Interestingly enough, coins were only cast in China without further processing by pressing or punching. The chapter Yezhu 冶鑄 describes the casting of metal objects, like iron woks ( tieguo 鐵鍋), bronze bells ( zhong 鐘) and mirrors and of brass coins ( tongqian 銅錢). It provides information on the erection of kilns ( yao 窯) and pays a special attention on the imperial porcelain kilns at Jingdezhen 景德鎮. It deals with the production of bricks ( zhuan 磚), tiles ( wa 瓦) and white porcelain ( baici 白瓷), beginning from the raw material, the firing of the sherd ( pi 坯) and the application of the glaze ( you 釉). The chapter Taoyan 陶埏 is the first chapter of industrial products. The chapter Ganshi 甘嗜 describes the production of sugar from sugar cane, but also deals with honey ( fengmi 蜂蜜) and the production of sugar-plums or sweatmeat ( yitang 飴糖). The next chapter, Zuoxian 作鹹, is a description of the various methods of salt production, like evaporation of sea water ( haiyan 海鹽 'sea salt'), boiling down brine from salt lakes ( chiyan 池鹽 'pond salt'), or the so-called 'well salt' ( jingyan 井鹽) which is hauled from deep wells. The chapter Suijing 粹精 switches back to grains and describes the harvest of rice and wheat and the processing of the grains, like despelting and milling. The chapter Zhangshi 彰施 described the dyeing process and various dyeing stains, especially indigo ( landian 藍澱), including the cultivation of the plant, the extraction of the dye. It also includes information on other textile products, like cotton ( mian 棉), hemp ( ma 麻, used for linen), and wool ( mao 毛).

It describes the raise of silkworms, the use of tools to spin the threads of the cocoons and the weaving of yarns to textiles. The chapter Naifu 乃服 is dedicated to sericulture (silk production). The chapter Naili 乃粒 describes the cultivation of rice and wheat, the use of various agricultural tools, water-driven machines used in agriculture, and also some other fruits of the field, like different kinds of millet ( shu 黍, ji 稷, su 粟) or beans ( shu 菽). The Tiangong kaiwu includes 123 excellent illustrations (the Taosheyuan edition 陶涉園 contains 162). artisanry and commerce (money), at the back of all themes. agriculture, at the front, and the metals, i. The chapters are arranged in a sociological concept that puts the 'five grains' ( wugu 五穀), i. Song Xingying was not the typical literate-official who wrote in his study without access to practical matters, but he was a person interested in the reality of industrial production and manufacture and had personally observed what he described in his book. Man plays a central role because without him, 'grains would not grow'. The title of the Tiangong kaiwu expresses the joint forces of Heaven and man to produce useful objects out of the products of nature. The term kaiwu 開物 is derived from the Classic Yijing 易經 'Book of Changes', where it is used to refer to human processing of the products of nature. The term tiangong 天工 first appears in the Confucian Classic Shangshu 尚書 'Book of Documents', where it describes the forces of nature. There were a lot of scientific books written between the Song 宋 (960-1279) and the Ming periods, like Xinren yizhi 梓人遺制, Mengxi bitan 夢溪筆談, Bianmin tuzuan 便民圖纂, Gengzhi tupu 耕織圖譜 or Yuanxi qiqi tushuo 遠西奇器圖說. Except the Tiangong kaiwu, he had written a lot of smaller books that are not very renowned, like Tantian 談天 'Discussions about Heaven', Lunqi 論氣 'Discussions about air', Yeyi 野議, Silianshi 思憐詩, Huayin guizheng 畫音歸正, Zase wenyuan hao 雜色文原耗 and Yiyan shizhong 巵言十種, of which the last three are lost. After the downfall of the Ming he dedicated himself to authorship. Song Yingxing, although coming from a distinctive family, had never the chance to pass the state examinations and only occupied posts as a district magistrate in Fujian and Anhui. There are numerous translations into other languages. The latter includes a commentary and translation into modern Chinese by Zhong Guangyan 鍾廣言. Modern editions have been published by the Zhonghua shuju press 中華書局 in 1959 and the Guangdong renmin press 廣東人民出版社 in 1976. The Japanese edition was the only surviving copy. The Tiangong kaiwu is not recorded in the imperial biography of the official dynastic history Mingshi 明史 and was almost lost. It was printed in 1637 by Tu Boju 涂伯聚, during the Kangxi reign 康熙 (1662-1722) by Yang Suqing 楊素卿, and in 1771 by the Eisei Studio 營生堂 in Japan. The 18 juan 'scrolls' long book was written between 16. Tiangong kaiwu 天工開物 'The exploitation of Heavenly treasures' is a compendium on industry, agriculture and artisanry written by the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) scholar Song Yingxing 宋應星 (1587-?).

Renmin trainslation