Wang Zhen (inventor): Difference between revisions

:''This article is {{about -otherpeople|Wang Zhen, agronomist and inventor. For other historical figures with this name, see [[||Wang Zhen (disambiguation)]].''}}

[[Image:Yuan Dynasty - waterwheels and smelting.png|thumb|left|260px|An illustration of furnace bellows operated by [[waterwheel]]s, from the ''Nong Shu'', by Wang Zhen, 1313 AD, during the ChineseMongol [[Yuan Dynastydynasty]].]]

The Chinese during the [[Han Dynastydynasty]] (202 BC &ndashnbsp;BC 220– AD&nbsp;220) were the first to apply [[hydraulic]] power (i.e. a [[waterwheel]]) in working the inflatable [[bellows]] of the [[blast furnace]] in creating [[cast iron]]. This was recorded in the year AD&nbsp;31 AD, an innovation of the [[engineer]] [[Du Shi]], [[Prefect]] of [[Nanyang, Henan|Nanyang]].<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 3701">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 370</ref> After Du Shi, Chinese in subsequent dynastic periods continued the use of water power to operate the bellows of the blast furnace. In the 5th century text of the ''Wu Chang Ji'', its author [[Pi Ling]] wrote that a planned, artificial lake had been constructed in the Yuan-Jia reign period (424 &ndash; 429 AD424–429) for the sole purpose of powering water wheels aiding the smelting and casting processes of the Chinese iron industry.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 371 372">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 371-371.</ref> The 5th -century text ''Shui Jing Zhu'' mentions the use of rushing river water to power waterwheels, as does the [[Tang Dynastydynasty]] geography text of the ''Yuan-he Jun Xian Tu Chi'', written in 814 AD.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 373">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 373.</ref>

Although Du Shi was the first to apply water power to bellows in metallurgy, the first drawn and printed illustration of its operation with water power came in 1313 AD, with Wang Zhen's ''Nong Shu''.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 371.</ref> Wang Zhen explained the methods used for the water-powered blast-furnace in previous times and in his era of the 14th century:

{{cquote|Another method is also used. At the end of the wooden (piston-)rod, about 3 ft long, which comes out from the front of the bellows, there is set up right a curved piece of wood shaped like the crescent of the new moon, and (all) this is suspended from above by a rope like those of a swing. Then in front of the bellows there are strong bamboo (springs) connected with it by ropes; this is what controls the motion of the fan of the bellows. Then in accordance with the turning of the (vertical) water-wheel, the lug fixed on the driving-shaft automatically presses upon and pushes the curved board (attached to the piston-rod), which correspondingly moves back (lit. inwards). When the lug has finally come down, the bamboo (springs) act on the bellows and restore it to its original position. In like manner, using one main drive it is possible to actuate several bellows (by lugs on the shaft), on the same principle as the water [[Trip hammer|trip-hammers]]. This is also very convenient and quick...<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 376"/>}}According to [[Joseph Needham]], Wang Zhen's blowing engine is one of "the two machines of the Middle Ages which lie most directly in the line of ancestry of the [[steam-engine]] and the [[locomotive]]" along with [[Al-Jazari]]'s slot-rod [[force pump]] a century later.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Needham |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Needham |url=https://archive.org/details/sciencecivilisat0004jose/page/n573/mode/2up |title=Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 4: Physics and Physical Technology (Part II: Mechanical Technology) |date= |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1965 |isbn=978-0-521-05803-2 |pages=380-2}}</ref><gallery>

In improving movable type printing, Wang Zhen mentioned an alternative method of baking [[earthenwareporcelain]] printing type with earthenware frame in order to make whole blocks.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 203">Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 203.</ref> Wang Zhen is best known for improvinghis itsusage use by inventingof wooden movable type in the years 1297 or 1298, while he was a magistrate of Jingde in Anhui province from 1290 to 1301.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 206">Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 206.</ref> His main contribution was improving the speed of typesetting with simple mechanical devices, along with the complex, systematic arrangement of wooden movable types.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 208">Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 208.</ref> Wang Zhen summarized the process of making wooden movable type as described in the passage below:

[[Image:Chinese movable type 1313-ce.png|thumb|right|200px|A revolving table typecase with individual [[movable type]] characters arranged primarily by rhyming scheme, from Wang Zhen's book''Nong of agricultureShu'', published 1313 CE.]]

Wooden movable type had been used and experimented with by [[Bi Sheng]] in the 11th century,<ref butname="needham volume 5 part 1 205-206"/> but it was discarded because wood was judged to be an unsuitable material that Bi Sheng found difficult to use.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 205-206">Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 205-206</ref> Wang Zhen improved the earlier experimented process by adding the methods of specific type cutting and finishing, making the type case and revolving table that made the process more efficient.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 207">Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 207</ref> In Wang Zhen's system, all the Chinese writing characters were organized by five different tones and according to rhyming, using a standard official book of Chinese rhymes.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 207"/> Two revolving tables were actually used in the process; one table that had official types from the book of rhymes, and the other which contained the most frequently used Chinese writing characters for quick selection.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 208"/> To make the entire process more efficient, each Chinese character was assigned a different number, so that when a number was called, that writing character would be selected.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 208"/> Rare and unusual characters that were not prescribed a number were simply crafted on the spot by wood-cutters when needed.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 208"/>

While printing new books, Wang Zhen described that the rectangular dimensions of each book needed to be determined in order to make the corrected size of the four-sided wooden block used in printing.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 208"/> Providing the necessary ink job was done by brush that was moved vertically in columns, while the impression on paper the columns had to be rubbed with brush from top to bottom.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 208"/>

Two centuries before [[Hua Sui]] pioneered bronze-type printing in China in 1490 AD, Wang Zhen had experimented with metal type printing using [[tin]], a metal favored for its low melting point while casting.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 217">Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 217</ref> In the ''Nong Shu'', Wang Zhen wrote:

Thus, Chinese metal type of the 13th century using tin was unsuccessful because it was incompatible with the [[ink]]ing process. Although unsuccessful in Wang Zhen's time, the bronze metal type of Hua Sui in the late 15th century would be used for centuries in China, up until the late 19th century.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 216 217">Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 216-217.</ref>

[[Image:Jingangjing.jpg|thumb|300px|left|The Chinese [[Diamond Sutra]] (868 AD), the oldest existent [[woodblock printing|woodblock printed]] book in the world.]]

Although Wang Zhen's ''Nong Shu'' was mostly printed by use of [[woodblock printing]], his inventioninnovation of wooden movable type soon became popularly used in the region of Anhui.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 208"/> Wang Zhen's wooden movable type was used to print the local [[gazetteer]] paper of Jingde City, which incorporated the use of 60,000 written characters organized on revolving tables.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 208"/> During the year of 1298, roughly one hundred copies of this were printed by wooden movable type in a month's time.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 208"/> Following in the foot stepsfootsteps of Wang Zhen, in 1322 AD the magistrate of [[Fenghua]], [[Zhejiang]] province, named [[Ma Chengde]], printed Confucian classics with movable type of 100,000 written characters on needed revolving tables.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 208"/> The process of metal movable type was also developed in [[Joseon Dynastydynasty|Joseon]] Korea by the 13th century, while metal movable type was not pioneered in China until the [[Ming Dynastydynasty]] (1368 &ndash; 1644 AD1368–1644) printer [[Hua Sui]] used bronze movable type in 1490 AD. Although metal movable type became available in China during the Ming period, wooden movable type persisted in common use even until the 19th century.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 208 209">Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 208-209.</ref> After that point, the European [[printing press]] machine first pioneered by [[Johannes Gutenberg]] in the 15th century became the mainstay and standard in China and for the most part the global community until the advent of [[digital printing]] and the modern [[computer printer]].

With movable type printing during the Ming dynasty of the 14th to 16th centuries, however, it was known to be used by local [[academies]], local government offices, by wealthy local patrons of printing, and the large Chinese commercial printers located in the cities of [[Nanjing]], [[Suzhou]], [[Changzhou]], [[Hangzhou]], [[Wenzhou]], and [[Fuzhou]].<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 209">Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 209.</ref> There were many books from a wide variety of subjects published in wooden movable type during the Ming period, including novels, art, science and technology, family registers, and local [[gazettes]]. In 1541 AD, two different significant publications using wooden movable type were made under the sponsorship of two different princes; the Prince of Shu printing the large literary collection of the earlier Song Dynastydynasty poet Su Che, and the Prince of Yi printing a book written as a rebuttal against superstitions written by a Yuan Dynastydynasty era author.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 208 209"/>

During the [[Qing Dynastydynasty]] (1644 &ndash; 19111644–1911), wooden movable type was used on a much wider scale than even the previous Ming period.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 209"/> It was officially sponsored by the imperial court at Beijing, yet was widespread amongst private printing companies.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 209"/> The creation of movable type writing fonts became a wise enterprise of investment, since they were commonly pawned, sold, or presented as gifts during the Qing period.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 209"/> In the sphere of the imperial court, the official Jin Jian (d. 1794) was placed in charge of printing at the Wuying Palace, where the [[Yongzheng Emperor]] had 253,000 wooden movable type characters crafted in the year of 1733.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 209"/> Jin Jian, the official in charge of this project, provided elaborate detail on the printing process in his ''Wu Ying Tian Ju Zhen Ban Cheng Shi'' (Imperial Printing Office Manual for Movable Type).<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 209"/> In nineteen different sections, he provided detailed description for:

*printing

There are notable differences between Wang Zhen's movable type process and Jin Jian's. Wang carved the written characters on wooden blocks and then sawed them apart, while Jin initiated the process by preparing type bodies before the characters were individually cut into types.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 211">Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 211.</ref> For setting type, Wang employed a method of revolving tables where the type came to the workers, whereas Jin developed a system where the workers went to the organized type.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 211"/> Wang's frame was also added after the type had already been set, whereas Jin printed the ruled sheets and text separately on the same paper.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 211"/>

The main focus of the ''Nong Shu'' ([[:zh:王祯农书|农书 / 農書]]) written by Wang Zhen was the realm of Chinese agriculture. His book listed and described an enormous catalogue of agricultural tools and implements used in the past and in his own day.<ref name="needham volume 6 part 2 75">Needham, Volume 6, Part 2, 75.</ref> Furthermore, Wang Zhen incorporated a systematic usage of illustrated pictures in his book to accompany every piece of farming equipment described.<ref name="needham volume 6 part 2 92">Needham, Volume 6, Part 2, 92.</ref> Wang Zhen also created an agricultural [[calendar|calendrical]] diagram in the form of a circle, which included the [[Heavenly Stems]], the [[Earthly Branches]], the four seasons, twelve months, twenty-four solar terms, seventy-two five -day periods, with each sequence of agricultural tasks and the natural phenomena which signal for their necessity, stellar configurations, phenology, and the sequence of agricultural production.<ref name="needham volume 6 part 2 53 55">Needham, Volume 6, Part 2, 53-55.</ref>

Amongst the various contemporary agricultural practices mentioned in the Nong Shu, Wang listed and described the use of ploughing, sowing, irrigation, [[Sericulture|cultivation of mulberries]], etc.<ref name="needham volume 6 part 2 60"/> It listed and described many of the various foodstuffs and products of the many regions of China.<ref name="needham volume 6 part 2 60"/> The book outlined the use of not only agricultural tools, but food-processing, irrigation equipment, different types of fields, ceremonial vessels, various types of grain storage, carts, boats, mechanical devices, and textile machinery used in many applications.<ref name="needham volume 6 part 2 60"/> For example, one of the many devices described and illustrated in drawing is a large [[milling machine|mechanical milling plant]] operated by the motive power of [[ox]]en, with an enormous rotating geared wheel engaging the toothed gears of eight different mills surrounding it.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 195 196">Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 195-196.</ref> Of great interest to [[sinologist]] historians, Wang Zhen also outlined the difference between the agricultural technology of Northern China and that of Southern China.<ref name="needham volume 6 part 2 61"/> The main characteristic of agricultural technology of the north was technical applications fit for predominantly dryland cultivation, while intensified irrigation cultivation was more suitable for southern China.<ref name="needham volume 6 part 2 61"/> Furthermore, Wang used his treatise as a means to spread knowledge in support of certain agricultural practices or technologies found exclusively in either South or North that could benefit the other, if only they were more widely known, such as the southern hand-[[harrow (tool)|harrow]] used for weeding in the south, yet virtually unknown in the north.<ref name="needham volume 6 part 2 61 62">Needham, Volume 6, Part 2, 61-62.</ref>

Chapters 7—107–10<ref name="needham volume 6 part 2 61"/>

Chapters 11—2211–22<ref name="needham volume 6 part 2 61"/>

==Notes References ==

*[http://big5.cgan.net/english/english/cpg/engcp20.htm Movable type and Illustrationillustration of Wang Zhen's wooden type] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070402001701/http://big5.cgan.net/english/english/cpg/engcp20.htm |date=2 April 2007 }}

{{useUse dmy dates|date=April 2020}}

[[Category:Yuan1333 Dynasty peopledeaths]]

[[Category:Chinese13th-century inventorsagronomists]]

[[Category:Chinese13th-century writersinventors]]

[[Category:Printers14th-century agronomists]]

[[Category:Chinese14th-century printersinventors]]