Science and technology in China in the context of "Sinology"

Wuxing (Chinese: 五行; pinyin: wǔxíng; Jyutping: Ng Hang), translated as Five Moving Ones, Five Circulations, Five Types of Energy, Five Elements, Five Transformations, Five Phases or Five Agents, is a fivefold conceptual scheme used in many traditional Chinese fields of study to explain a wide array of phenomena, including terrestrial and celestial relationships, influences, and cycles, that characterise the interactions and relationships within science, medicine, politics, religion and social relationships and education within Chinese culture.

The Five Moving Ones are traditionally associated with the classical planets: Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn as depicted in the etymological section below. In ancient Chinese astronomy and astrology, that spread throughout East Asia, was a reflection of the seven-day planetary order of Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth. When in their "heavenly stems" generative cycle as represented in the below cycles section and depicted in the diagram above running consecutively clockwise (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). When in their overacting destructive arrangement of Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, Metal, natural disasters, calamity, illnesses and disease will ensue.

Sinicization, sinofication, sinification, or sinonization (from the prefix sino-, 'Chinese, relating to China') is the process by which non-Chinese societies or groups are acculturated or assimilated into Chinese culture, particularly the language, societal norms, cultural practices, and ethnic identity of the Han Chinese—the largest ethnic group of China.

Areas of influence include diet, writing, industry, education, language/lexicon, law, architectural style, politics, philosophy, religion, science and technology, value systems, and lifestyle.

Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (/ˈniːdəm/; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, initiating publication of the multivolume Science and Civilisation in China. He called attention to what has come to be known as the Needham Question, of why and how China had ceded its leadership in science and technology to Western countries.

He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1941 and a fellow of the British Academy in 1971. In 1992, Queen Elizabeth II conferred on him the Order of the Companions of Honour, and the Royal Society noted he was the only living person to hold these three titles.

The term foremost power has been used by political scientists and historians to describe the allegedly greatest power in the world, or in a given region, during a certain period of history. Multiple empires have been described as such, often for the same time period, resulting in a problematic assessment of the conflicting scholarly opinions and points of view on the matter. There is therefore a general lack of consensus between the various authors and scholars in reference to the nations and empires that were allegedly the world's most powerful at various points in history.

The status of foremost power globally implies that of superpower. However, it does not necessarily mean that the world is unipolar nor that there is a sole superpower. Currently, the United States is no longer an uncontested superpower, partly due to not dominating in every single domain (i.e. military, culture, economy, technology, diplomatic) in every part of the world. Although it is still the most powerful military and has the largest economy by nominal GDP (although China has surpassed the United States in GDP purchasing power parity, and could surpass the United States nominal GDP in the coming decades), China has made significant gains in cultural influence and technology. The United States became the world's foremost power at the end of the Second World War, as the Soviet Union was a power of comparable influence, but lagged far behind the United States in economy and wealth. The United States remained the world's foremost power until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, at which point it became the world's sole superpower. Opinions differ on when China's rise changed the United States' position from an uncontested sole superpower to a contested one. However, most agree that this happened sometime in the late 2000s or early 2010s post-Great Recession. While China's rise decreases the power gap between them and the United States, the United States is forecasted to remain the world's foremost power for the next couple of decades.