Bichen Yan

by Rodrigo Ballon Villanueva

Bichen Yan | 严弼宸

This month’s entry is devoted to Bichen Yan on the occasion of the Chinese New Year.

Bichen received his PhD in the history of science and technology from the Department of History of Science of Tsinghua University (China) in 2024. Presently a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Tsinghua’s Philosophy Department, his research focuses on medieval and early modern theories of minerals and matter. For this, he adopts a comparative approach concerning the ontological foundations of natural philosophy in Europe and China.

In his dissertation, Bichen explored how Georgius Agricola (1494-1555) shaped contemporary mineralogy, becoming the discipline’s father. Supporting Lewis Mumford’s view, he contends that 16^th-century mining foreruns modern industrial civilisation, with Agricola representing the origins of modern thought and manufacturing. Accordingly, he argues that Agricola’s metaphysical decision to abandon the formal cause of minerals led to a transformative shift in mineral natural philosophy. The idea is that Agricola established specific representations as the sole basis for understanding minerals, letting go of the (metaphysical) notion of ‘nature’. Bichen believes that this transformation contributed to the development of a modern mining and metallurgy industry.

As a Chinese researcher, Bichen’s deepest motivation is to establish a basis for a dialogue between traditional Chinese thoughts and modernity. By comparing the ontological foundations of natural philosophy in Europe and China, he is exploring whether ancient Chinese thought could offer a unique response to the crisis of modernity.

Bichen’s recent publications include “Minerals as a Modern Metaphor and the Completion of Metaphysics” (Studies in Dialectics of Natures, 2023), which illustrates how accidental properties became the nature of minerals, and “Assaying versus Smelting: A Research on the Second Volume of the Nanjing Library Kunyu gezhi Manuscript Copy” (The Chinese Journal for the History of Science and Technology, 2021), in which he studies the late Ming dynasty Chinese translation of Agricola’s work De re metallica. You can contact Bichen at bicheny442@gmail.com