Shen Kuo

Shen Kuo (1031–1095), courtesy name Cunzhong and styled Mengxi Zhangren, was a native of Qiantang in Hangzhou during the Northern Song dynasty and a notable figure in both science and politics. He took part in Wang Anshi's reforms and held posts including director of the Imperial Observatory, Hanlin academician, and acting director of the Three Bureaus, and he once served as an envoy to the Liao state. In his later years he retired to Mengxi Garden in Runzhou, where he wrote Dream Pool Essays (Mengxi Bitan), drawing on a lifetime of observation and research. The work ranges across astronomy, mathematics, physics, geology, and medicine; its record of magnetic declination has been especially valued by later generations, and it is regarded as a major example of the Chinese scientific notebook tradition. This site carries several of his works, chiefly different editions of Dream Pool Essays, along with history, classical literature, and cultural titles, showing the wide circulation of his writings.