joined the discussion on this issue.

In 1944, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Science Society, Joseph Needham attended the annual meeting in Meitan, Guizhou, and delivered a speech on "Science and Chinese Culture". In his speech, he criticized it for the first time. Some Western and Chinese scholars have previously argued that there was no science in ancient China. He said that ancient Chinese philosophy is very close to scientific explanation, and the inventions and creations of the Chinese have had a huge impact on the world. Therefore, the basic question is why modern experiments. Science, and the theoretical systems related to it, emerged in the West, not in China. Here, Joseph Needham actually put forward the so-called "Needham Problem" very clearly.

Gu, the current director of the Needham Institute. In an exclusive interview with reporters on March 19, 2003, Mr. Keli said that Needham’s conclusion on this issue was that there was a feudal bureaucracy in China in the past 2000 years, and this system produced two effects. . The positive effect is that China has selected a large number of smart and well-educated people through the imperial examination system. Their management has made China more efficient in developing science and technology. Modern Europe has obvious advantages. The negative effect is: the highly centralized system of power, coupled with the practice of selecting talents through imperial examinations, makes it difficult for new ideas to be accepted by society, and there is almost no competition in the field of technological development. There is strong competition in the field of technological development. In this regard, China since the Qin Dynasty is not only inferior to Europe in the same period, but also inferior to China in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods due to the differences between different vassal states. The competition resulted in a large number of intellectual achievements throughout China. [2] In short, Needham’s own answer to the “Needham Problem” was mainly based on social systems.

2. The status of the intellectual property system in ancient China

(1) Copyright system

The concept of copyright emerged very early in our country. Most of the classical documents since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period have the author's signature. Some works are even named directly with the author's name or the name of the founder of the school. Plagiarists are condemned by society. This shows that ancient Chinese literati have realized the author's right of signature and other personal rights. At the same time, It also reflects society's respect for these rights and reflects a vague awareness of copyright rights. Of course, this sense of rights is very crude and basically has no content of property rights.

In ancient my country, before the invention of printing, culture was transmitted orally and hand-copied, and it was difficult for works to become commodities. With the emergence of woodblock printing and movable type printing, works were widely circulated and publishers gained profits. In order to prevent others from impersonating and piracy, these businessmen began to seek legal protection. According to relevant information, there are records of protecting publishing rights in the Song Dynasty. For example, during the Xianchun period of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhejiang and Zhejiang provinces published special publications to protect the rights and interests of four books including "Fangyu Shenglan". In the third year of Changxing in the Tang Dynasty after the Five Dynasties, the imperial court ordered Tian Min to preside over the correction of the Nine Classics at the Imperial College and "print and sell" it. This was the beginning of official book engraving. It can be said to be the first large-scale printing in the world for the purpose of sale. The "publishing house" of books. In order to protect the original version of the Nine Classics, the imperial court ordered that no one be allowed to print the book, thereby protecting the Imperial College's exclusive right to publish the Nine Classics, which was equivalent to the franchise system that later appeared in Europe. These can all be the seeds of copyright protection in our country.

Since the Song Dynasty, ancient my country has relied on relevant documents from the central and local governments to protect the rights and interests of authors, editors and publishers, and there are many examples of prohibiting the unauthorized use of others' "reproduction rights". my country's protection of engraving publishers in the form of injunctions has historically never been replaced by comprehensive copyright protection in statutory law, that is, a nationwide copyright protection system has not been established. Until 1903, when the Qing government signed the "Revised Treaty on Sino-U.S. Commerce and Shipping" with the United States and thus used the word "copyright" in Chinese, Emperor Guangxu still issued an edict to protect the exclusive right to reprint the "Jiutong Classification General Compilation". In my country's late Qing Dynasty, influenced by Western culture, the Qing Dynasty imitated the European continental legal system and compiled new laws. In 1910, the Qing Dynasty Copyright Law was the first copyright law in Chinese history.

(2) Patent system

According to "Han Feizi" records, in ancient times, a family that was engaged in washing and dyeing for generations developed a "medicine that does not cause turtle hands". A counselor spent a huge sum of money to buy the prescription, and later formulated it for his own soldiers to use, and defeated a powerful enemy. The counselor was also promoted to an official. It can be seen from this story that as far back as the Warring States Period, the Chinese had an understanding of the use value and value of knowledge and used it as special property. But no independent intellectual property system had been developed at that time.

In the mid-19th century, after Hong Rengan, the leader of the Taiping Rebellion, took charge of the government in 1859, he proposed the establishment of a patent system in his capitalist-style "New Chapter of the Government". The specific patent form appeared during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. In 1881, Zheng Guanying, a bourgeois reformist, wrote to Li Hongzhang, Minister of Beiyang of the Qing Dynasty, requesting a 10-year patent for the machine weaving technology of the Shanghai Machine Weaving Group. Subsequently, patent applications for new processes and technologies continued to be filed, and more and more patents were approved. Driven by the reform movement, Emperor Guangxu promulgated the first patent-related regulations in my country's history in May 1898 - the "Regulations on Awarding for the Promotion of Craftsmanship." The patent right here is essentially a franchise right, which is different from the current patent right. Later, due to the strong opposition of the die-hards, the patent proposed by the reformists was never implemented. Therefore, the patent system failed to be established and developed in our country until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Strictly speaking, the establishment and formation of my country's patent system began after the Revolution of 1911. In December 1912, the then Ministry of Industry and Commerce promulgated the "Interim Regulations for Rewarding Handicrafts." From a legal point of view, this is my country's first written law and has several elements of the basic principles of modern patent law.

(3) Trademark system

Trademark is a special mark used on goods. In the early days of the natural economy, even if some inscriptions and year names were added to some products, they only served to express private ownership, decoration or commemoration. With the emergence and development of commodity production and exchange, some marks play a role in distinguishing product producers.

Judging from the unearthed pottery bodies, although the meaning of the symbols on the rim and bottom is not yet clear, compared with those lifelike images on the same vessel, both in terms of art skills and attached parts, They cannot be considered to have ornamental or other meanings. On the contrary, subsequent history has proved that they can only be used as explanations to distinguish the marks of the owners and makers of the artifacts. This kind of mark, which only has a single attribute to distinguish the producer and does not have the function of promoting products or providing quality assurance, cannot be regarded as a trademark in the modern sense, but it can be said to be the prototype of a modern trademark.

According to the records of "Han Feizi" in the Pre-Qin Dynasty, the earliest store signs in my country appeared more than 2,000 years ago. They were "flags" or "moves" made of cloth. This is the store sign with the function of marking and identifying. . Commodity exchange and market development during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods provided conditions for the emergence of ancient Chinese trademarks. During the Han and Tang Dynasties, the use of marks on goods was also relatively common. With the development of commerce, my country's trademarks were relatively complete during the Song Dynasty, and the number of famous brands and trade names increased. The earliest relatively complete trademark was the "Liu Family Kung Fu Needle Shop" in Jinan, Shandong Province in the Northern Song Dynasty. It used the trademark "Recognize the white rabbit in front of the door as a mark" with pictures and texts. The copper plate printing the "white rabbit" trademark is now on display at the Chinese History Museum. .

Since the Opium War, due to the invasion of imperialism, many foreign goods and foreign brands have appeared. With the development of national industry, many trademarks appeared in modern China, and modern China began to form a trademark legal system. In 1904, the Qing government promulgated the first trademark regulations in Chinese history—the "Trial Regulations for Trademark Registration."

3. See the solution to Needham’s problem from the perspective of the property rights system

The previous section shows that the germination of the intellectual property system appeared in ancient China. So, what hints will this intellectual property situation in China give to answering the Needham question?

Mr. Zheng Chengsi believes that “both Eastern and Western intellectual property scholars, without exception, believe that copyright emerged with the adoption of printing.” Furthermore, Mr. Zheng believes that “if copyright is indeed It appeared with the adoption of printing, so it should have appeared in our country first.” [3] However, the chronological order does not represent the logical cause and result. In fact, although our country has a thousand-year history of leading science and technology and was the first to put movable type printing into production practice, our country has not developed an intellectual property system in the modern sense. Technology is a prerequisite for the emergence of the intellectual property system, but it is not a sufficient condition. It is generally believed that “intellectual property rights do not originate from any kind of civil rights, nor from any kind of property rights. It originates from the privileges of feudal society.” [4] At this point, our country has the same relationship as the origin of the modern Western intellectual property system. The same, maybe even earlier, so-called "starting point". However, the actual result is that although our country has similar feudal privileges, this feudal privilege has not been transformed into "private rights" in the end. Although at the same time, it can be believed that under the "main purpose of ancient 'imperial control'" in our country, the feudal privilege laws "objectively" "protected certain private rights." [5]

D. North, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1993, studied the evolution of various social systems in the West and proposed that the rise of the Western world in the past 200 years is due to the found It has established a system that effectively protects tangible and intangible property rights, significantly reducing transaction costs and encouraging investment in commodity production and intellectual property. Some scholars believe that “before North, the mainstream theory of modern history explained the historical event of the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent modern economic growth, which was basically based on scientific discoveries (such as the emergence of Newtonian mechanics), technology Innovation, the wave of invention, education and the accumulation of capital - but this theory does not actually stand up to scrutiny. A fatal criticism is that in the middle of the 14th century, the Chinese Empire, which was the world's largest power at that time, was neither technological nor educational. and capital accumulation have reached the level on the eve of the Industrial Revolution in Western Europe. In fact, the technological foundation that gave rise to the Industrial Revolution in Western Europe basically came from China.” [6] Interestingly, some economic historians have suggested that China is at a high technological level. The main reason why the industrial revolution failed to emerge under the conditions of accumulation was that China lacked an entrepreneurial class. North believes that "the prerequisite for a society to have an entrepreneurial class emerge and continue to grow and develop is that society needs to create a system to support the entrepreneurial class." This system is the intellectual property system.

"Economic historians have confirmed North's conjecture through empirical research. It was in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands that the patent and copyright systems as intellectual property protection systems were first created and developed. The reason why other continental European countries developed during the Industrial Revolution They lag behind these two countries precisely because they lag behind these two countries in the implementation of the intellectual property system.”[7]

The emergence of the Western intellectual property system took hundreds of years. of gestation. In the drastic changes of social transformation, the development and changes in politics, economy, science and technology, ideology and culture may form the motherland for the survival of this emerging system, or provide the driving force for the birth of this emerging right. First, there is the emergence of new technology. Since the 15th century, with the formation of capitalist production relations and the development of factory handicrafts, European countries have had social needs to adopt advanced technology, manufacture and use advanced production tools and various machines, which has promoted great progress in craftsmanship. . The greatest progress was seen in sectors such as textiles, mining, metallurgy and chemistry, which were closely related to the development of capitalist economies. [8] In the process of applying science and technology to social production, intellectual products and material products have begun to have the same commodity significance. These technological advances laid a solid technical foundation for the emergence of industrial civilization and the emergence of an intellectual property system with the mission of protecting industrial civilization. Secondly, it is the establishment of new cultural values. From the 14th to the 16th century, the Renaissance movement launched by the Western European bourgeoisie inspired people to transform the world, study nature, and value practical and useful knowledge. This new cultural value concept proposed in the Renaissance provided the necessary cultural and ideological preparation for the bourgeoisie to use science and technology as a material weapon on the one hand, and the private rights system as a legal weapon on the other. Third, it is the germination of a new political civilization. During the British bourgeois revolution in the mid-17th century, thinkers and politicians from Hobbes, Milton to Locke all advocated that sovereignty lies with the people, advocated equality and freedom, and emphasized the inviolability of private property. In particular, Locke's works clarified the bourgeois principles on property and political power, and summarized the disputes between the British bourgeoisie and the new aristocracy on property and political power in the 17th century. The gradual formation of the British bourgeois political ideological system represented by Locke, and the European Enlightenment movement of the 18th century represented by Montesquieu, which was influenced by it, made great contributions to European countries in formulating their own laws, including intellectual property systems. Important political and ideological preparation. Finally, there was the revival of Roman law. Since the 12th century, Europe began a movement to revive Roman law. Marx’s classic writer pointed out: “When industry and commerce further developed private ownership, the detailed Roman private law was immediately restored and regained its prestige.” [9] Although there was no intellectual property system in ancient Rome, intellectual property rights were closely related to the Romans. The concept of intangible property, the theory of public property, and the theory of transfer and infringement of objects have their origins and flows with legal principles and rules such as copyright and even intellectual property ownership, public domain, property rights trade, intangible infringement and other legal principles and rules. relation. The revival of Roman private law contributed useful legal thought materials to the formulation of the modern intellectual property system.

To sum up, it can be said that North’s explanation of the reasons for the accelerated development of the West in modern times has both basic and extended implications for accurately answering the Needham problem. The basic aspect is that North's work leads us to pay attention to the historical conditions for the evolution of traditional informal protocols into formal protocols for knowledge production, because as shown in the article, in line with the development of science and technology, there was no shortage of informal protocols in ancient China. As an extension, North's work demonstrates a research program that integrates factors ranging from property rights, politics, ideology to cultural beliefs. The synthesis provided by this program is based on property rights and institutional analysis, so its explanatory effect is completely different. A general synthesis of the above-mentioned factors that appear in solving Needham's problem.