5 ms·
Flawed premise IMHO. Printing is a tool which evolved to keep pace with the sophistication of the societies using/developing it. The Southern Song dynasty came
by apienx 4y ago
Flawed premise IMHO. Printing is a tool which evolved to keep pace with the sophistication of the societies using/developing it. The Southern Song dynasty came close to an industrial age, but was held back by a belief system (confucianism) that privileges cushy stability over ruthless progress. This, in part, prevented the emergence of a product-and-service-hungry bourgeoisie. The level of technological progress of a society is mostly determined by its culture.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- socialdemocrat 4y agoThe Song dynasty was not anywhere near an industrial age. China never went through a machine revolution with great proliferation of the usage of machines as in things like windmills, water wheels, clocks, trip hammers, screw presses etc: https://erikexamines.substack.com/p/the-missing-chinese-machine-revolution https://erikexamines.substack.com/p/the-missing-chinese-mach... China had machines, but they were used at a much smaller scale and had no way to expand in usage thanks to unsuitable geography and climate in China.