Why did china lose its lead in science and technology?

Answer 1

China maintained a lead in Sceince and technology in the ancient times, inventions and crafts like the gunpowder, paper, silk, printing, and many scientific findings of the ancient times are attributed to China.

If China hada lead in the Anciant times then why did it lose it since the enlightenement in Europe?

Two major factors could be associated to this.

First: It was the Arabs who took the lead from China, as they were the ones trading the good between China and Europe. they learnt a lot from China and India and other parts of the old world, recoreded and moderninzed it. But even they were not as good as the sixteenth/seventeenth century Europians in using those basic ideas in innovative ways. e.g. Chinese used their Gun powder mainly as fireworks, Arabs could make Guns but it was the Portugese who armed their ships with guns, sailed arround the Africa, destroyed the unprotected Arab trading ships and got hold of the East West trade routs. leading to the age of Clonization.

Second: China didnot have a regular scientific knowledge base to generate and maintain the lead. (though a good system of recording and learning of arts) instead it was a charecterisitc of their economic, geographic and demographic situation. they had a settled agrarian and urban society that provided contineuty and progress of ideas over the generations without interuptions like war and migration due to famine. China was and is densly populated, but comparitively poor in Natural Resources and climate to support this population. this created pressures on the masses to improvise and innovate. this phenominon is generally called Induced innovation. the lead that China had was based on this slower, unmanaged and irregular system, incontrast Europe discovered modern sceince, theorised, formalised and patronised it. result was great leaps in sceince and industrialsation. this didnot only give Europe a lead but also took away the advantages in artisan manufacuring from China, destroying whatever systems and lead it had.

note: this is only a very simplistic view of the situation reality is always more complex then our ability to comprehend and express it.