Technological innovations Wang Zhen (inventor)

1 technological innovations

1.1 water powered bellows
1.2 wang s movable type printing
1.3 agriculture

1.3.1 nong shu chapters

technological innovations
water powered bellows

an illustration of furnace bellows operated waterwheels, nong shu, wang zhen, 1313, during chinese yuan dynasty.

the chinese during han dynasty (202 bc – ad 220) first apply hydraulic power (i.e. waterwheel) in working inflatable bellows of blast furnace in creating cast iron. recorded in ad 31, innovation of engineer du shi, prefect of nanyang. after du shi, chinese in subsequent dynastic periods continued use of water power operate bellows of blast furnace. in 5th century text of wu chang ji, author pi ling wrote planned, artificial lake had been constructed in yuan-jia reign period (424–429) sole purpose of powering water wheels aiding smelting , casting processes of chinese iron industry. 5th-century text shui jing zhu mentions use of rushing river water power waterwheels, tang dynasty geography text of yuan-he jun xian tu chi, written in 814.

although du shi first apply water power bellows in metallurgy, first drawn , printed illustration of operation water power came in 1313, wang zhen s nong shu. wang explained methods used water-powered blast-furnace in previous times , in era of 14th century:

wang s movable type printing

in improving movable type printing, wang mentioned alternative method of baking porcelain printing type earthenware frame in order make whole blocks. wang best known usage of wooden movable type while magistrate of jingde in anhui province 1290 1301. main contribution improving speed of typesetting simple mechanical devices, along complex, systematic arrangement of wooden movable types. wang summarized process of making wooden movable type described in passage below:

a revolving table typecase individual movable type characters arranged rhyming scheme, wang zhen s nong shu, published 1313.

wooden movable type had been used , experimented bi sheng in 11th century, discarded because wood judged unsuitable material use. wang improved earlier experimented process adding methods of specific type cutting , finishing, making type case , revolving table made process more efficient. in wang s system, chinese writing characters organized 5 different tones , according rhyming, using standard official book of chinese rhymes. 2 revolving tables used in process; 1 table had official types book of rhymes, , other contained used chinese writing characters quick selection. make entire process more efficient, each chinese character assigned different number, when number called, writing character selected. rare , unusual characters not prescribed number crafted on spot wood-cutters when needed.

while printing new books, wang described rectangular dimensions of each book needed determined in order make corrected size of four-sided wooden block used in printing. providing necessary ink job done brush moved vertically in columns, while impression on paper columns had rubbed brush top bottom.

two centuries before hua sui pioneered bronze-type printing in china in 1490, wang had experimented printing using tin, metal favored low melting point while casting. in nong shu, wang wrote:

thus, chinese metal type of 13th century using tin unsuccessful because incompatible inking process. although unsuccessful in wang s time, bronze metal type of hua sui in late 15th century used centuries in china, until late 19th century.

the chinese diamond sutra (868), oldest existent woodblock printed book in world.

although wang s nong shu printed use of woodblock printing, innovation of wooden movable type became popularly used in region of anhui. wang s wooden movable type used print local gazetteer paper of jingde city, incorporated use of 60,000 written characters organized on revolving tables. during year of 1298, 1 hundred copies of printed wooden movable type in month s time. following in footsteps of wang, in 1322 magistrate of fenghua, zhejiang province, named ma chengde, printed confucian classics movable type of 100,000 written characters on needed revolving tables. process of metal movable type developed in joseon korea 13th century, while metal movable type not pioneered in china until ming dynasty (1368–1644) printer hua sui used bronze movable type in 1490. although metal movable type became available in china during ming period, wooden movable type persisted in common use until 19th century. after point, european printing press machine first pioneered johannes gutenberg in 15th century became mainstay , standard in china , part global community until advent of digital printing , modern computer printer.

with movable type printing during ming dynasty of 14th 16th centuries, however, known used local academies, local government offices, wealthy local patrons of printing, , large chinese commercial printers located in cities of nanjing, suzhou, changzhou, hangzhou, wenzhou, , fuzhou. there many books wide variety of subjects published in wooden movable type during ming period, including novels, art, science , technology, family registers, , local gazettes. in 1541, 2 different significant publications using wooden movable type made under sponsorship of 2 different princes; prince of shu printing large literary collection of earlier song dynasty poet su che, , prince of yi printing book written rebuttal against superstitions written yuan dynasty era author.

during qing dynasty (1644–1911), wooden movable type used on wider scale previous ming period. officially sponsored imperial court @ beijing, yet widespread amongst private printing companies. creation of movable type writing fonts became wise enterprise of investment, since commonly pawned, sold, or presented gifts during qing period. in sphere of imperial court, official jin jian (d. 1794) placed in charge of printing @ wuying palace, yongzheng emperor had 253,000 wooden movable type characters crafted in year of 1733. jin jian, official in charge of project, provided elaborate detail on printing process in wu ying tian ju zhen ban cheng shi (imperial printing office manual movable type). in nineteen different sections, provided detailed description for:

type body
cutting type
making type cases
form trays
strips in variable thickness
blanks
center columns
sorting trays
page , column rule forms
setting text
proofing
printing
distribution of type
and schedule rotation

there notable differences between wang s movable type process , jin jian s. wang carved written characters on wooden blocks , sawed them apart, while jin initiated process preparing type bodies before characters individually cut types. setting type, wang employed method of revolving tables type came workers, whereas jin developed system workers went organized type. wang s frame added after type had been set, whereas jin printed ruled sheets , text separately on same paper.

agriculture

a modern disc harrow.

the main focus of nong shu written wang realm of chinese agriculture. book listed , described enormous catalogue of agricultural tools , implements used in past , in own day. furthermore, wang incorporated systematic usage of illustrated pictures in book accompany every piece of farming equipment described. wang created agricultural calendrical diagram in form of circle, included heavenly stems, earthly branches, 4 seasons, twelve months, twenty-four solar terms, seventy-two five-day periods, each sequence of agricultural tasks , natural phenomena signal necessity, stellar configurations, phenology, , sequence of agricultural production.

amongst various contemporary agricultural practices mentioned in nong shu, wang listed , described use of ploughing, sowing, irrigation, cultivation of mulberries, etc. listed , described many of various foodstuffs , products of many regions of china. book outlined use of not agricultural tools, food-processing, irrigation equipment, different types of fields, ceremonial vessels, various types of grain storage, carts, boats, mechanical devices, , textile machinery used in many applications. example, 1 of many devices described , illustrated in drawing large mechanical milling plant operated motive power of oxen, enormous rotating geared wheel engaging toothed gears of 8 different mills surrounding it. of great interest sinologist historians, wang outlined difference between agricultural technology of northern china , of southern china. main characteristic of agricultural technology of north technical applications fit predominantly dryland cultivation, while intensified irrigation cultivation more suitable southern china. furthermore, wang used treatise means spread knowledge in support of agricultural practices or technologies found exclusively in either south or north benefit other, if more known, such southern hand-harrow used weeding in south, yet virtually unknown in north.

nong shu chapters

chapters 1–6

comprehensive prescriptions agriculture , sericulture

chapters 7–10

treatise on hundred grains

cereals (including legumes, hemp, , sesame)
cucurbits , green vegetables
fruits
bamboos , miscellaneous (including ramie, cotton, tea, dye plants, etc.)

chapters 11–22

illustrated treatise on agricultural implements

field systems
agricultural tools
wicker , basket ware
food-processing equipment , grain storage
ceremonial vessels, transport
irrigation equipment, water-powered mills, etc.
special implements wheat
sericulture , textile production






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^ needham, volume 4, part 2, 195-196.
^ needham, volume 6, part 2, 61.
^ needham, volume 6, part 2, 61-62.