← Explore on the interactive map

Shen Kuo

Type Figure Region Northern Song China Time 1031–1095 Also known as Cunzhong、Old Man of Mengxi

Outstanding Northern Song scholar, scientist, and statesman, learned in astronomy, calendar science, mathematics, geography, medicine, and weaponry;…

Timeline

  1. 1061–1067Yangzhou · YangzhouAround 1061 he went to the capital as a collator of the library academies, later serving as prefect of Xuanzhou, Changzhou, and Yangzhou, where he attended to waterworks, farming, and astronomical observation, accumulating practical experience for his later scientific writings and reform governance.
  2. 1068–1075Bianjing · Kaifeng PrefectureDuring the Xining era he went to the capital to join Wang Anshi's reforms, serving as head of the Astronomical Bureau, directing calendar revision and the making of astronomical instruments, and also managing the Armaments Bureau; in the 1060s and 1070s he made outstanding contributions in science policy and military engineering, and after demotion continued writing.

Sources