Technical level: Before 17 and 18 centuries, China's technology was at the leading level in the world. Francis Bacon, a famous British politician and philosopher, once pointed out that there were three kinds of technologies in out of the dark era in Europe, namely gunpowder, compass, paper and printing. The so-called era of great navigation has indeed made great contributions to promoting the development of science, technology and economy in Europe. However, the important foundation of the era of great navigation is the compass used to guide the course, the gunpowder used to plunder the colonies, and the paper and printing used to spread knowledge in a wider range. However, these technologies were invented by China, which means that China's scientific and technological level was actually in the forefront of the world at that time, but the industrial revolution did not take place in China, and the reasons cannot be enumerated.

Besides, market economy, as we all know, private ownership is the foundation of market economy. Private ownership of land is an important part of private ownership. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China began to implement private ownership of land, allowing land to be bought and sold freely. In addition, at that time, not only the factor market in China was extremely active, but also the commodity market. China had a futures market and speculation in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the principle of speculation is the same as today. In the Ming dynasty, the commodity economy sprouted in the developed coastal areas of the south of the Yangtze River.

However, China's backwardness to the West is actually a great reversal in a short time. The main event was/kloc-the industrial revolution in the west in the middle of the 8th century. In the middle of18th century, China had basically possessed the economic, technological and industrial conditions of the British industrial revolution, but why there was no industrial revolution in China prompted the question of Needham.

Several explanations of Needham's mystery

1. Cultural determinism

Through the clues in his answer, I guess this is the explanation that I have come into contact with, that is, the negative influence of Confucian culture makes China people not actively pursue scientific and technological inventions and revolutions.

2. National competition hypothesis

Europe is strong because it is divided into many small countries and there is competition among them. For the sake of national strength, every country will strive to advocate science and technology, but China is a unified country, and there is no such competition. Due to the long-term lack of competitive pressure, science and technology will not make progress.

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3. High level equilibrium trap hypothesis

That is, the hypothesis of insufficient demand put forward by Yi Maoke. According to this theory, in the pre-modern society, China had advanced modern institutions, including land market, labor market, product market system and private property rights, which led to rapid technological invention and dissemination. However, due to the influence of the traditional concept of carrying on the family line, the population of China has grown very rapidly. The rapid population expansion in China will make the per capita land less and less, which will lead to the reduction of economic surplus and labor price, thus inhibiting the emergence and development of new technologies. Therefore, Yi Maoke believes that China's prosperity and rapid technological invention in the past are due to China's good market system. However, due to the rapid population expansion, too little surplus accumulation and too low labor price, China's economic development has been restrained.