Chapter 11 Chapter 8 Technology - "Kao Gong Ji", "Tian Gong Kai Wu"

In ancient China, the achievements in engineering technology and craft technology were extremely brilliant, which played an important role in the development of civilization in our country and even in the world.As early as the stage of primitive society, some tribes and clans in our country were known for being good at certain skills.For example, the Kunwu people who originally lived in Puyang, Henan Province are good at making pottery and casting, and the Gonggong family who originally lived in Huixian County, Henan Province are good at water control, and so on.After entering the class society, some tribes and clans were conquered, placed in a subjugated position, and had the obligation to make and pay tribute to specific products; later they evolved into slaves and craftsmen serving the royal family, which was the beginning of official handicrafts.At that time, there were many craftsmen serving the royal family, and they were collectively called "Hundred Craftsmen".

In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, due to the needs of social changes and production development, engineering technology and process technology have been improved by leaps and bounds.At that time, private handicraftsmen had also appeared in the society, and they had a high degree of enthusiasm for production and creation.The story of the famous Mozi and the skilled craftsman Lu Ban (Gongshu Ban) competing in the siege technology reflects an aspect of the technological development at that time.The technology at that time had reached a very high level, like the famous Goujian sword of the king of Yue, which had been buried underground for more than 2,000 years and still has clear patterns and brilliance on its surface.With the development of handicraft production, people have accumulated rich experience, and in order to produce more and better products, the internal division of labor in handicraft production and the standardization and scientificization of technology have become the outstanding features of the development of handicraft industry in this period. . The emergence of the book "Kao Gong Ji" reflects this trend. "Kao Gong Ji" records the product shapes and process specifications of nearly 30 types of work, including almost all handicraft industries at that time, and can be called "the book of hundreds of crafts".The book is very rich in science and technology, and occupies an important position in our country and the world.In addition to "Kaogongji", other documents and books of this period contain a lot of technical content. For example, "Guanzi Dudi" is the earliest surviving theoretical work on water conservancy engineering technology, which discusses the seasons of soil moisture content. The impact of changes on construction quality and other relevant mechanics knowledge, the calculation method of channel slope is proposed, and the organization of water conservancy construction at that time is introduced.Another example is the "Beicheng Gate" in "Mozi", which records the equipment and production of attacking and defending the city, as well as the technology used, reflecting the development of military engineering technology at that time.

After the Qin and Han Dynasties, my country's feudal system began to be established, centralization was strengthened, and a policy of emphasizing agriculture and ignoring or even suppressing industry and commerce was implemented; especially after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism dominated, which further strengthened the ideological basis of this policy; As for the entire feudal society, engineering technology and craftsmanship were regarded as the trivial skills of the inferior people, and the social status of craftsmen and craftsmen was humble, and many of them were in the status of semi-slaves.This traditional concept and social relationship has greatly damaged the transmission and recording of technology.Because of this, compared with the numerous monographs in other disciplines, technical monographs seem to be few and far between.As far as we can see so far, there is not a monograph on technology between the Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties.

In the Tang Dynasty, due to economic prosperity, cultural development, and relatively open thinking, coupled with the invention of printing, which was conducive to the publication and dissemination of books, a small number of technical monographs began to appear.From the Sui Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the construction of water conservancy projects became more and more common, and the scale of the projects was large. Hydraulic machinery such as waterwheels and high-drum cars were widely used.Works such as "Shuibu Shi" and "Dunhuang Water Canal" that appeared at this time are the earliest surviving professional regulations on water conservancy in my country.Both books were found in Dunhuang fragments, which recorded in detail the management rules of Zhengbai Qu, Guanzhong, Shazhou and other canals."Shui Lun Fu" written by Chen Tingzhang in the Tang Dynasty is a monograph on the shape, operation and function of water wheel drums, reflecting the development of agricultural irrigation machinery at that time.The military technology of the Tang Dynasty also made great progress. "Taibai Yin Jing" is a military book, a large amount of which is related to military engineering technology, including the specifications and offensive and defensive equipment for building flat land; Quantity, shape and size etc.In addition, the "Six Methods of Craftsmanship" in the Tang Dynasty and the "Lacquer Classic" in the Five Dynasties are also monographs on technology, but they have been lost now.

The Song and Yuan dynasties were the period when my country's science and technology flourished, and correspondingly there were many monographs on engineering technology and technology."Zao Fa Shi" edited by Li Jie in the Song Dynasty is the earliest surviving special book on official architecture in my country, and it is also an epoch-making work on my country's construction engineering technology.The book is divided into five parts: interpretation, system of each work, merit limit, material examples and drawings. The content involves various official buildings and their specific structures, and is rich in pictures and texts.This work shows that the framework system of ancient wooden structures in my country has reached the level of proficiency, and is developing in the direction of standardization and finalization, which has a major impact on the architecture of Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.Xue Jingshi's "Zi Ren Yi Zhi" in the early Yuan Dynasty is a famous monograph on woodworking technology in ancient my country, among which "car making" and "weaving tools" have high historical and academic value.Such as "Huajizi" (jacquard loom), "Lijizi" (vertical loom), "Luojizi" (special loom for weaving looms), etc., are important historical materials for our study of ancient textile machinery.During the Song and Yuan dynasties, monographs on other technologies also appeared.For example, "Beishan Wine Classic" written by Zhu Gong (Gong Gong) in the Northern Song Dynasty is the first existing monograph on wine-making technology in my country; Boiling Botu” is an important monograph recording sea salt production technology in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Jiang Qi’s “Tao Ji” in the Southern Song Dynasty is the first monograph describing the situation of Jingdezhen’s ceramic industry in ancient times, and it is also the earliest monograph on porcelain in the world.The water conservancy was developed in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The "River Defense General Discussion", which was written in the Northern Song Dynasty and supplemented successively in the Jin and Yuan dynasties, is the earliest river engineering technical specification book in my country. The technical requirements and calculation methods are documented in detail.At this time, monographs on specific water conservancy projects also appeared. For example, "Li Qu Zhi" records the Li Canal Project in Yichun, Jiangxi; the "Si Ming Ta Shan Water Conservancy Preparation" written by Wei Xian (xianxian) of the Southern Song Dynasty records in detail that it was built in the Tang Dynasty and is located in Zhejiang. Yin County, Tashan Weir, a dam hub with multiple functions, among which the construction and annual repair system of the past dynasties, hydrological survey, sediment treatment, and analysis of the intensification of soil erosion at that time all have important historical value.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, my country's economic development was stable, especially after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, capitalism sprouted and industry and commerce developed, especially in the textile industry and the mining and metallurgy industry.This period was the heyday of the compilation of classics on engineering technology and craft technology in our country, and the number exceeded the sum of similar classics in previous dynasties.Among these works, Song Yingxing's "Tiangong Kaiwu" occupies a prominent position.This is an encyclopedia-style work, and the records of industrial technology in it show that China was a leader in many aspects of technology in the world at that time.Zheng He's voyages to the West in the early Ming Dynasty promoted the development of the shipbuilding industry. "Cao Chuan Zhi", "Longjiang Shipyard Records" and "South Shipyard Records" are monographs describing Ming Dynasty shipyards and shipbuilding technical specifications respectively. Important information on shipbuilding technology in the Ming Dynasty.In the Ming Dynasty, there also appeared such daily-use encyclopedia-style monographs as "Multi-Neng Despicable Things", signed by Liu Ji.The content includes farming and animal husbandry technology, household handicrafts, daily life knowledge and skills, etc., and the following aspects mainly reflect the technological development of civil society.In the early Ming Dynasty, there was also a special book on carpentry - "Lu Ban Jing", which covered the production of buildings, furniture, daily necessities and wooden farm tools.This book is a "professional book with the rules and principles of guilds", which has very important reference value for the study of the development of folk crafts and technologies in our country.Similar works include "Painting [xiu Xiu] Decoration Record", which is the only existing monograph on lacquer technology in my country compiled by Huang Cheng, a famous lacquer worker in the Ming Dynasty.In the late Ming Dynasty, due to military needs, the development of weapon research and development technology was more prominent. Firearms monographs such as "Fire Dragon Classic", "Shen Qi Pu", "Xi Fa Shen Ji" and "Huo Gong Yao Yao" were published, of which the latter two were translations or compilations. .Works that were influenced and created by the West include "Illustrations of New Qiqi Utensils" written by Wang Zheng in the late Ming Dynasty.In addition, "Yuan Ye" written by Ji Cheng in the Ming Dynasty is the oldest work on gardening in my country.In the Qing Dynasty, the government strengthened the management of the handicraft industry and formulated a series of technical specifications. Materials, working hours, etc.According to statistics, there are nearly a hundred of these rules, some of which were compiled by the government and some by the people. The long ones have hundreds of thousands of words, and the short ones have only a few paragraphs.In the Qing Dynasty, there was also a special book on official building specifications called "Engineering Practices", which unified the standards of official buildings in the Qing Dynasty. It was the last establishment of the ancient architectural model in the late feudal society, and it was also the stylized development of architecture at that time. concentrated expression.There are also many works on other handicrafts and industries in the Qing Dynasty. For example, "Suzhou Weaving Bureau Chronicle" is a monograph of Suzhou Weaving Bureau, a royal enterprise in the early Qing Dynasty; "Compilation" and so on are all monographs on ceramic technology, among which Tang Ying's "Correction of Ceramic Technology" has the most detailed records of ceramic technology items and technical details. Wu Dingli's "Artesian Well Fame and Facts" and Ding Baozhen's "Sichuan Salt Law Records" are monographs on the production technology and management of Sichuan salt industry; Wu Qijun's "Southern Yunnan Mining Factory Map" is a This is a monograph full of pictures and texts that introduces the distribution of mines in Yunnan in the Qing Dynasty and its mining and smelting technology in detail.Water conservancy projects in the Ming and Qing dynasties were more developed, so there were more monographs.For example, Minggui Youguang's "Sanwu Water Conservancy Records" and Zhang Guowei's "Wuzhong Water Conservancy Complete Book" discussed the water conservancy facilities of Taihu Lake; Books describing specific water conservancy projects include "Mulanpi Collection" by Li Xiong of the Ming Dynasty, "Complete Book of Sanjiang Gate Affairs" by Cheng Mingjiu of the Qing Dynasty, "Tongji Weir Records" by Xiang Disun, and "Six Rivers in the City of Yunnan Province" by Huang Shijie. Illustrated etc.The Ming and Qing Dynasties also made important achievements in the management of the Yellow River, and many monographs appeared. For example, Wan Gong first put forward the theory of "constraining water and attacking sand" to control the Yellow River in "Water Harnessing", and "River Defense at a Glance" and "River Defense Preface" developed it. this thought.In addition, there are dozens of monographs on canal and seawall management, such as "Caohe Tuzhi" and "Haitang Record".

"Kao Gong Ji" is a scientific and technical work on handicraft production in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, and it is also a collection of handicraft systems and technical specifications.It was originally a separate work.However, due to the lack of "Winter Official" among the six officials of "Heaven", "Earth", "Spring", "Summer", "Autumn" and "Winter" in "Zhou Li", later generations added "Kao Gong Ji" Therefore, it has become a part of "Zhou Li".In the era when Confucianism was prevalent, "Kao Gong Ji" was among the Confucian classics, which undoubtedly doubled its value and made it widely circulated.

"Kao Gong Ji" can be roughly divided into two parts.The first part is the general narration, which is short in length.It first emphasizes the responsibilities and important positions of "hundred workers" in the country's "six positions" (six basic social divisions of labor, including princes, scholar-bureaucrats, hundred workers, business travelers, farmers, and women's work), and then discusses the The four basic principles that must be followed to obtain high-quality products are unique crafts and specialties - weather, earth atmosphere, material beauty, and workmanship.In this part, there are also six types of 30 types of work that will be discussed later.Among them, carpentry includes seven types of work including wheel, yu, bow, hut, carpenter, cart, and catalpa; metalworking includes six types of work including building, smelting, mallard, chestnut, Duan, and peach; leatherworking includes letter, Bao, (Wei Jun) [yun There are five types of work: Yun), Wei, and Qiu; color work includes five types of work: painting, huihui, bell, basket, and front; scraping and rubbing includes five types of work: jade, nut, carving, lost, and chime; tuan (tuan) Tuan〕埴〔shizhi〕work includes two types of work: pottery and 瓬〔fangwang〕.The second part is the main body of the book, which respectively describes the functions and technical specifications of each type of work, but the text of the six types of work, Duan, Wei, Qiu, Basket, Lang, and Carving, is missing. The technical content of "Kao Gong Ji" includes vehicle manufacturing, weapons, musical instruments, containers, jade, leather, silk refining and dyeing, ceramics, construction and water conservancy engineering, etc., almost involving every department of the government's handicraft industry at that time.The book records the detailed technical division of labor in the production process at that time.For example, in the manufacture of vehicles, in addition to the "car people", there are also "wheel people" who specialize in making wheels, "yu people" who specialize in making carriages, and "bi people" who specialize in making shafts, etc.The tendency of handicraft specialization and fine division of labor is a sign of the highly developed handicraft production technology at that time.

"Kaogongji" is the earliest and most detailed scientific and technical document not only in China, but also in the world.In addition to discussing the design requirements and production processes of various handicrafts, the book also tries to clarify the scientific principles.Many scientific and technological achievements in the pre-Qin period of our country were first recorded by relying on it. Although my country entered the Bronze Age later than West Asia, the development of smelting and casting technology was rapid, and it reached a peak in the Shang Dynasty. The famous Simuwu Dafang Ding and other unearthed cultural relics are the witnesses of this historical period.In "Kao Gong Ji", bronze smelting and casting has developed into a handicraft department with six types of work, and has advanced technical experience.For example, the records of "Gold has Liuqi" (the proportions of six alloys of bronze ware) are the earliest understanding of the laws of alloys in the world, and it is the first time to point out the relationship between alloy properties and alloy components to people. "Kao Gong Ji" also said that during the heating process of smelting and casting, there will be black and turbid air first, then yellow and white air, and then blue and white air. When the furnace fire turns into a pure blue color, the fire is just right and casting can begin up.This is the earliest record in the world to judge the smelting process based on the color of smoke and flame.

Textile printing and dyeing technology has a long history in my country, especially the printing and dyeing process of silk fabrics is leading the world.Noble silk and silk fabrics have to undergo "severe refining" treatment (equivalent to the current refining process) before dyeing.That is to use alkaline-rich plant ash juice or more alkaline lime tempered by shells to treat silk and silk fabrics, and expose them to sunlight to remove the sericin on the outside of the fibers and facilitate dyeing. "Kao Gong Ji" records the entire operation process of this process, and is the earliest record of gray water degumming and sunlight degumming and bleaching in my country. "Kaogongji" describes the dyeing process: "Three entries are 纁 [xun Xun, light red], five entries are 緅 [zou Zou, dark blue and red color], and seven entries are black [zizi, black]. "This means that when dyeing with a certain dye, the color of the dyed object will deepen every time it is dipped, and different colors can be obtained after repeated dipping.This craft is also recorded for the first time in "Kao Gong Ji".

"Kao Gong Ji" records a lot of physics knowledge.Such as measuring the mass distribution of the arrow shaft by the buoyancy of water; pointing out that the fletching is the stabilizing device for the arrow to fly.Another example is the relationship between rolling friction force and wheel diameter in vehicle manufacturing, and so on.These are the earliest records of mechanical knowledge.Bells, chimes and drums are important musical instruments in ancient my country. "Kaogongji" discusses in detail the influence of their size, thickness and other factors on the sound quality, which shows a wealth of acoustic knowledge, especially the section "Fushi is a bell", which is simply a well-organized article. , Logical and rigorous clock-making treatises, which describe the clock-making norms, sound, etc. in a concise and detailed manner, are more than 1,500 years earlier than European documents of the same content. "Kaogongji" has preserved a wealth of practical mathematical knowledge.The "moment", "Xuan", "(wood) [zhuzhu]", "Ke" and "Qingzhe" mentioned in the section "The Story of Cars and People" are the earliest set of angle concepts in ancient my country. It was widely used in the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period. In Kaogongji, simple fractions are often used to express the ratio of the sizes of various parts of handicraft products.For example, "one tenth of an inch is called a piece", and "piece" is the later "fen", and the notation of "one tenth of an inch" was inherited by later generations of arithmetic terms.There are also many historical materials on weights and measures in the pre-Qin period in this book, which are worthy of our in-depth study. The ancient Chinese architecture is different from the architecture of other civilizations in the world. It mainly adopts wooden structures, making maximum use of the characteristics and possibilities of wooden structures. The space scale is huge, and the plane is spread out. It pays attention to the interconnection and cooperation between architectural groups.Pay attention to the overall arrangement of each building. The germination of this architectural idea is reflected in the sections of "Craftsmen Founding the Country" and "Craftsmen Running the Country" in "Kaogongji".In specific architectural practice, measuring instruments such as levelers and line pendants have been used, and the method of observing the sun and the North Star has been used to determine the direction.To study the history of ancient Chinese architecture, one cannot fail to mention Kaogongji. "Kaogongji" is the first monograph on technical specifications in my country, so it has made even greater achievements in standardization management, covering almost all parts of the book.It stipulates a strict technical division of labor, unifies the names of product components, formulates standards and specifications for product and architectural design, and has strict systems in every link from material selection and use to production procedures.After the product comes out, the corresponding inspection methods and standards are stipulated.For example, in manufacturing vehicles, there are six methods for quality inspection of light wheels.For another example, in the "Luren" Festival, in order to test the quality of weapons, three scientific testing methods are stipulated, that is, by fixing one end, two ends, and the middle point respectively, and shaking and oscillating to check the firmness of the weapon.In today's material mechanics experiments, these three methods are basically used to test the mechanical properties of rod-shaped objects.In a certain sense, "Kao Gong Ji" is the earliest monograph on quality management and standardized management in the world. "Kao Gong Ji" had a long and huge influence in Chinese history.The production of palace utensils in the past dynasties, as well as the construction of the capital, are often based on the records in "Kao Gong Ji".In the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, there were more studies on "Kao Gong Ji", even detailed to the discussion and textual research of a certain article or a certain type of work.In modern times, the research on "Kaogongji" has reached a new stage, involving a wider range of subjects.In particular, a large number of archaeological relics have been unearthed, and they have been studied in conjunction with the records of "Kao Gong Ji", so they have a higher level of understanding. "Tiangong Kaiwu" written by Song Yingxing in the late Ming Dynasty is a representative classic of science and technology in ancient China, and is known as the "Encyclopedia of Craftsmanship".Song Yingxing (AD 1587—?) with the style name Changgeng, was born in Fengxin, Jiangxi. At the age of 29, Song Yingxing won the Juren examination. After that, he went to Beijing many times to take the Jinshi examination, but he failed all the time.Many long-distance trips to Beijing broadened Song Yingxing's horizons, increased his social knowledge, and gave him a better understanding of the decadence and darkness of politics at that time, which also prompted him to make up his mind to abandon the imperial examination and study the knowledge in production practice instead.At the age of 47, Song Yingxing served as the Jiaoyu (County School Instructor) of Fenyi County, Jiangxi Province, and later served as the Tuiguan of Tingzhou (now Changting County) in Fujian and the prefect of Bo (bobo) Prefecture (now Fuyang, Anhui).When Fenyi served as an instructor, Song Yingxing summarized the long-term accumulated knowledge of production technology and compiled "Tiangong Kaiwu". "Tiangong Kaiwu" has three volumes, and is divided into 18 chapters. The contents of each chapter are: 1. Nail, the production of crops; 2. Naifu, textile technology; 3. Changshi, dyeing technology; 4. Essence , processing of grains; 5. making salty, salt making; 6. Ganni, sugar making; 7. pottery [shanshan], the firing of bricks and tiles and the production of pottery and porcelain; 8. smelting, casting technology; 9. Boats and cars, manufacturing and transportation methods of vehicles and ships; 10. Hammer forging, metal forging technology; 11. Burnt [fanfan] stone, coal mining and burning technology; 12. Ointment, oil extraction; 13. Finishing, papermaking; 14. Hardware, the mining and smelting technology of various metals; 15. Jiabing, weapon manufacturing; 16. Danqing, the production of pigments and inks; and processing. "Tiangong Kaiwu" covered almost every production field in the society at that time.The sequence of the chapters in the book is arranged according to the principle of "Grains are more expensive than gold and jade".Putting agriculture and sideline industries related to people's food and clothing at the top of the book, followed by handicrafts, and putting pearls and jade last, reflects Song Yingxing's thought of emphasizing agriculture and heavy industry and despising gold and jade.The book introduces in detail the types, origins, production techniques and techniques of various crops and handicraft raw materials, as well as some experience in production management, with a special focus on collecting the latest technology items at that time.The book contains not only a large amount of exact data, but also more than 120 vivid illustrations, which are of great scientific value. During the Ming Dynasty, the variety and output of crops increased significantly, and farmers accumulated rich experience in breeding and popularizing improved varieties, intensive cultivation, water irrigation, soil improvement, and pest control. "Tiangong Kaiwu" systematically summarized these experiences.Song Yingxing inspected the planting conditions of various crops at that time and the changes in the proportion of public food, and pointed out that "the one who educates the people today is Daoju 17".It shows that rice has become an important crop at that time.Therefore, "Tiangong Kaiwu" has particularly detailed records of rice cultivation and farming techniques, including many new technologies that have never been mentioned in previous agricultural books.For example, when talking about raising seedlings with the soaking method, the seedlings will be pulled up and planted separately after 30 days of growth, otherwise the production will be reduced.It is also said that one mu of seedlings can be used for transplanting 25 mu.This 1:25 relationship is an important data with guiding significance, and it is still the case in modern Jiangxi.The book also mentioned that for fields with "cold slurry", that is, acidic soil with poor drainage and low soil temperature, you can use animal ashes to dip rice roots, or sprinkle lime on the roots of seedlings, while sunny fields cannot be used. this method.Liming is easy to neutralize soil acidity and promote the formation of soil aggregate structure, while dipping seedling roots with ashes is an effective measure for applying phosphorus fertilizer. "Tiangong Kaiwu" records the method of dressing seeds and dipping roots with arsenic (arsenic) to prevent pests and rodents, and introduces that one of the Hengyang factories in Hunan in modern times has an annual output of 10,000 jin of arsenic.The use of arsenic stone as a pesticide is a major invention in Chinese agricultural technology, which was first recorded in "Tiangong Kaiwu". The variation of organisms due to changes in the surrounding environment is an important topic in the theory of biological evolution.This phenomenon was observed and used in ancient my country very early. "Tiangong Kaiwu" mentions that some rices have become drought-resistant due to drought and water shortage. Through artificial breeding, mutated upland rice species can be obtained, which can be planted even in the conditions of high mountains and water shortages. "Tiangong Kaiwu" also has a record of using the principle of biological variation to improve silkworm eggs.For example, use "early male" (male moth of a silkworm) and "late female" (female moth of a dimorphic silkworm) to breed fine seeds; or use "Huangxiong" (male moth of a yellow silkworm) and "white moth" "Female" (female moth of white cocoon silkworm) to get the next generation of brown cocoon silkworm.This artificial cross-breeding technology is an important achievement of ancient biology in my country.The book also mentioned that lime water or salt brine should be used for "silkworm bath" before the silkworm eggs are saved, and then the weak ones will be eliminated after wind, rain, thunder, lightning and snow, and the strong silkworm eggs will be left behind.This is yet another example of applying artificial selection.In "Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication", Darwin took the ancient Chinese silkworm breeding technology as one of the examples of artificial selection and artificial variation. In ancient times, metal products were an important lever to improve social productivity, so metallurgy and metal processing were important industrial sectors in ancient times.In "Tiangong Kaiwu", Song Yingxing used three volumes of "smelting and casting", "hammer forging" and "hardware" to specifically describe this aspect of the content, supplementing an important gap in ancient Chinese technical literature. As early as the mid-Spring and Autumn period, my country invented pig iron smelting and casting technology. Since the Warring States Period, Qin and Han Dynasties, steelmaking technology has also reached a high level, and there have been many technological innovations in the Ming Dynasty.According to the records of "Tiangong Kaiwu", after pig iron is smelted, if wrought iron is to be remade, a pond will be set up next to the iron smelting furnace, and the iron will flow into the pond while it is hot, adding mud powder as a solvent, and several people will use willow Stir quickly with the stick.The mud powder contains silicate and iron oxide, which can accelerate the oxidation of carbon and other components in the pig iron, so that the pig iron becomes mature iron.This continuous operation method of using the iron smelting furnace and the frying pond in series saves the remelting process when frying iron, reduces time and cost, and improves production efficiency.The air blowing device used in iron smelting was the most advanced piston bellows in the world at that time, which could blow air continuously. Steel pouring is an important technology in the steelmaking method. It is to heat pig iron and wrought iron together in a furnace, and use the characteristics of high carbon content in pig iron and low carbon content in wrought iron to produce a high-quality steel.This method has been widely used in our country since the Northern and Southern Dynasties.Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan" in the Northern Song Dynasty described its operation process. Compared with the Song Dynasty, the steel pouring method recorded in "Tiangong Kaiwu" has the advantage that the pig iron is placed on the wrought iron instead of being trapped in the middle of the wrought iron; , increasing the chance of a contact reaction.The structure of the steelmaking furnaces in the Ming Dynasty was also more reasonable and easier to operate.The steel pouring method is an outstanding invention in the steelmaking art of the ancient world, which did not exist in ancient Europe. China is the first country in the world to make zinc-containing alloys and extract metal zinc.Metal zinc used to be called "water tin", "white tin" and "Japanese lead".In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, relatively pure zinc could be refined, and it was exported to foreign countries in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.Regarding the refining technology of zinc, the earliest and most detailed records are in "Tiangong Kaiwu".There is also a picture of the earliest production process of zinc from calamine in the book. "Tiangong Kaiwu" pointed out that zinc is volatile to gas at high temperature, and studied the process of refining copper-zinc alloy (brass) in different proportions, which is also a valuable record in the history of metallurgy. my country was the first to use coal in the world.Coal has been unearthed in iron smelting sites in the Han Dynasty.By the Ming Dynasty, the use of coal had become very common, and coal mining technology had reached a very high level. "Tiangong Kaiwu" systematically records the coal mining project for the first time.The book introduces the method of using thick bamboo pipes to lead the poisonous gas in the mine out of the ground, and also introduces the setting of "supports" (roadway support) to prevent the collapse of the mine, and solves two important safety problems in underground coal mining. The problem was very advanced and reasonable at the time. In "Tiangong Kaiwu", coal is divided into three categories according to its physical properties and uses: clear coal (large, flammable, and fire-resistant), crushed coal, and fine coal, which was a relatively advanced classification at the time. When Song Yingxing described the production process and production equipment, he tried his best to give detailed data, such as the yield per unit area, the oil yield of oil crops, the transplanting ratio of seedling fields, the mixing ratio of various alloys, and so on.The emphasis on experimental data makes "Tiangong Kaiwu" occupy a prominent position in terms of scientific nature. Song Yingxing not only extensively summarized and recorded my country's production experience and technology in his works, but also paid attention to discovering the essence from some phenomena, and made some achievements in natural science theory.For example, when discussing the variation of biological traits, he believed that it was the result of environmental influences, pointing out that "soil veins vary with age, and species vary with water and soil."That is to say, various factors of the soil change at different times, and plants with different genetics can adapt to changes in the soil environment.This insight provides a theoretical basis for the artificial breeding of new varieties.Another example, in the process of making cinnabar with mercury and sulfur, he pointed out that one catty of mercury (16 taels) can get 17 taels of cinnabar, and the extra part is "born from sulfur".This not only shows that he has realized that cinnabar is a compound of mercury and sulfur, but also has the germination of the idea of ​​"mass conservation". The content of "Tiangong Kaiwu" is rich and novel, and it is a comprehensive summary of the production knowledge and craftsmanship of the ancient Chinese people.After the book came out, it was quoted by scholars in the Ming and Qing Dynasties many times, and many of its contents were included in large-scale books such as "Integrated Ancient and Modern Books" and "Shoushi Tongkao" compiled by the government.However, due to the anti-Qing thoughts in the book, it was not included in the "Siku Quanshu".Since then, the book has gradually faded into obscurity.In the 1920s, Ding Wenjiang and other natural scientists noticed the importance of "Tiangong Kaiwu", but it was difficult to find the original, so they had to use the engraved edition sent back from Japan as the base for publication.Ding Wenjiang believed that "Tiangong Kaiwu" "is the most admirable scientific classic in the national history", and took the lead in researching Song Yingxing and "Tiangong Kaiwu".Since then, since the 18th century, Song Yingxing, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty who has not been widely noticed, and his "Kai Gong Kai Wu" have attracted the attention of domestic scholars. After 1949, the research on "Tiangong Kaiwu" received great attention, and many monographs and papers were published. In 1952, the Beijing Library obtained the first engraved edition of "Heavenly Works Kaiwu" from the collection of books donated by Lishi Mohailou in Ningbo. "Tiangong Kaiwu" has also had a wide range of influence abroad.The book flowed into Japan after the 17th century and became an excellent reading widely valued by all walks of life, which stimulated the rise of the study of "kaimono".In the eighth year of Meiwa (AD 1771), the Japanese version of "Tiangong Kaiwu" was published. This is the earliest version of the book published abroad. From the 18th to the 19th century, "Tiangong Kaiwu" was introduced to North Korea, and became a reference work for scholars of the Korean Real School. After many contents of "Tiangong Kaiwu" were introduced to Europe in the 19th century, it attracted the attention of Western scholars.French scholar Julien called the book "Encyclopedia of Technology", and Darwin called it "authoritative work".

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