
Art and Spirit in Mathematics: The Lessons of Japanese Temple Geometry (part I) - wolfgke
https://www.scienceandnonduality.com/art-spirit-in-mathematics-the-lessons-of-japanese-temple-geometry-part-i/
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resoluteteeth
> When Temple Geometry met Western mathematics the latter won, because math-
> based technology gave Commodore Perry bigger guns and faster ships. Math
> continues to be a vital weapon for our military, and also contributes to
> many aspects of the unsustainable destruction of our living environment. In
> stark contrast, Temple Geometry, which was cultivated for peaceful purposes,
> for personal development and pleasure of the Temple Geometers, was part of a
> more stable and harmonious culture.

Japan had real mathematicians working for the shogunate who had even started
to develop calculus. It was admittedly behind where other countries were at
but much less so than the field of medicine which had been hugely hindered by
the influence of traditional Chinese medicine.

It ended up being much faster to throw all this stuff out and switch to the
western systems, but it's still interesting from a historical perspective.

If you search for "wasan" you can find some information in English about real
math in pre-modern Japan, which in my opinion is much more interesting than
this "temple geometry" nonsense.

~~~
strainer
> the field of medicine which had been hugely hindered by the influence of
> traditional Chinese medicine.

Western medicine until after 1880 had rejected the benefits of cleanliness -
with surgeons taught to operate covered in filth. This could have appeared at
the time to be a rejection of primitive superstition.

~~~
jamesrcole
> _Western medicine until after 1880 had rejected the benefits of cleanliness
> - with surgeons taught to operate covered in filth._

If anyone's interested in a good read on this I'd recommend

"Bad Medicine: Doctors Doing Harm Since Hippocrates" by David Wootton

[https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Medicine-Doctors-Doing-
Hippocrate...](https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Medicine-Doctors-Doing-
Hippocrates/dp/0199212791)

It's pretty eye-opening.

------
wolfgke
See also part II ([https://www.scienceandnonduality.com/art-spirit-in-
mathemati...](https://www.scienceandnonduality.com/art-spirit-in-mathematics-
the-lessons-of-japanese-temple-geometry-part-ii/)) and part III
([https://www.scienceandnonduality.com/art-spirit-in-
mathemati...](https://www.scienceandnonduality.com/art-spirit-in-mathematics-
the-lessons-of-japanese-temple-geometry-part-iii))

