The Ming Dynasty was a period when feudal society declined and capitalist factors began to sprout. Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, handicraft industry appeared and developed, and the textile industry in some cities (such as Hangzhou) has the budding nature of capitalism, and the research in various fields of natural science has also developed to a certain extent. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, western natural sciences began to be introduced, so that Chinese and western sciences (such as mathematics) could be integrated.
The development of natural science has promoted the study of jurisprudence and made great achievements-the invention of the "Twelve Equal Laws".
The inventor of "Twelve Average Laws" was Zhu Zaiyu in Ming Dynasty.
In western academic circles, Zhu Zaiyu is a venerable name. People regard him as a mysterious philosopher in the ancient East, and think that many important inventions of civilized society have their merits.
Zhu Zaiyu (1536— 16 10), a native of Fengyang, Anhui Province, was a famous musician and calendar mathematician in the Ming Dynasty. He is the son of Zhu Houan, a noble of Ming Dynasty. In his early years, he studied astronomy and mathematics with his uncle He Tang. Later, due to contradictions within the ruling class, his father Zhu Houan was arrested and imprisoned. Zhu Zaiyu was dissatisfied with the corrupt politics at that time. During his father's imprisonment, he lived alone outside the palace gate for 19 years, studying law, mathematics, astronomical calendar and dance. It was not until his father was released that he returned to the palace. After Zhu Houan's death, Zhu Zaiyu refused to inherit the title and wrote for life. He is the author of Complete Collection of Etiquette and Law, Jia Jing, Fa and Lu, and Confusion and Confusion between Fa and Lu.
The law of twelve averages invented by Zhu Zaiyu is also called "the law of twelve equal courses", and Zhu Zaiyu called the mathematical principle of this life method "the secret law of the new law" in his "On the Harmony of Legal Calendar" (158 1 preface). The "new secret method" is to distribute temperament evenly with "equal proportion series" (also called "geometric series"), which is the average law. In Lv Jingyi, he summed up his ultimate goal and algorithm outline of creating "new rate" and said:
"Cover Huang Zhong twelve method for the beginning, should bell for the end, end, endless cycle. ..... So all the laws are Ling Huang's positive number multiplied by ten inches, which is true, and they all have to be multiplied by ten inches, five points, nine points, four points, six wires, three times nine fibers, four times three times. In addition, the second law concludes that it is reasonable not to return. The old method can't come back because of three-point profit and loss and arithmetic difference. Therefore, the new law does not require three-point profit and loss and does not create new rates. "
In the experiment of the law of twelve averages, Zhu Zaiyu found the mistake of the same governing law on the one hand, and the laws of different governing laws on the other. Therefore, in his book The Essence of Law and Lu, he clearly put forward the view that "all meridians are the same" and expounded his design scheme for different management laws with figures. He said:
"Confucianism thought that although the length is different and the circumference is the same, it did not reach this theory. If you don't believe me today, the rule of controlling the yellow bell with bamboo or pen is the same as that of two pieces. Cut a piece and divide it into two parts. The whole law is half law, everyone blows it, and the sound is not harmonious. This is obviously verifiable. He also made two great laws, the circumference of which was the same as that of Huang Zhong. He cut one piece and divided it into two sections, the whole law and the half law, each of which was played by one person, but there were also differences. The half law of the great law was the same as that of Huang Zhong, but slightly different. "
Zhu Zaiyu's 36-pipe method has a very small pitch error, which can fool the ears of international audiologists in 1890. Belgian audiologist VICTOR MAHILLON once tested Zhu Zaiyu's double, positive, half and three Ling Huang, and came to the conclusion that:
"In terms of pipe diameter, China's music is more progressive than ours. We haven't talked about this at all. Although Wang Zaiqi didn't explain his theory, he just gave us figures, but we can easily infer them. Moreover, we have done the law tube experiment as usual, and the results obtained can prove the accuracy of this theory. "
The calculation result of Zhu's twelve-average law is exactly the same as that of modern calculation, but the order is just the opposite, because modern calculation is about the frequency of vibrating body, while Zhu's calculation is about the length of vibrating body.
The birth of "The New Secret Law" is a very important epoch-making invention in the theory of music, which can be said to be a summary of the gains and losses of China's legal research for more than two thousand years. Its invention, in theory, completely solved the problem of palace rotation that has never been perfectly handled.
The data obtained by Zhu Zaiyu's twelve-average law is not only completely consistent with today's twelve-average law, but also more than half a century earlier than the establishment of the western twelve-average law (Zhu Zaiyu's twelve-average law was before 1584, and the western twelve-average law was basically completed in the middle of17th century).
In A.D. 1606 and 13, such as New Theory of Law, New Theory of Music and Essence of Law, which were painstakingly managed by Zhu Zaiyu himself for many years, were compiled into a masterpiece of music theory literature-Complete Works of Music, which was dedicated to the emperor. He hoped that the supreme ruler of feudal society and his blood relatives would help him put this theoretical achievement into practice and bear fruitful results. But Zhu Zaiyu's works were shelved and stayed.
After the demise of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty refused to recognize ming prince's outstanding contribution, and even launched an unreasonable attack on him when he was prosperous. This great theory of human musicology was mercilessly buried by the social system. Therefore, the failure to carry out great practice in China, that is, the land where it was born, is really a great shock in the history of music culture in China. Over time, people even forgot Zhu Zaiyu, the great inventor. On the contrary, Zhu Zaiyu's Twelve Laws strongly stimulated the European music circle on average. After they knew this theory, they immediately carried out extensive practice and made brilliant achievements, and gradually replaced the non-average law all over the world, so that many people later thought that the twelve-average law came from Europe. It was not until the 1930s that Liu Bannong, a famous writer in China, pointed out in his article that China's understanding of the twelve-average law was half a century earlier than that of Europe, and the first person who invented the twelve-average law was Zhu Zaiyu of China, which restored the true colors of history.
Zhu Zaiyu's achievements in other disciplines are also remarkable, and he deserves to be called the encyclopedic giant of China16th century. Dr Joseph Needham of Britain called him "Da Vinci of China". It can be said that this is a lofty and fair evaluation of an oriental scholar by a western scholar. From Zhu Zaiyu's experience and his music theory, we can see a typical and vivid silhouette of China feudal society, which fully explains the fundamental reason why China's traditional culture gradually changed from advanced to backward in modern times.