This paper analyzes the relationship between the achievements of the ancient astronomy and the scientific goal of the FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope) in China. The guest star, recorded firstly by the astronomers of Song dynasty in 1054, was recognized as the supernova explosion and shown as a Crab nebula, in which a pulsar was formed. Now, the FAST is making the pulsar observation, for understanding the above guest star. The pulsar and its discovery history are reviewed in this paper; furthermore, with a scientific confidence, based on the guest star recorded in 1054 and the FAST for the pulsar search, we try to answer the hard question put forward by Joseph Needham on why the modern scientific revolution did not happen in China despite the high prosperity reached in Song dynasty. It is well acknowledged that science is a common property of the mankind, while China made a great contribution to its initial development, Europe did its best in the Renaissance, and the expansion of Mongol helped the scientific and cultural exchange between the East and the West.

pulsar  /  neutron star  /  gravitational wave  /  FAST  /  Needham Puzzle