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Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
(; 960–1279 CE) invented some
technological Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
advances in Chinese history, many of which came from talented statesmen drafted by the government through
imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...
s. The ingenuity of advanced
mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...
had a long tradition in China. The Song engineer Su Song admitted that he and his contemporaries were building upon the achievements of the ancients such as Zhang Heng (78–139), an astronomer, inventor, and early master of mechanical gears.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 466. The application of movable type printing advanced the already widespread use of
woodblock printing Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of textile printing, printing on textiles and later paper. Each page o ...
to educate and amuse
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
students and the masses. The application of new weapons employing the use of
gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
enabled the Song to ward off its militant enemies—the Liao,
Western Xia The Western Xia or the Xi Xia (), officially the Great Xia (), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as ''Mi-nyak''Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts and Tibetans, was a Tangut-led Buddhist imperial dynasty of China tha ...
, and Jin with weapons such as
cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
s—until its collapse to the
Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
forces of Kublai Khan in the late 13th century. Notable advances in
civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...
, nautics, and metallurgy were made in Song China, as well as the introduction of the
windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...
to China during the thirteenth century. These advances, along with the introduction of paper-printed money, helped revolutionize and sustain the
economy of the Song dynasty The economy of the Song dynasty (960–1279) in China was the wealthiest economy in the world during its time. The dynasty moved away from the top-down command economy of the Tang dynasty (618-907) and made extensive use of market mechanisms as na ...
.


Polymaths and mechanical engineering


Polymaths

Polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
geniuses Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...
—that is, people knowledgeable across an encyclopaedic range of topics—such as Shen Kuo (1031–1095) and Su Song (1020–1101) embodied the spirit of early empirical science and technology in the Song era. Shen is famous for discovering the concept of
true north True north (also called geodetic north or geographic north) is the direction along Earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole or True North Pole. Geodetic north differs from ''magnetic'' north (the direction a compass points toward t ...
and
magnetic declination Magnetic declination, or magnetic variation, is the angle on the horizontal plane between magnetic north (the direction the north end of a magnetized compass needle points, corresponding to the direction of the Earth's magnetic field lines) an ...
towards the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
by calculating a more accurate measurement of the astronomical meridian, and fixing the calculated position of the
pole star A pole star or polar star is a star, preferably bright, nearly aligned with the axis of a rotating astronomical body. Currently, Earth's pole stars are Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris), a bright magnitude-2 star aligned approximately with its ...
that had shifted over the centuries.Sivin, III, 22. This allowed sailors to navigate the seas more accurately with the magnetic needle
compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself wit ...
, also first described by Shen. Shen was made famous for his written description of Bi Sheng, the inventor of
movable type Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation m ...
printing. Shen was also interested in
geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...
, as he formulated a theory of geomorphology and
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
over time after making observations of strange natural phenomena.Sivin, III, 23.Needham, Volume 3, 618. Using contemporary knowledge of solar eclipses and lunar eclipses, he theorized that the sun and moon were spherical in shape, not flat, while expanding upon the reasoning of earlier Chinese astronomical theorists.Needham, Volume 3, 415–416. Along with his colleague Wei Pu in the Bureau of Astronomy, Shen used
cosmological Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...
hypotheses when describing the variations of planetary motion, including retrogradation.Sivin, III, 16.Sivin, III, 19. One of Shen's greatest achievements, aided by Wei Pu, was correcting the lunar error by diligently recording and plotting the moon's orbital path three times a night over a period of five years.Sivin, III, 18–19. Unfortunately Shen had many political rivals at court who were determined to sabotage his work. The court fully accepted their corrections to lunar and solar error, but only partially adopted Shen and Wei's corrected plotting of the
planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...
ary orbital paths and various speeds. Su Song, one of Shen Kuo's political rivals at court, wrote a famous
pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field an ...
treatise in 1070 known as the ''Bencao Tujing'', which included related subjects on
botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
,
zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...
, metallurgy, and mineralogy.Unschuld, 60.Wu, 5. This treatise included many medicinal applications, including the use of ephedrin as a pharmaceutical drug.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 446. He also was the author of a large celestial atlas of five different star maps,Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 569. and his extensive written and illustrative work in
cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...
helped solve a heated border dispute between the Song dynasty and its Khitan neighbor of the
Liao dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan language, Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that exi ...
.Wright, 213. However, Su was most famous for his hydraulic-powered astronomical clock tower, crowned with a mechanically driven armillary sphere, which was erected in the capital city of
Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the No ...
in the year 1088.Sivin, III, 31–32. Su's clock tower employed the
escapement An escapement is a mechanical linkage in mechanical watches and clocks that gives impulses to the timekeeping element and periodically releases the gear train to move forward, advancing the clock's hands. The impulse action transfers energy ...
mechanism two centuries before it was applied in
clock A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and t ...
s of Europe.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 445.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 448. Su's clock tower also featured the earliest known endless power-transmitting chain drive in the world, as outlined in his
horological Horology (; related to Latin '; ; , interfix ''-o-'', and suffix ''-logy''), . is the study of the measurement of time. Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, hourglasses, clepsydras, timers, time recorders, marine chronometers, and atomic clo ...
treatise of 1092.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 111. The cases of these two men display the eagerness of the Song in drafting highly skilled officials who were knowledgeable in the various sciences which could ultimately benefit the administration, the military, the economy, and the people. Intellectual men of letters like the versatile Shen Kuo dabbled in subjects as diverse as mathematics,
geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
,
geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...
,
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
,
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
,
medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
,
art criticism Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation but it is que ...
,
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
, military strategy, and
diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...
, among others.Ebrey, ''Cambridge Illustrated History of China'', 148. On a court mission to inspect a frontier region, Shen Kuo once made a
raised-relief map A raised-relief map, terrain model or embossed map is a three-dimensional representation, usually of terrain, materialized as a physical artifact. When representing terrain, the vertical dimension is usually exaggerated by a factor between fiv ...
of wood and glue-soaked sawdust to show the mountains, roads, rivers, and passes to other officials. He once computed the total number of possible situations on a game board, another time the longest possible military campaign given the limits of human carriers who would bring their own food and food for other soldiers.Ebrey, 162. Shen Kuo is also noted for improving the designs of the inflow clepsydra clock for a more efficient higher-order interpolation, the armillary sphere, the gnomon, and the astronomical sighting tube; increasing its width for better observation of the pole star and other celestial bodies.Sivin, III, 17. Shen Kuo also experimented with
camera obscura A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a small hole or lens at one side through which an image is projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole. ''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions such as a box or tent in w ...
, only a few decades after the first to do so,
Ibn al-Haytham Ḥasan Ibn al-Haytham, Latinized as Alhazen (; full name ; ), was a medieval mathematician, astronomer, and physicist of the Islamic Golden Age from present-day Iraq.For the description of his main fields, see e.g. ("He is one of the pri ...
(965–1039).Needham, Volume 4, Part 1, 98.


Odometer and south-pointing chariot

There were many other important figures in the Song era besides Shen Kuo and Su Song, many of whom contributed greatly to the technological innovations of the time period. Although the mechanically driven mile-marking device of the carriage-drawn odometer had been known in China since the ancient
Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
, the ''Song Shi'' (compiled in 1345) provides a much greater description and more in-depth view of the device than earlier Chinese sources. The ''Song Shi'' states:
The odometer. he mile-measuring carriageis painted red, with pictures of flowers and birds on the four sides, and constructed in two storeys, handsomely adorned with carvings. At the completion of every li, the wooden figure of a man in the lower storey strikes a drum; at the completion of every ten li, the wooden figure in the upper storey strikes a bell. The carriage-pole ends in a phoenix-head, and the carriage is drawn by four horses. The escort was formerly of 18 men, but in the 4th year of the Yongxi reign period (987) the emperor Taizong increased it to 30. In the 5th year of the Tian-Sheng reign-period (1027) the Chief Chamberlain Lu Daolong presented specifications for the construction of odometers as follows: ..ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 283">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 283.
What follows is a long dissertation made by the Chief Chamberlain Lu Daolong on the ranging measurements and sizes of wheels and gears. However, the concluding paragraph provides description at the end of how the device ultimately functions:
When the middle horizontal wheel has made 1 revolution, the carriage will have gone 1 li and the wooden figure in the lower story will strike the drum. When the upper horizontal wheel has made 1 revolution, the carriage will have gone 10 li and the figure in the upper storey will strike the bell. The number of wheels used, great and small, is in all, with a total of 285 teeth. Thus the motion is transmitted as if by the links of a chain, the "dog-teeth" mutually engaging with each other, so that by due revolution everything comes back to its original starting point.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 284.
In the Song period (and once during the earlier Tang period), the odometer device was combined with the
south-pointing chariot The south-pointing chariot (or carriage) was an ancient Chinese two-wheeled vehicle that carried a movable pointer to indicate the south, no matter how the chariot turned. Usually, the pointer took the form of a doll or figure with an outstretch ...
device, which was probably first invented by the ancient Chinese mechanical engineer Ma Jun (200–265). The south-pointing chariot was a wheeled vehicle that may, in some cases, have incorporated complex differential gears. (These are used now in nearly all modern automobiles to apply equal amounts of
torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...
to wheels rotating at different speeds while turning.) The differential gears could have been used to keep a mechanically operated pointer aiming in a fixed direction, to the south, compensating for whatever turns the chariot made. Other arrangements of gears could also have been used for the same purpose. The device used mechanical
dead reckoning In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating current position of some moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and then incorporating estimates of speed, heading direction, and course over elapsed time. ...
, rather than the magnetism of a
compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself wit ...
, in order to navigate and find one's directional bearings. Yan Su (; c. 961–1040), the Divisional Director in the Ministry of Works, recreated a south-pointing chariot device in 1027, and his specifications for creating the device were provided in the ''Song Shi''.Sivin, III, 31. This is of little surprise, as Yan was somewhat of a polymath like Shen Kuo and Su Song, improving the design of the clepsydra clock, writing on mathematical
harmonics A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the '' fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', ...
, theory about tides, etc. The ''Song Shi'' text records that it was the engineer Wu Deren who combined the south-pointing chariot and odometer in the year 1107:
In the first year of the Da-Guan reign period (1107), the Chamberlain Wu Deren presented specifications of the south-pointing carriage and the carriage with the li-recording drum (odometer). The two vehicles were made, and were first used that year at the great ceremony of the ancestral sacrifice.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 292.
The text then went on to describe in full detail the intricate mechanical design for the two devices combined into one. (See the article on the
south-pointing chariot The south-pointing chariot (or carriage) was an ancient Chinese two-wheeled vehicle that carried a movable pointer to indicate the south, no matter how the chariot turned. Usually, the pointer took the form of a doll or figure with an outstretch ...
).


Revolving repositories

Besides clockwork, hydraulic-powered armillary spheres, odometers, and mechanical compass vehicles, there were other impressive devices of mechanical engineering found during the Song dynasty. Although literary references for mechanical revolving repositories and book cases of Buddhist temples trace back to at least 823 during the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
,Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 549. they came to prominence during the Song dynasty. The invention of the revolving book case is considered to have happened earlier, and is credited to the layman Fu Xi in 544. Revolving bookcases were popularized in Buddhist monasteries during the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
under the reign of Emperor Taizu, who ordered the mass printing of the Buddhist
Tripiṭaka ''Tipiṭaka'' () or ''Tripiṭaka'' () or ''තිපිටක'' (), meaning "Triple Basket", is the traditional term for ancient collections of Buddhist sacred scriptures. The Pāli Canon maintained by the Theravāda tradition in ...
scriptures. Furthermore, the oldest surviving rotating book case dates to the Song period (12th century), found at the Longxing Monastery of
Zhengding Zhengding (), originally Zhending (), is a county in southwestern Hebei Province, North China, located approximately south of Beijing. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shijiazhuang, the capital of the province, and h ...
,
Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...
province.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, Plate CCLXIX, Fig. 683. However, there were nine prominently known revolving repositories during the Song period, and one of them was even featured in an illustration of Li Jie's book '' Yingzao Fashi'' ('Treatise on Architectural Methods') of 1103.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 551. The rotating repository of 1119 in Kaifu Temple near
Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a popul ...
had five wheels which all turned together, and the revolving repository at Nanchan Temple of Suzhou featured a brake system of some sort ( sinologists are still uncertain how this operated, since the earliest known curve brake bands appear in the time of
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
in Europe).Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 552. A later Muslim traveler Shah Rukh (son of the
Turco-Mongol The Turco-Mongol or Turko-Mongol tradition was an ethnocultural synthesis that arose in Asia during the 14th century, among the ruling elites of the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate. The ruling Mongol elites of these Khanates eventuall ...
warlord
Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...
) came to
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
China in 1420 during the reign of the
Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...
, and described a revolving repository in Ganzhou of Gansu province that he called a 'kiosque':
In another temple there is an octagonal kiosque, having from the top to the bottom fifteen stories. Each story contains apartments decorated with lacquer in the Cathayan manner, with ante-rooms and
verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''vera ...
s...It is entirely made of polished wood, and this again gilded so admirably that it seems to be of solid gold. There is a vault below it. An iron shaft fixed in the center of the kiosque traverses it from bottom to top, and the lower end of this works in an iron plate, whilst the upper end bears on strong supports in the roof of the edifice which contains this pavilion. Thus a person in the vault can with a trifling exertion cause this great kiosque to revolve. All the carpenters, smiths, and painters in the world would learn something in their trades by coming here!Needham Volume 4, Part 2, 554.


Textile machinery

In the field of manufacturing textiles, Joseph Needham (1900–1995) wrote that the Chinese invented the
quilling Quilling is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The paper is rolled, looped, curled, twisted, and otherwise manipulated to create shapes that make up d ...
-wheel by the 12th century,Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 107. and wrote the mechanical belt drive was known since the 11th century.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 108. Qin Guan's book ''Can Shu'' (Book of
Sericulture Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, '' Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively stud ...
) of 1090 described a
silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...
-reeling machine with an oscillating 'proto-flyer', as the apparatus of the main reel of which the silk is bound is wound and powered by treadle motion. In this device the ramping arm of the flyer was activated simultaneously by a subsidiary belt drive. This machine was portrayed in an illustration of the ''Geng Zhi Tu'' book of 1237,Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 107-108. and again a more elaborate illustration was provided in a 17th-century book. Qin Guan's 1090 book stated that:
The pulley (bearing the eccentric lug) is provided with a groove for the reception of the driving belt, an endless band which responds to the movement of the machine by continuously rotating the pulley.
An endless rope or cord may have been used in
Du Shi Du Shi (, d. 38'' Book of Later Han'', vol. 31Crespigny, 183.) was a Chinese hydrologist, inventor, mechanical engineer, metallurgist, and politician of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Du Shi is credited with being the first to apply hydraulic power ( ...
's device of waterwheels that powered
bellows A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtig ...
of the blast furnace in the 1st century (see
Wind Power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically ...
below).


Movable type printing

Printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...
technology in the form of
movable type Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation m ...
was invented by Bi Sheng (; 990–1051) in the 11th century. The work of Bi Sheng was written of by Shen Kuo in his '' Dream Pool Essays'' (Mengxi Bitan).Bowman, 105. Movable type, alongside
woodblock printing Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of textile printing, printing on textiles and later paper. Each page o ...
, increased literacy with the mass production of printed materials. This meant that parents could encourage sons to learn to read and write and therefore be able to take the
imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...
and become part of the growing learned bureaucracy. Movable type printing was further advanced in Joseon era Korea, where Bi Sheng's baked clay characters were scrapped for metal type characters in 1234.Ebrey, 238. The movable type of Bi Sheng was later improved upon by Wang Zhen (1290–1333), who invented wooden movable type c. 1298, and
Hua Sui Hua Sui (; 1439–1513 AD) was a Chinese scholar, engineer, inventor, and printer of Wuxi, Jiangsu province during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD). He belonged to the wealthy Hua family that was renowned throughout the region. Hua Sui is best ...
(1439–1513), who invented bronze movable type in China in 1490; yet the
Koreans Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply re ...
had metal movable type before Hua Sui, and even Wang Zhen had experimented with
tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
-metal movable type.Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 217. Although movable type and woodblock printing would remain the dominant types of printing methods for centuries, the European
printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...
(employing the
Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
screw A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to f ...
-press) was eventually adopted by East Asian countries. For printing, the mass production of
paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...
for writing was already well established in China. The papermaking process had been perfected and standardized by the
Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
court eunuch Cai Lun (50–121) in 105, and was in widespread use for writing even by the 3rd century.Needham, Volume 4, Part 1, 1. The Song dynasty was the world's first government in history to issue paper-printed money—the
banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...
(''see
Jiaozi ''Jiaozi'' (; ; pinyin: jiǎozi) are Chinese dumplings commonly eaten in China and other parts of East Asia. ''Jiaozi'' are folded to resemble Chinese sycee and have great cultural significance attached to them within China. ''Jiaozi'' are ...
and Huizi'').Ebrey, 156.
Toilet paper Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet tissue or bathroom tissue) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the anus and surrounding anal region of feces after defecation, and to clean the perineal area and external genitalia of ur ...
had been in general use in China since the 6th century, paper bags for preserving the flavor of tea leaves by the 7th century, and by the Song dynasty government officials who had done a great service were rewarded by the court with gifts of paper-printed money wrapped in paper
envelope An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card. Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one of three shapes: a rhombus, a sh ...
s.Needham, Volume 4, Part 1, 122. During the Song dynasty, independent and government sponsored industries were developed to meet the needs of a growing population that had reached over 100 million. For example, for the printing of paper money alone, the Song court established several government-run
mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...
s and factories in the cities of
Huizhou Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in central-east Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Heyu ...
,
Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...
,
Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...
, and Anqi.Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 48. The size of the workforce employed in these paper money factories was quite large, as it was recorded in 1175 that the factory at Hangzhou alone employed more than a thousand workers a day.


Gunpowder warfare


Flamethrower

Advances in military technology aided the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
in its defense against hostile neighbors to the north. The flamethrower found its origins in
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
-era Greece, employing Greek fire (a chemically complex, highly flammable petrol fluid) in a device with a siphon hose by the 7th century.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 77. The earliest reference to Greek Fire in China was made in 917, written by
Wu Renchen Wu Renchen (吳任臣, ) ( 1628 – 1689), with courtesy names of Zhiyi (志伊), Erqi (爾器) and Zhenghong (征鴻), and an art name of Tuoyuan (託園), was a Chinese historian, mathematician, politician, and writer during the Qing dynasty. Or ...
in his ''
Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms The ''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese title ''Shiguo Chunqiu'' (), is a history of the Ten Kingdoms that existed in southern China after the fall of the Tang Dynasty and before the reunification of China ...
''.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 80. In 919, the siphon projector-pump was used to spread the 'fierce fire oil' that could not be doused with water, as recorded by Lin Yu in his ''Wuyue Beishi'', hence the first credible Chinese reference to the flamethrower employing the chemical solution of Greek fire (see also Pen Huo Qi).Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 81. Lin Yu mentioned also that the 'fierce fire oil' derived ultimately from one of China's maritime contacts in the 'southern seas',
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...
(''Dashiguo'').Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 82. In the Battle of Langshan Jiang in 919, the naval fleet of the Wenmu King from Wuyue defeated a
Huainan Huainan () is a prefecture-level city with 3,033,528 inhabitants as of the 2020 census in north-central Anhui province, China. It is named for the Han-era Principality of Huainan. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the south, Lu'a ...
army from the Wu state; Wenmu's success was facilitated by the use of 'fire oil' ('huo you') to burn their fleet, signifying the first Chinese use of
gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
in a battle. The Chinese applied the use of double- piston
bellows A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtig ...
to pump petrol out of a single cylinder (with an upstroke and downstroke), lit at the end by a slow-burning gunpowder match to fire a continuous stream of flame. This device was featured in description and illustration of the ''
Wujing Zongyao The ''Wujing Zongyao'' (), sometimes rendered in English as the ''Complete Essentials for the Military Classics'', is a Chinese military compendium written from around 1040 to 1044. The book was compiled during the Northern Song dynasty by Z ...
'' military manuscript of 1044. In the suppression of the
Southern Tang Southern Tang () was a state in Southern China that existed during Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, which proclaimed itself to be the successor of the former Tang dynasty. The capital was located at Nanjing in present-day Jiangsu Province. ...
state by 976, early Song naval forces confronted them on the Yangtze River in 975. Southern Tang forces attempted to use flamethrowers against the Song navy, but were accidentally consumed by their own fire when violent winds swept in their direction.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 89.


Fire lance

Although the destructive effects of gunpowder were described in the earlier
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
by a
Daoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Tao ...
alchemist, the earliest-known existent written formulas for gunpowder come from the ''Wujing Zongyao'' text of 1044, which described explosive bombs hurled from catapults.Ebrey, Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 138. The earliest developments of the gun barrel and the projectile-fire
cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
were found in late Song China. The first art depiction of the Chinese '
fire lance The fire lance () was a gunpowder weapon and the ancestor of modern firearms. It first appeared in 10th–12th century China and was used to great effect during the Jin-Song Wars. It began as a small pyrotechnic device attached to a polearm weap ...
' (a combination of a temporary-fire flamethrower and gun) was from a Buddhist mural painting of Dunhuang, dated circa 950.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 224–225. These 'fire-lances' were widespread in use by the early 12th century, featuring hollowed bamboo poles as tubes to fire sand particles (to blind and choke), lead pellets, bits of sharp metal and pottery shards, and finally large gunpowder-propelled arrows and
rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
weaponry.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 220–221. Eventually, perishable bamboo was replaced with hollow tubes of cast iron, and so too did the terminology of this new weapon change, from 'fire-spear' ('huo qiang') to 'fire-tube' ('huo tong').Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 221. This ancestor to the gun was complemented by the ancestor to the cannon, what the Chinese referred to since the 13th century as the 'multiple bullets magazine erupter' ('bai zu lian zhu pao'), a tube of bronze or cast iron that was filled with about 100 lead balls.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 263–364. In 1132, at the
siege of De'an The siege of De'an (德安之戰) was fought as part of the Jin-Song Wars of China in 1132, during the Jin invasion of Hubei and Shaanxi. The battle between the besiegers, a group of rebels led by Li Heng and the Song Chinese defenders is impor ...
, Song Chinese forces used fire lances against the rival Jurchen-led Jin dynasty.


Gun

An early known depiction of a gun is a sculpture from a cave in
Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
, dating to 1128, that portrays a figure carrying a vase-shaped
bombard __NOTOC__ Bombard may refer to the act of carrying out a bombardment. It may also refer to: Individuals *Alain Bombard (1924–2005), French biologist, physician and politician; known for crossing the Atlantic on a small boat with no water or food ...
, firing flames and a cannonball. However, the oldest existent archaeological discovery of a metal barrel handgun is the
Heilongjiang hand cannon The Heilongjiang hand cannon or hand-gun is a bronze hand cannon manufactured no later than 1288 and is the world's oldest confirmed surviving firearm. It weighs 3.55 kg (7.83 pounds) and is 34 centimeters (13.4 inches) long. The Heilongjian ...
from the Chinese
Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
excavation, dated to 1288.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 293. The Chinese also discovered the explosive potential of packing hollowed cannonball shells with gunpowder. Written later by
Jiao Yu Jiao Yu () was a Chinese military general, philosopher, and writer of the Yuan dynasty and early Ming dynasty under Zhu Yuanzhang, who founded the dynasty and became known as the Hongwu Emperor. He was entrusted by Zhu as a leading artillery o ...
in his ''
Huolongjing The ''Huolongjing'' (; Wade-Giles: ''Huo Lung Ching''; rendered in English as ''Fire Drake Manual'' or ''Fire Dragon Manual''), also known as ''Huoqitu'' (“Firearm Illustrations”), is a Chinese military treatise compiled and edited by Jiao ...
'' (mid 14th century), this manuscript recorded an earlier Song-era cast-iron cannon known as the 'flying-cloud thunderclap eruptor' (fei yun pi-li pao). The manuscript stated that:
The shells are made of cast iron, as large as a bowl and shaped like a ball. Inside they contain half a pound of 'magic' gunpowder. They are sent flying towards the enemy camp from an eruptor; and when they get there a sound like a thunder-clap is heard, and flashes of light appear. If ten of these shells are fired successfully into the enemy camp, the whole place will be set ablaze...Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 264.
As noted before, the change in terminology for these new weapons during the Song period were gradual. The early Song cannons were at first termed the same way as the Chinese
trebuchet A trebuchet (french: trébuchet) is a type of catapult that uses a long arm to throw a projectile. It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder. The design of a trebuchet allows it to launch projectiles of greater weight ...
catapult. A later
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
scholar known as Mao Yuanyi would explain this use of terminology and true origins of the cannon in his text of the ''
Wubei Zhi The ''Wubei Zhi'' (; ''Treatise on Armament Technology'' or ''Records of Armaments and Military Provisions''), also commonly known by its Japanese translated name Bubishi, is a military book in Chinese history. It was compiled in 1621 by Mao Yu ...
'', written in 1628:
The Song people used the turntable trebuchet, the single-pole trebuchet and the squatting-tiger trebuchet. They were all called 'fire trebuchets' because they were used to project fire-weapons like the (fire-)ball, (fire-)falcon, and (fire-)lance. They were the ancestors of the cannon.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 22.


Land mine

The 14th century ''
Huolongjing The ''Huolongjing'' (; Wade-Giles: ''Huo Lung Ching''; rendered in English as ''Fire Drake Manual'' or ''Fire Dragon Manual''), also known as ''Huoqitu'' (“Firearm Illustrations”), is a Chinese military treatise compiled and edited by Jiao ...
'' was also one of the first Chinese texts to carefully describe to the use of explosive
land mine A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...
s, which had been used by the late Song Chinese against the Mongols in 1277, and employed by the
Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...
afterwards. The innovation of the detonated land mine was accredited to one Luo Qianxia in the campaign of defense against the Mongol invasion by Kublai Khan,Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 192. Later Chinese texts revealed that the Chinese land mine employed either a rip cord or a motion booby trap of a pin releasing falling weights that rotated a steel flint wheel, which in turn created sparks that ignited the train of
fuses Fuse or FUSE may refer to: Devices * Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current ** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles * Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protec ...
for the land mines.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 199.


Rocket

Furthermore, the Song employed the earliest known gunpowder-propelled
rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...
s in warfare during the late 13th century,Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 477. its earliest form being the archaic
fire arrow Fire arrows were one of the earliest forms of weaponized gunpowder, being used from the 9th century onward. Not to be confused with earlier incendiary arrow projectiles, the fire arrow was a gunpowder weapon which receives its name from the tra ...
. When the Northern Song capital of Kaifeng fell to the Jurchens in 1126, it was written by Xia Shaozeng that 20,000 fire arrows were handed over to the Jurchens in their conquest.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 154. An even earlier Chinese text of the ''
Wujing Zongyao The ''Wujing Zongyao'' (), sometimes rendered in English as the ''Complete Essentials for the Military Classics'', is a Chinese military compendium written from around 1040 to 1044. The book was compiled during the Northern Song dynasty by Z ...
'' ("Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques"), written in 1044 by the Song scholars Zeng Kongliang and Yang Weide, described the use of three spring or triple bow arcuballista that fired arrow bolts holding gunpowder packets near the head of the arrow. Going back yet even farther, the ''Wu Li Xiao Shi'' (1630, second edition 1664) of Fang Yizhi stated that fire arrows were presented to
Emperor Taizu of Song Emperor Taizu of Song (21 March 927 – 14 November 976), personal name Zhao Kuangyin, courtesy name Yuanlang, was the founder and first emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 960 until his death in 976. Formerly a distinguish ...
(r. 960–976) in 960.Partington, 240.


Civil engineering

In ancient China, the sluice gate, the canal lock, and flash lock had been known since at least the 1st century BCE (as sources then alluded that they were not new innovations), during the ancient
Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
(202 BCE–220 CE).Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 344–350. During the Song dynasty that the
pound lock A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...
was first invented in 984 by the Assistant Commissioner of Transport for
Huainan Huainan () is a prefecture-level city with 3,033,528 inhabitants as of the 2020 census in north-central Anhui province, China. It is named for the Han-era Principality of Huainan. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the south, Lu'a ...
, the engineer Qiao Weiyue.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 350. During his day, the Chinese became concerned with a
barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
traffic problem at the Shanyang Yundao section of the Grand Canal, as ships often became wrecked while passing the double slipways and were robbed of the tax grain by local
bandit Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, and murder, either as an ...
s. The historical text of the ''Song Shi'' (compiled in 1345) stated that in 984:
Qiao Weiyue also built five double slipways (lit.
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
s) between Anbei and Huaishi (or, the quays on the Huai waterfront). Each of these had ten lanes for the barges to go up and down. Their cargoes of imperial tax-grain were heavy, and as they were passing over they often came to grief and were damaged or wrecked, with loss of the grain and peculation by a cabal of the workers in league with local bandits hidden nearby. Qiao Weiyue therefore first ordered the construction of two gates at the third dam along the West River (near Huaiyin). The distance between the two gates was rather more than 50 paces (250 ft) and the whole space was covered over with a great roof like a shed. The gates were 'hanging gates'; (when they were closed) the water accumulated like a tide until the required level was reached, and then when the time came it was allowed to flow out. He also built a horizontal bridge to protect their foundations. After this was done (to all the double slipways) the previous corruption was completely eliminated, and the passage of the boats went on without the slightest impediment.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 351.
This practice became widespread, and was even written of by the Chinese polymath scientist Shen Kuo in his '' Dream Pool Essays'' (1088).Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 351–352. Shen Kuo wrote that the establishment of pound lock gates at Zhenzhou (presumably Kuozhou along the
Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
) during the Tian Sheng reign period (1023–1031) freed up the use of five hundred working laborers at the canal each year, amounting to the saving of up to 1,250,000 strings of cash annually.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 352. He wrote that the old method of hauling boats over limited the size of the cargo to 300 ''tan'' of rice per vessel (roughly ), but after the pound locks were introduced, boats carrying 400 ''tan'' (roughly ) could then be used. Shen wrote that by his time (c. 1080) government boats could carry cargo weights of up to 700 ''tan'' (), while private boats could hold as much as 800 bags, each weighing 2 ''tan'' (i.e. ). Shen Kuo also noted that proper use of sluice gates at irrigation canals was the best means of achieving success in the
silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...
fertilization Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a new individual organism or offspring and initiate its development. Proce ...
method.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 230–231. However, agricultural and transportation needs had the potential to conflict with one another. This is best represented in the ''Dongpo Zhilin'' of the governmental official and famous poet
Su Shi Su Shi (; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese calligrapher, essayist, gastronomer, pharmacologist, poet, politician, and travel writer during the Song dynasty. A major personality of ...
(1037–1101), who wrote about two decades before Shen Kuo in 1060:
Several years ago the government built sluice gates for the silt fertilization method, though many people disagreed with the plan. In spite of all opposition it was carried through, yet it had little success. When the torrents on Fan Shan were abundant, the gates were kept closed, and this caused damage (by flooding) of fields, tombs, and houses. When the torrents subsided in the late autumn the sluices were opened, and thus the fields were irrigated with silt-bearing water, but the deposit was not as thick as what the peasants call 'steamed cake silt' (so they were not satisfied). Finally the government got tired of it and stopped. In this connection I remember reading the ''Jiayipan'' of Bai Juyi (the poet) in which he says that he once had a position as Traffic Commissioner. As the Bian River was getting so shallow that it hindered the passage of boats he suggested that the sluice gates along the river and canal should be closed, but the Military Governor pointed out that the river was bordered on both sides by fields which supplied army grain, and if these were denied irrigation (water and silt) because of the closing of the sluice gates, it would lead to shortages in army grain supplies. From this I learnt that in the
Tang period The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
there were government fields and sluice gates on both sides of the river, and that irrigation was carried on (continuously) even when the water was high. If this could be done (successfully) in old times, why can it not be done now? I should like to enquire further about the matter from experts.Needham Volume 4, Part 3, 230.
Although the drydock had been known in Ptolemaic Egypt since the late 3rd century BCE (by a
Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
n; not used again until
Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beauf ...
in 1495), the scientist and statesman Shen Kuo wrote of its use in China to repair boats during the 11th century. In his '' Dream Pool Essays'' (1088), Shen Kuo wrote:
At the beginning of the dynasty (c. 965) the two Zhe provinces (now
Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...
and southern
Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...
) presented (to the throne) two dragon ships each more than (60.00 m/200 ft) in length.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 660, 200 feet. The upper works included several decks with palatial cabins and saloons, containing
throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the mona ...
s and couches all ready for imperial tours of inspection. After many years, their hulls decayed and needed repairs, but the work was impossible as long as they were afloat. So in the Xi-Ning reign period (1068 to 1077) a palace official Huang Huaixin suggested a plan. A large basin was excavated at the north end of the Jinming Lake capable of containing the dragon ships, and in it heavy crosswise beams were laid down upon a foundation of pillars. Then (a breach was made) so that the basin quickly filled with water, after which the ships were towed in above the beams. The (breach now being closed) the water was pumped out by wheels so that the ships rested quite in the air. When the repairs were complete, the water was let in again, so that the ships were afloat once more (and could leave the dock). Finally the beams and pillars were taken away, and the whole basin covered over with a great roof so as to form a hangar in which the ships could be protected from the elements and avoid the damage caused by undue exposure.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 660.


Nautics


Background

The Chinese of the Song dynasty were adept
sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...
s who traveled to ports of call as far away as
Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dyna ...
Egypt. They were well equipped for their journeys abroad, in large seagoing vessels steered by stern-post
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...
s and guided by the directional
compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself wit ...
. Even before Shen Kuo and Zhu Yu had described the mariner's magnetic needle compass, the earlier military treatise of the ''Wujing Zongyao'' in 1044 had also described a thermoremanence compass. This was a simple iron or steel needle that was heated, cooled, and placed in a bowl of water, producing the effect of weak magnetization, although its use was described only for navigation on land and not at sea.Sivin, III, 21.


Literature

There were plenty of descriptions in Chinese literature of the time on the operations and aspects of seaports, maritime merchant shipping, overseas trade, and the sailing ships themselves. In 1117, the author Zhu Yu wrote not only of the magnetic compass for navigation, but also a hundred-foot line with a hook that was cast over the deck of the ship, used to collect mud samples at the bottom of the sea in order for the crew to determine their whereabouts by the smell and appearance of the mud.Needham, Volume 4, Part 1, 279. In addition, Zhu Yu wrote of watertight bulkhead compartments in the hulls of ships to prevent sinking if damaged, the for-and-aft lug, taut mat sails, and the practice of beating-to-windward.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 463. Confirming Zhu Yu's writing on Song dynasty ships with bulkhead hull compartments, in 1973 a long, wide Song trade ship from c. 1277 was dredged from the water near the southern coast of China that contained 12 bulkhead compartment rooms in its hull.Ebrey, 159. Maritime culture during the Song period was enhanced by these new technologies, along with the allowance of greater river and canal traffic. All around there was a bustling display of government run grain-tax transport ships, tribute vessels and barges, private shipping vessels, a multitude of busy fishers in small fishing boats, along with the rich enjoying the comforts of their luxurious private
yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
s. Besides Zhu Yu there were other prominent Chinese authors of maritime interests as well. In 1178, the
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
customs officer Zhou Qufei, who wrote in '' Lingwai Daida'' about the
Arab slave trade History of slavery in the Muslim world refers to various periods in which a slave trade has been carried out under the auspices of Arab peoples or Arab countries. Examples include: * Trans-Saharan slave trade * Indian Ocean slave trade * Barbary s ...
of Africans as far as
Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
,Levathes, 37. stated this about Chinese seagoing ships, their sizes, durability at sea, and the lives of those on board:
The ships which sail the southern sea and south of it are like houses. When their sails are spread they are like great clouds in the sky. Their
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...
s are several tens of feet long. A single ship carries several hundred men, and has in the stores a year's supply of grain. Pigs are fed and wine
fermented Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...
on board. There is no account of dead or living, no going back to the mainland when once the people have set forth upon the caerulean sea. At daybreak, when the gong sounds aboard the ship, the animals can drink their fill, and crew and passengers alike forget all dangers. To those on board everything is hidden and lost in space, mountains, landmarks, and the countries of foreigners. The shipmaster may say 'To make such and such a country, with a favourable wind, in so many days, we should sight such and such a mountain, (then) the ship must steer in such and such a direction'. But suddenly the wind may fall, and may not be strong enough to allow of the sighting of the mountain on the given day; in such a case, bearings may have to be changed. And the ship (on the other hand) may be carried far beyond (the landmark) and may lose its bearings. A gale may spring up, the ship may be blown hither and thither, it may meet with shoals or be driven upon hidden rocks, then it may be broken to the very roofs (of its deckhouses). A great ship with heavy cargo has nothing to fear from the high seas, but rather in shallow water it will come to grief.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 464.
The later Muslim Moroccan Berber traveler Ibn Battuta (1304–1377) wrote in greater detail about Chinese sailing vessels than Zhou Qufei. He noted that in and around the seas of China, only the distinct Chinese junks were used to sail the waters.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 469 He noted that the largest type of Chinese ships boasted a total of twelve sailing masts, while the smaller ones had three. On Chinese ships and their crews, Ibn Battuta stated:
The sails of these vessels are made of strips of
bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...
, woven into the form of matting. The sailors never lower them (while sailing, but simply) change the direction of them according to whether the wind is blowing from one side or the other. When the ships cast anchor, the sails are left standing in the wind. Each of these ships is worked by 1,000 men, 600
sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...
s and 400 marines, among whom there are archers and
crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fire ...
men furnished with shields, and men who throw (pots of)
naptha Naphtha ( or ) is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture. Mixtures labelled ''naphtha'' have been produced from natural gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and the distillation of coal tar and peat. In different industries and regions '' ...
. Each great vessel is followed by three others, a 'nisfi', a 'thoulthi' and a 'roubi' (f endnote: a
pinnace Pinnace may refer to: * Pinnace (ship's boat), a small vessel used as a tender to larger vessels among other things * Full-rigged pinnace The full-rigged pinnace was the larger of two types of vessel called a pinnace in use from the sixteenth c ...
, a small boat fitted with a rudder, and a rowing boat). These vessels are nowhere made except in the city of Zayton ( Quanzhou) in China, or at Sin-Kilan, which is the same as Sin al-Sin (
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
).
Ibn Battuta then went on describing the means of their construction, and accurate depictions of separate bulkhead compartments in the hulls of the ships:
This is the manner in which they are made; two (parallel) walls of very thick wooden (planking) are raised, and across the space between them are placed very thick planks (the bulkheads) secured longitudinally and transversely by means of large nails, each three ells in length. When these walls have thus been built, the lower deck is fitted in, and the ship is launched before the upper works are finished. The pieces of wood, and those parts of the hull, near the water(-line) serve for the crew to wash and to accomplish their natural necessities. On the sides of these pieces of wood also the oars are found; they are as big as masts, and are worked by 10 or 15 men (each), who row standing up.
Although Ibn Battuta had mentioned the size of the sailing crew, he described the sizes of the vessels further, as well as the lavish merchant cabins on board:
The vessels have four decks, upon which there are cabins and saloons for merchants. Several of these 'mysria' contain cupboards and other conveniences; they have doors which can be locked, and keys for their occupiers. (The merchants) take with them their wives and concubines. It often happens that a man can be in his cabin without others on board realizing it, and they do not see him until the vessel has arrived in some port. The sailors also have their children in such cabins; and (in some parts of the ship) they sew garden herbs, vegetables, and ginger in wooden tubs. The Commander of such a vessel is a great
Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
; when he lands, the archers and the Ethiops (i.e. black slaves, yet in China these men-at-arms would have most likely been Malays) march before him bearing javelins and swords, with drums beating and trumpets blowing. When he arrives at the guesthouse where he is to stay, they set up their lances on each side of the gate, and mount guard throughout his visit.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 470.


Paddle-wheel ships

During the Song dynasty there was also great amount of attention given to the building of efficient automotive vessels known as paddle wheel craft. The latter had been known in China perhaps since the 5th century,Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 31. and certainly by the
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
in 784 with the successful paddle wheel warship design of Li Gao. In 1134, the Deputy Transport Commissioner of
Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...
, Wu Ge, had paddle wheel warships constructed with a total of nine wheels and others with thirteen wheels.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 421. However, there were paddle wheel ships in the Song that were so large that 12 wheels were featured on each side of the vessel.Morton, 104. In 1135 the famous general
Yue Fei Yue Fei ( zh, t=岳飛; March 24, 1103 – January 28, 1142), courtesy name Pengju (), was a Chinese military general who lived during the Southern Song dynasty and a national hero of China, known for leading Southern Song forces in the wa ...
(1103–1142) ambushed a force of rebels under Yang Yao, entangling their paddle wheel craft by filling a lake with floating weeds and rotting logs, thus allowing them to board their ships and gain a strategic victory. In 1161,
gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
bombs and paddle wheel crafts were used effectively by the Song Chinese at the Battle of Tangdao and the
Battle of Caishi The Battle of Caishi (, approximately ) was a major naval engagement of the Jin–Song Wars of China that took place on November 26–27, 1161. It ended with a decisive Song victory, aided by their use of gunpowder weapons. Soldiers under the ...
along the
Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
River against the Jurchen Jin dynasty during the
Jin–Song Wars The Jin–Song Wars were a series of conflicts between the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty (1115–1234) and the Han-led Song dynasty (960–1279). In 1115, Jurchen tribes rebelled against their overlords, the Khitan-led Liao dynasty (916–1125), ...
. The Jurchen invasion, led by Wanyan Liang (the Prince of Hailing), failed to conquer the Southern Song. In 1183, the
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
naval commander Chen Tang was given a reward for constructing ninety paddle wheel craft and other warships. In 1176,
Emperor Xiaozong of Song Emperor Xiaozong of Song (27 November 1127 – 28 June 1194), personal name Zhao Shen, courtesy name Yuanyong, was the 11th emperor of the Song dynasty of China and the second emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He started his reign in 1 ...
(r. 1162–1189) issued an imperial order to the Nanjing official Guo Gang (who desired to convert damaged paddle wheel craft into junk ships and galleys) not to limit the number of paddle wheel craft in the navy's dockyards, since he had high esteem for the fast assault craft that won the Chinese victory at Caishi.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 422. However, paddle wheel craft found other uses besides effective assaults in warfare. The
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
or
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
Commissioner of Merchant Shipping for Quanzhou, the Muslim Pu Shougeng (who served from 1250 to 1275) noted that paddle wheel ships were also used by the Chinese as
tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
s for
towing Towing is coupling two or more objects together so that they may be pulled by a designated power source or sources. The towing source may be a motorized land vehicle, vessel, animal, or human, and the load being anything that can be pulled. Th ...
.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 423.


Metallurgy

The art of metallurgy during the Song dynasty built upon the efforts of earlier Chinese dynasties, while new methods were incorporated. The Chinese of the ancient
Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
(202 BCE–220 CE) figured out how to create steel by smelting together the
carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon mak ...
intermediary of
wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...
and
cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
by the 1st century BCE.Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 563 gGernet, 69.Morton, 287. However, there were two new Chinese innovations of the Song dynasty to create steel during the 11th century. This was the "berganesque" method that produced inferior, inhomogeneous steel, while the other was a precursor to the modern
Bessemer process The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open hearth furnace. The key principle is removal of impurities from the iron by oxidation ...
that utilized partial decarbonization via repeated forging under a cold blast.Hartwell, 53–54. The per capita
iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...
output rose sixfold between 806 and 1078, and by 1078 Song China was producing in weight of iron per year.Ebrey et al., 158. The historian Donald B. Wagner points out that this estimate was based upon the total number of government tax
receipt A receipt (also known as a packing list, packing slip, packaging slip, (delivery) docket, shipping list, delivery list, bill of the parcel, manifest, or customer receipt) is a document acknowledging that a person has received money or propert ...
s on iron from the various iron-producing prefectures in the empire.Wagner, 177. In the smelting process of using huge
bellows A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtig ...
driven by
hydraulics Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...
(i.e. large waterwheels), massive amounts of charcoal were used in the production process, leading to a wide range of
deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...
in northern China.Ebrey, ''Cambridge Illustrated History of China'', 144. However, by the end of the 11th century the Chinese discovered that using bituminous coke could replace the role of charcoal, hence many acres of forested land and prime timber in northern China were spared by the steel and iron industry with this switch of resources to
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...
. This massive increase in output of the iron and steel industry in China was the result of the Song dynasty's needs for military expansion, private commercial demands for metal products such as cooking utensils found in the market and a wide variety of agricultural tools, and by new canals linking major centers of iron and steel production to the capital city's bustling market.Embree, 339. The many uses for manufactured iron products in the Song period included iron for weapons,Wagner, 175. implements, coins, architectural elements, musical bells, artistic statues, and components for machinery such as the
hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...
-powered
trip hammer A trip hammer, also known as a tilt hammer or helve hammer, is a massive powered hammer. Traditional uses of trip hammers include pounding, wikt:decorticate, decorticating and polishing of grain in agriculture. In mining, trip hammers were used f ...
, which had been known since the 1st century BCE during the ancient Han dynasty,Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 390–392. and used extensively during the Song.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 393. Due to the enormous amount of production, the economic historian Robert Hartwell noted that Chinese iron and coal production in the following 12th century was equal to if not greater than England's iron and coal production in the early phase of the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
during the late 18th century.Embree, 712. However, the Chinese of the Song period did not harness the energy potential of coal in ways that would generate power mechanically, as in the later Industrial Revolution that would originate in the
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
.China. (2007)
In ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
From Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved on 2007-06-28
There were certain administrative prefectures during the Song era where the Chinese
iron industry Ferrous metallurgy is the metallurgy of iron and its alloys. The earliest surviving prehistoric iron artifacts, from the 4th millennium BC in Egypt, were made from meteoritic iron-nickel. It is not known when or where the smelting of iron from ...
was mostly concentrated. For example, the poet and statesman
Su Shi Su Shi (; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese calligrapher, essayist, gastronomer, pharmacologist, poet, politician, and travel writer during the Song dynasty. A major personality of ...
wrote a
memorial to the throne A memorial to the throne () was an official communication to the Emperor of China. They were generally careful essays in Classical Chinese and their presentation was a formal affair directed by government officials. Submission of a memorial was a ...
in 1078 that specified 36 ironwork smelters, each employing a work force of several hundred people, in the Liguo Industrial Prefecture (under his governance while he administered
Xuzhou Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...
).Wagner, 178–179.


Wind power

The effect of wind power was appreciated in China long before the introduction of the
windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...
during the Song period. It is uncertain when the ancient Chinese used their very first inflatable
bellows A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtig ...
as wind-blowing machines for kilns and furnaces. They existed perhaps as far back as the
Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
(1600–1050 BCE), due to the intricate bronze casting technology of the period. They were certainly used since the advent of the blast furnace in China from the 6th century BCE onwards, since
cast-iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
farm tools and weapons were widespread by the 5th century BCE.Ebrey, 30. In 31, the
Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
governmental
prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...
and engineer
Du Shi Du Shi (, d. 38'' Book of Later Han'', vol. 31Crespigny, 183.) was a Chinese hydrologist, inventor, mechanical engineer, metallurgist, and politician of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Du Shi is credited with being the first to apply hydraulic power ( ...
(d. 38) employed the use of horizontal waterwheels and a complex mechanical gear system to operate the large bellows that heated the blast furnace in smelting
cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 370. Bellows continued in use for purposes of metallurgy, but other sources of wind power were discovered and harnessed. The Han dynasty artisan Ding Huan ( fl. 180) not only pioneered the invention of the cardan suspension, but also the rotary fan,Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 33. which could be used as a simple air conditioner.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 233. This employed seven wheels, each about 3 m (10 ft) in diameter and manually powered, but by the Tang dynasty (618–907) palaces featured water-powered rotary fans for air conditioning, and in the Song dynasty, states Needham, "the refrigerant effects of artificial draught seem to have been appreciated ever more widely."Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 151. There was also an intricate Chinese rotary fan
winnowing machine Winnowing is a process by which chaff is separated from grain. It can also be used to remove pests from stored grain. Winnowing usually follows threshing in grain preparation. In its simplest form, it involves throwing the mixture into t ...
depicted in Wang Zhen's agricultural treatise of the ''Nong Shu'' of 1313 (although the earliest depiction of a winnowing machine was from a Han dynasty tomb model dated from the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century).Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 118.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, Plate CLVI. After these innovations, the windmill was finally introduced to China in the early 13th century via the Jin dynasty in northern China, during the late Song dynasty. The
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
scholar
Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari ( fa, علی ابن سهل ربن طبری ) (c. 838 – c. 870 CE; also given as 810–855 or 808–864 also 783–858), was a Persian Muslim scholar, physician and psychologist, who produced one of ...
wrote c. 850 that the earlier
Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Umar ibn al-Khattab ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...
was murdered in 644 by the technician Abu Lu'lu'a, who claimed to construct mills driven by the power of wind.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 556. More reliable than this account were the
windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...
s of the Banu Musa brothers (850 to 870), while there are also several authors confirming the windmills of
Sistan Sistān ( fa, سیستان), known in ancient times as Sakastān ( fa, سَكاستان, "the land of the Saka"), is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran ( Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and Southern Afghanistan ( ...
(
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
), written of by Abu Ishaq al-Istakhri and Abu al-Qasim ibn Hauqal.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 557. The northern Chinese under the rule of the Jurchen Jin dynasty became acquainted with the windmills of the Islamic world in the early 13th century. This is seen in an account of the ''Shu Zhai Lao Xue Cong Tan'' (Collected Talks of the Learned Old Man of the Shu Studio), written by Sheng Ruozi.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 560. It read:
In the collection of the private works of the 'Placid Retired Scholar' (Zhan Ran Ju Shi), there are ten poems on Hechong Fu. One of these describes the scenery of that place ��and says that 'the stored wheat is milled by the rushing wind and the rice is pounded fresh by hanging pestles. The westerners (i.e.
Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
) there use
windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications, in some ...
s (''feng mo'') just as the people of the south (i.e. the Southern Song) use
watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...
s (''shui mo''). And when they pound they have the pesltes hanging vertically'.
Here Sheng Ruozi quotes a written selection about windmills from the 'Placid Retired Scholar', who is actually
Yelü Chucai Yelü Chucai (; mn, Urtu Saqaltu "Longbeard", written in Chinese characters as "", July 24, 1190 – June 20, 1244), courtesy name Jinqing (), was a Khitan statesman from the imperial clan of the Liao dynasty, who became a vigorous adviser and ...
(1190–1244), a prominent Jin and Yuan statesman (after the Jin fell in 1234 to the
Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
). The passage refers to Yelü's journey to
Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turk ...
(modern
Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
) in 1219, and Hechong Fu is actually Samarkand (in modern
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
). Afterwards, the Chinese applied the 'fore-and-aft' sail riggings of typical Chinese junk ships to horizontal windmills.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 561. These windmills were used to operate the square-pallet chain pumps used in Chinese
irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
since the ancient
Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 558. Windmills of this nature were still in use during modern times in
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
and along the
Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
River. The first European to view Chinese windmills was Jan Nieuhoff, who spotted them in
Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...
while traveling along the Grand Canal in 1656, as part of the
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...
to
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. The first European windmills written of were those of Dean Herbert of East Anglia in 1191, who competed with the mills of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 555. After the windmill, wind power applications in other devices and even vehicles were found in China. There was the '
sailing carriage Land sailing, also known as sand yachting, land yachting or dirtboating, is the act of moving across landform, land in a wheeled vehicle powered by wind through the use of a sail. The term comes from analogy with (water) sailing. Historically, ...
' that appeared by at least the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
in the 16th century (although it could have been known beforehand). European travelers to China in the late 16th century were surprised to find large single-wheel passenger and cargo wheelbarrows not only pulled by mule or horse, but also mounted with ship-like masts and sails to help push them along by the wind.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 274–276.


Archaeology

During the early half of the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
(960–1279), the study of
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
developed out of the antiquarian interests of the educated gentry and their desire to revive the use of ancient vessels in state rituals and ceremonies.Julius Thomas Fraser and Francis C. Haber, ''Time, Science, and Society in China and the West'' (Amherst:
University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts a ...
, , 1986), p. 227.
This and the belief that ancient vessels were products of 'sages' and not common people was criticized by Shen Kuo, who discussed metallurgy, optics, astronomy, geometry, and ancient music measures in addition to archeology. His contemporary Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) compiled an analytical catalogue of ancient rubbings on stone and bronze. In accordance with the beliefs of the later
Leopold von Ranke Leopold von Ranke (; 21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of ...
(1795–1886), some Song gentry—such as Zhao Mingcheng (1081–1129)—valued archaeological evidence over historical works written after the fact, finding written records unreliable when they failed to match with the archaeological discoveries.Rudolph, R.C. "Preliminary Notes on Sung Archaeology", ''The Journal of Asian Studies'' (Volume 22, Number 2, 1963): 169–177. Hong Mai (1123–1202) used ancient Han dynasty era vessels to debunk what he found to be fallacious descriptions of Han vessels in the ''Bogutu'' archaeological catalogue compiled during the latter half of Huizong's reign (1100–1125).


Geology and climatology

Shen Kuo also made hypotheses in regards to
geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...
and
climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , ''-logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of study ...
in his '' Dream Pool Essays'' of 1088. Shen believed that land was reshaped over time due to perpetual
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...
, uplift, and deposition of
silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...
, and cited his observance of horizontal strata of fossils embedded in a cliffside at Taihang as evidence that the area was once the location of an ancient seashore that had shifted hundreds of miles east over an enormous span of time.Alan Kam-leung Chan, Gregory K. Clancey, and Hui-Chieh Loy, ''Historical Perspectives on East Asian Science, Technology and Medicine'' (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 2002, ) p. 15. Shen also wrote that since petrified bamboos were found underground in a dry northern climate zone where they had never been known to grow, climates naturally shifted geographically over time.Joseph Needham, ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth'' (Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd., 1986) p. 618.


See also

* History of science and technology in China *
List of Chinese discoveries List of Chinese inventions, Aside from many original inventions, the Zhonghua minzu, Chinese were also early original pioneers in the discovery of natural phenomena which can be found in the human body, the environment of the Earth, world, and th ...
*
List of Chinese inventions China has been the source of many innovations, scientific discoveries and inventions. This includes the '' Four Great Inventions'': papermaking, the compass, gunpowder, and printing (both woodblock and movable type). The list below contains th ...
*
List of inventions and discoveries of Neolithic China China has been the source of many innovations, scientific discoveries and inventions. Below is an alphabetical list of inventions and discoveries made by Neolithic cultures of China and those of its prehistorical early Bronze Age before the pal ...
* Science and technology of the Han dynasty


References


Citations


Sources

* Bowman, John S. (2000). ''Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture''. New York: Columbia University Press. * Ebrey, Walthall, Palais, (2006). ''East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. * Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (1999). ''The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press''. (hardback); (paperback). * Embree, Ainslie Thomas (1997). ''Asia in Western and World History: A Guide for Teaching''. Armonk: ME Sharpe, Inc. * Gernet, Jacques (1982). ''A History of Chinese Civilization''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Hartwell, Robert (1966). ''Markets, Technology and the Structure of Enterprise in the Development of the Eleventh Century Chinese Iron and Steel Industry''. Journal of Economic History 26. * Levathes (1994). ''When China Ruled the Seas''. New York: Simon & Schuster. . * Morton, Scott and Charlton Lewis (2005). ''China: Its History and Culture: Fourth Edition''. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. * Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 3; Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 1, Physics''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 3, Civil Engineering and Nautics''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 1, Paper and Printing''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7, Military Technology, the Gunpowder Epic''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Partington, James Riddick (1960). ''A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder''. Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd. * Sivin, Nathan (1995). ''Science in Ancient China''. Brookfield, Vermont: VARIORUM, Ashgate Publishing. * Unschuld, Paul U. (2003). ''Nature, Knowledge, Imagery in an Ancient Chinese Medical Text''. Berkeley: University of California Press. * Wagner, Donald B. "The Administration of the Iron Industry in Eleventh-Century China", ''Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient'' (Volume 44 2001): 175-197. * Wright, David Curtis (2001) ''The History of China''. Westport: Greenwood Press. * Wu, Jing-nuan (2005). ''An Illustrated Chinese Materia Medica''. New York: Oxford University Press.


External links

; Gunpowder and 'fire-weapons'
Chinese Fire Arrows





Chinese Siege Warfare: Mechanical Artillery & Siege Weapons of Antiquity
; Other





{{DEFAULTSORT:Technology Of The Song Dynasty Song dynasty 10th century in science 11th century in science 12th century in science 13th century in science History of engineering
Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...
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