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The two historical facts which directed our attention to the study of history of science were: India and China were ahead of the West in a number of fields such as mathematics, astronomy, art, architecture and chemical arts in the medieval period, when the Western civilizations were experiencing "Dark Ages"; and the virtually contradictory fact that it was in the West that modern science emerged and made stupendous progress in the centuries following the sixteenth, giving rise to modern civilization. "Why The question that naturally arose was: did India and China lag behind?" An answer will be found only if we have a clear picture of the nature of early scientific knowledge, beliefs and practices in the Eastern civilizations, prior to the advent of modern science. For this, collaborative and prolonged investigations on the part of scholars of various fields (viz. historians of mathematics, physical sciences and technology, philosophers as well as sociologists and economists) are necessary. In this study we have concentrated on a particular branch of physical science, viz. chemistry, as a step in this direction. 210

Chemistry, first of all, appeared in the form of metallurgy when the earlier metal-workers made metal articles useful in everyday life, such as pots, hammers, Application of metals and other minerals in medicines is observed some time later. It was in the axes, etc. form of alchemy that chemistry was greatly explored in the medieval period. Though we come across alchemical notions in Vedic literature, actual alchemical practice, in search of an elixir of life and also transmutation of base metals into noble metals, appeared in the early medieval period. Strong belief in the possibility of gold-making and in the elixir of immortality provided a strong motive for carrying out various alchemical experiments. A large number of texts were written about the practice of alchemy in the medieval period, in India as well as in China. A case study of these texts enables one to understand the chemical nature of this activity. In the chapter on "Alchemy in India" we saw how the ancient notions of "the herb of immortality" finally crystallised into metallurgical and physiological alchemy in the medieval period. Use of metals and minerals in medicinal recipes, especially mercurial preparations, increased in the Tantrik period. The alchemical texts 211

212 written in this period clearly depict the popularity alchemy had gained by then. A study of alchemical texts, viz. Rasaratnakara, Rasarnava, Rasarnavakalpa, etc., reveal to us the gigantic nature of alchemists' activities. The earlier knowledge of metallurgy, botany was employed by the alchemist to design his methods. Sulphides, oxides, carbonates, chlorides and sulphates of various metals were prepared. Purification of substances was achieved by a number of methods. Heat, i.e., fire control, was achieved in a number of ways. Suitable apparatus was designed for different processes. These activities made the alchemist acquainted with the physical and chemical properties of several metals and metallic compounds. In the chapter on "Chinese Alchemy" we have seen how alchemical ideas originated in the Chiense culture. We have discussed the relation of alchemy and other protosciences to Taoist philosophy. Alchemy in both the aspects, viz. metallurgical and physiological, was practised in China. We have discussed a few alchemical texts written between the second century AD and the fifteenth, e.g., Can-tong-qi of Wei Bo-yang, Bao-pu-zi of Ge Hong, Tai ging dan-jing Yao-jue of Sun Si-miao and Geng Xin Yu Ce of Zhu Quan.

213 Needham has analysed the processes involved in the metallurgical alchemy of the Chinese. He differentiates them into the following categories. 1. Uniform substrate alloys. 2. Surface-layer enrichment by addition. Surface-layer enrichment by withdrawal. 3. 4. Surface film formation. We have seen that in Sanskrit alchemical texts the processes are based on the similar principal chemical operations. The first category was making gold or silvercoloured alloys of the metals which were sometimes amalgam of the desired colour. The second category consisted of a process in which higher percentage of the noble metal is obtained on the surface by means of amalgamation gilding. The third category consisted of a somewhat different kind of gilding. Here an alloy of the noble metal with other base metals is used. When heated, the base metal forms an oxide on the surface-layer which is washed away by an acid (usually of a plant origin). A thin layer of the noble metal is left on the surface. In the last category, a yellow sulphide film is obtained on the metal surface or a metal is dyed to a desirable colour either with a plant product or a combination of inorganic and organic salt. An analysis of the transmutation processes described in the medieval Sanskrit alchemical text

214 Rasarnavakalpa showed them to be similar to those current in Chinese alchemy; hinting to the possibility of the transmission of these ideas from China to India and vice versa. Though alchemical notions are found in ancient Sanskrit literature, alchemy came of age only in the medieval period, when several treatises were written. Similarly, in the case of Chinese alchemy we find that it flourished about the same time and developed along more or less a parallel path. In later centuries, i.e., after the eleventh to twelfth, alchemy declined on the Chinese as well as on the Indian scene. These parallel events suggest that Indian and Chinese developments must have influenced each other in their progress and decline. In the chapter on "Transmission of Alchemical and Chemical Ideas Between India and China" we have seen how Sino-Indian contacts were intensified for some centuries after the formal introduction of Buddhism to China in the second century AD, due to frequent visits of the Buddhists and their translation activities. Considering the Buddhists' interests in secular subjects such as alchemy, tantra and medicine, one expects a great amount of exchange of scientific ideas between India and China, through the Buddhist contacts.

215 A number of references to alchemy are found in the Buddhist canonical text of the first to second century AD, viz. "Ganda Vyuha Sutra". Buddhists studied alchemy with the intention of assisting the suffering humanity with medicines and money, i.e., gold. They discovered that mercury was useful in both. They found several recipes for making an elixir from mercury (Rasajatam) which they hoped would confer strength and long life and also would make gold from other metals. These alchemical references of "Ganda Vyuha Sutra" indicate the fact that these ideas reached the Chinese culture by the fourth century AD, when this Sutra was translated into Chinese for the first time. It is interesting to note that Ayurvedic treatises like "Caraka-Samhita" does not mention mercury. It is therefore possible that the medicinal properties of mercury and its compounds were known to the Buddhists sometime before they became known to the Hindus. When this knowledge permeated into the Hindu society, they accepted it immediately. They introduced the new element of "Siva-Parvati" being the conveyer of this knowledge and wrote their own treatises (e.g., Rasarnava). The later Ayurvedic medicines included mercury and its compounds as ingredients. The gold-making (i.e., formation of various amalgams with the colour of the noble-metals) property of

216 mercury was known to the Hindus earlier, though, as is seen in "Kautiliya Arthasastra". A study of the Tamil alchemical text "Bogar karpam" has disclosed similarities between Bogar's methods and those prevalent in medieval China. A reaction which is repeatedly described by Bogar, using a different plant every time for making an elixir, is found to be very much like the one given by the Chinese alchemist Wei Bo-yang of the second century in his text "Can-tong-qi". In both the texts, Chinese and Tamil, the elixir obtained is said to be effective in transmutation of metals as well as for longevity when taken internally. The elixir-formulae of Bogar are also similar to those given by Ge Hong, a fourth century Chinese alchemist, in his text "Bao-pu-zi". Bogar gives a recipe for making artificial silver (i.e., silvercoloured alloy). He names this silver as "China Silver". The percentage composition of this alloy is more or less the same as that of "China silver" or "Chinese silver" known to the Europeans in later centuries. This makes apparent the transmission of the ideas regarding making artificial silver, from China to India, many centuries before they reached Europe. The above study provides valuable evidence of the transmission of alchemical, chemical and especially metallurgical ideas between India and China. It also

217 strengthens the traditional belief of "Bogar" being a Chinese alchemist. The above case, along with the alchemical references of "Ganda Vyuha Sutra", substantiates the claim that travels of the Buddhists between China and India contributed largely in the parallel development of alchemy in the medieval period. The next chapter further discusses names of certain substances, frequently used in alchemical operations, in Chinese and Indian languages. We find that the names of substances like mica (Abhraka or Yun mu), lead (Nag, long) are identical in their meanings, in Sanskrit and Chinese. Hence they could have been introduced from one language into another, in a translated form. Some other words like the ones for ammonium chloride (Navasara, Nao sha) were probably introduced in a transliterated form, from Sanskrit to Chinese. "a Further, the Tamil word "Senthuram" is found to be the parent word for "Sindura" of Sanskrit. It means red powder" in Tamil and is used for the same in Sanskrit. This chapter further discusses three special cases of transmission of alchemical and chemical ideas from India to China, giving texual and etymological evidence. The case of "Ban cha zhuo shui" or Visodaka, i.e., poisonous water, suggests a possibility of transmission of ideas regarding mineral acids from India

218 to China, in the seventh century AD. This fact could contradict the earlier belief that mineral acids were not known to the Indians before the sixteenth century AD. The description of mineral acids given in Rasarnavakalpa agrees with that given by the seventh century Indian scholar in the Chinese court. It suggests that "Visodakakalpa" (section on poisonous water) of the text of Rasarnavakalpa was written or its contents were known in India at least five centuries earlier, though the compilation of the text took place in the eleventh century AD, as suggested by Roy and Subbarayappa. The second case of "Crow's beak gold" suggests the possible transmission of this metallurgical idea, i.e., that of making gold from iron using the plant Uccata or "kakatundi" was transmitted to China around the tenth century AD. Wang qie, the well known Chinese alchemistmetallurgist learned it from Indians and made gold from iron, and named his product a "kakatundi" or "Ya zui jin", i.e., Crow's beak gold). The third case, that of zinc Tutenag, has helped to establish the transmission of the knowledge from India to China, regarding zinc and its extraction, in the medieval period, probably after the tenth century AD. The above-mentioned special cases along with the word-study discussed in these two chapters provide

219 substantial evidence of the transmission of alchemical and chemical ideas between India and China. They also support the deduction that frequent contacts and travels of Indian and Chinese Buddhists, who were interested in alchemy and medicine, influenced its development to a large extent. It resulted in a parallel development of alchemy in these two culture areas. The seventh chapter discusses an eleventh century Chinese text "Chun zhu ji wen" or "Record of Things Heard at Spring Island". It was written by He Wei, who was a friend of the famous poet-scholar Su Tung-po (1030-1101 AD). The author and his friend had heard of, and sometimes witnessed, a number of alchemical operations. They are narrated in the tenth chapter of the above text. Certain episodes are discussed here. Translations along with the explanation of the chemical processes involved are given in this study. It is interesting to note that certain methods given in the above episodes are different from those normally described in medieval Chinese alchemical texts. They are unique, in the sense that certain chemicals or methods or apparatus used here are the ones commonly used by Indian alchemists and seldom by the Chinese. We find mercury in a gourd used for making gold from copper, which is customary in the "Sarana" operation described in Sanskrit texts. Use of sour rice-gruel which

220 is known in Indian alchemy is observed in one of the sections of "Chun zhu ji wen". A particular herb with the property of transmuting iron into gold is described here. A number of such plants are given in Sanskrit alchemical texts. The case of "purple gold" is discussed in this chapter, as well as the case of certain leaves capable of transmuting the container into gold. These similarities in alchemical methods, when viewed in light of the fact that Buddhists who were interested in alchemy visited China frequently in the medieval period, reinforce the deduction regarding the medieval transmission of ideas between India and China. At this stage we are in a position to assess the contribution of alchemy to chemistry in general and decide whether the chemical revolution of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries owes anything to the alchemical practice of previous centuries. Mercury was known and was used in extraction of gold by amalgamation or in amalgamation gilding since ancient times, but an extensive study of mercury and its compounds, the processes of purification or killing of mercury, was made by the alchemists. Metallurgical operations carried out when an aim of gold-making enabled the alchemist to accumulate new chemical data. Alloys with varying percentage compositions were synthesized.

221 Variation in physical properties, due to variation in the percentage composition, was observed by them. Control of temperature was vital in these pyro-techniques. achieved by using different furnaces and fuels. It was Again there were chance discoveries, such as the knowledge of the flame-test for deciding the kind of metal or ore; also the knowledge of volatile, sublime or explosive nature of certain substances, etc. Discovery of mineral acids can be safely regarded As as the greatest contribution of alchemy to chemistry. we have seen in the fourth chapter and later, in greater detail, the sixth chapter, the "waters" with names like the "mountain water", "poisonous water" and "moon water" of the Sanskrit texts were actually mineral acids. The alchemists discovered them during their long endeavour. They found a number of applications for them in alchemical operations. These acids served the purpose of dissolving metals, cleaning metal-surfaces, fixation of mercury, i.e., making mercury lose its volatile nature and providing an acidic medium necessary in various reactions. These mineral acids were stored in the hollow of a dried gourd since they could not be stored in metallic containers because of their corrosive action on them. Physical and chemical properties of these acids are described in a

222 number of verses in the texts like Rasarnava and Rasarnavakalpa. We have also seen how the ideas might have been transmitted to China from India in the seventh century AD (of Chapter VI). The earlier belief that mineral acids were not known in India until the sixteenth century AD might be incorrect with the discussion in the sixth chapter, where applications of acids supposedly known to the Indian alchemists since the seventh century are given. This point is of great relevance since the early chemical industries of Europe were based on syntheses and applications of mineral acids, thus giving impetus to the industrial revolution of European countries. as To answer the question whether chemistry developed an independent area, altogether abandoning the earlier practices or as a theoretical development of certain main areas of them, one needs to pinpoint since when exactly do we say "Chemistry" developed as a new branch of scientific investigation. In the sixteenth century it was nowhere in view, and by the end of the eighteenth it was established as an independent branch of natural science; by the time Lavoisier published his paper on oxygen. From the middle of the seventeenth century to the middle of the eighteenth was the transition period. Belief in the

223 success of alchemical operations was dying, due to the exposure of frauds. Still, there were educated men who believed in alchemy. The iatrochemists had started investigating the relation between chemistry and medicine. Among them and also among the natural philosophers there were a few who believed in the transmutation of metals and tried it themselves. Libavious and even Newton and Boyle carried out these experiments. In the case of Boyle we see that he tried all kinds of experiments in the fields of medicine, alchemy and chemistry. He was well read and was very well acquainted with current scientific theory and practice. Paracelsus, Van Helmont, It was he who tried to look into chemical phenomena in the form of natural philosophy. Marie H. Boas writes, 1 Somehow, somewhere, out of all this rather dull, ordinary tangle of pharmaceutical and alchemical practice and theological reasoning, Boyle was to merge within a very few years as a chemist of great importance and influence, quite different from his predecessors and contemporaries. He took over their operations and applied to them a different kind of reasoning and it was this which constituted his originality. Slowly he began to combine his capable knowledge of contemporary natural philosophy with his chemical facility and as he stressed the newer aspects of natural philosophy its experimental, rational, mechanical aspects, he carried these attitudes intact into his study of chemistry. 1 Boas, Marie H. (1), see Secondary Sources, p. 30.

224 Boyle carried out experiments and strove to synthesize fundamental principles by which the chemical phenomena could be explained. He disregarded the earlier theories of "element" like those of Aristotle or Plato, Emphadocles or Galen, but propounded a new definition of an element. Boyle writes in his "Sceptical Chymist", 2 I now mean by Elements certain Primitive and Simple, or perfectly unmingled bodies, which not being made of any other bodies, or of one another, are the ingredients of which those called perfectly mixed bodies are immediately compounded and into which they are ultimately resolved. It was Boyle who stated that chemical compound results from the combination of two constituents and that it possesses properties totally different from those of either of its constituents alone. He enunciated the theories regarding chemical combinations and decompositions, 3 thus grasping the main problem of chemistry. rightly credits him with arousing the truly critical spirit of scientific logic in chemical thinking. Stillman It is interesting to note that Boyle did not venture to call any other known substance as an "element" 2 Boas, Marie H. (1), see Secondary Sources, p. 95. 3 Stillman, J. M., see Secondary Sources, p. 395.

225 but gold. He was ready to consider "gold" as such an element, obviously because of the fact that any effort of transmuting other metals into gold had proved to be futile. He writes that he knows no fact that would prove that gold, for instance, might not as well be called an element as anything else. This is where the glorious success of alchemy (that of lies, viz. in falsifying the earlier theories Aristotle, Galen, i.e., three, four, five element theories and transmutation with changing the "substantial" forms) by its failure to achieve its goal of transmuting other metals into gold and silver. The centuries of unsuccessful endeavours proved the non-transformability of metals by chemical means. The geniuses like Boyle were able to grasp the meaning of these failures. Hence we could add this as a contribution of alchemy to chemistry, along with the other positive contributions noted earlier. Thus, publication of Boyle's "Sceptical Chymist" can be considered as a starting point in the advent of modern science of chemistry. Hence we maintain that chemistry developed as a new attitude providing theoretical development of all the areas of earlier practice in the fields of alchemy, metallurgy and medicine. 4 stillman, J. M., see Secondary Sources, p. 397.