"Mengxi Bi Tan" includes three parts: "Bi Tan", "Supplementary Bi Tan" and "Continuation Bi Tan". The twenty-six volumes of "Bi Tan" are divided into seventeen categories, namely stories, dialectics, music, imagery, personnel, official affairs, wit, art, calligraphy and painting, skills, utensils, magic, strange things, fallacies, ridicule, magazines, and medical discussions. The three volumes of "Bubi Tan" include eleven of the above contents. "Continuation of Bi Tan" is a volume, without distinction.
The book has a total of 609 items (there are slight differences in different editions), covering astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, geography, meteorology, medicine, agriculture, engineering technology, literature, history, music and art, etc. Among these entries, those belonging to the humanities, such as anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, music, etc., Account for approximately 18% of the total entries; those belonging to the natural sciences, accounting for approximately 36% of the total, and the rest are personnel information, military, law, and anecdotes, accounting for approximately 46% of the total.
In terms of nature, "Mengxi Bi Tan" belongs to the notebook category. In terms of content, it spends more than one-third of its length describing and elucidating natural science knowledge, which is rare among notebook-type works. Because Shen Kuo himself had a high level of scientific literacy, the scientific and technological knowledge he recorded was of extremely high value, basically reflecting the scientific development level of the Northern Song Dynasty and his own research experience. Therefore, the British scholar Joseph Needham hailed him as "a milestone in the history of Chinese science" and also praised Shen Kuo as "the most outstanding figure in the entire history of Chinese science."
This book is the original text of "Mengxi Bi Tan" plus a vernacular translation of the full text.
Reader comments
Shen Kuo is really an all-round talent! His account was detailed and interesting, which allowed me to understand the scientific development of the Northern Song Dynasty. It feels like chatting with a profound scholar, which is very rewarding. This reminds me of "Compendium of Materia Medica", which is also a very informative work
Shen Kuo is really an all-round talent! His account was detailed and interesting, which allowed me to understand the scientific development of the Northern Song Dynasty. It feels like chatting with a profound scholar, which is very rewarding. This reminds me of "Compendium of Materia Medica", which is also a very informative work