Abstract A good deal of historical work compares something in two different cultures, but one can also compare an idea or a custom in the same culture at different times or different places. The meanings of ziranand nature, or shenti and body, differ. The situations of Western astronomy and medicine in China and in Japan are entirely different. This suggests that changes in governments, the value of old and new methods, the organization of society, and the motivations for learning may be crucial to an understanding of the attitudes about Western science. Late nineteenth-century Chinese attitudes to the steamboat and steam-driven railways differed greatly. These different attitudes indicate that Chinese officials of the time recognized the social impact of network technologies and were skilled in diplomacy.
