Zigong, Sichuan, was born and prospered because of salt. The salt well is undoubtedly one of its symbols. It is still unclear how many salt wells were drilled in the history of Zigong Salt Industry. It is said that there were more than 13,000 salt wells in Zigong history, but it is impossible to verify each one. Today, the number of salt wells with documented history and relatively detailed information is: 3148.
The data "3148" comes from the book "Zigong Salt Well Mouth Book" published in October this year. The book is divided into two volumes, nearly one million words, and took two years to compile. It records in detail the 3148 salt wells in Zigong. The history of each salt well can be traced such as its establishment time, well drilling method, gas brine type, production years, etc. The earliest salt well recorded in the book is the Yongxing Well, which was dug during the Ming Dynasty. The well is 167.67 feet (612 meters) deep and the diameter of the wellhead is 1.9 inches (0.07 meters). It was made by manually stepping on a tiller.
"Zigong Salt Well Mouth Book" was officially published
After the book was published, it was called a reference book for studying the history and culture of Zigong well salt by people in the industry. In an interview with a reporter from Red Star News, Mr. Lu Jian, an expert on the history of salt in Zigong, commented on this book as "the number of people who are lucky enough to be alive today". He said that "Zigong Salt Well Mouth Book" is not only a reference book, but also a book with historical and cultural value. Through the time of digging each salt well in Zigong, the gas brine produced, etc. recorded in the book, we can truly feel the prosperity of Zigong Salt Industry’s history and the contribution made by Zigong Salt Industry in the process of social and economic development.
Source search:
There are 3,148 salt wells in history and the information is relatively detailed.
The earliest salt wells were in the Ming Dynasty, mostly in the Qing Dynasty.
"Zigong was born and prospered because of salt. The development of the salt industry runs through the development of the entire city. , the history of the salt industry also runs through the history of the entire city." As the executive editor of the book "Zigong Salt Well Mouth Book", a distinguished researcher at the China Salt Culture Center and an expert on salt history from the Zigong Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau, Yang Yuan told the Red Star News reporter According to the introduction, it is said that more than 13,000 deep wells have been drilled in Zigong (within the artesian well structure), but it is impossible to verify each one, and only 19 remain relatively intact (with derricks). Today, the number of salt wells with documented history and relatively detailed information is 3,148. However, most of the relevant information is "sleeping" in archives and has not been uniformly summarized and documented.
Executive Editor Yang Yuan
A reporter from Red Star News checked the "Zigong Salt Well Mouth Book" and found that the salt wells recorded in the book are summarized according to their geographical location. Each well is marked with its name, establishment of a joint venture, drilling method, and establishment. Time, work time, gas brine category, production years, salt well alias, final well depth, wellhead diameter, crane height and other related information. If the above information is present, please indicate it; if not, leave it blank. In addition, relevant texts recorded in the original files are appended.
Yang Yuan introduced that the 3148 salt wells recorded in the book have historical records and relatively detailed information. There is no more detailed information about salt wells in other historical materials and word-of-mouth, so they are not included.
Annotation of the location of some salt wells in historical data
Red Star News reporter consulted the book "Zigong Salt Well Mouth Book" and found that the earliest recorded salt well was named Yongxing Well, which was drilled during the Ming Dynasty. The other salt wells were named after Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. Most were from the 1980s to the late Qing Dynasty. According to the book, Yongxing Well is located in the Laoxinqiao and Guojiao sections of the Guojia'ao production area in Zigong City. It was opened during the Ming Dynasty. The well is 167.67 feet (612 meters) deep and the wellhead diameter is 1.9 inches (0.07 meters). It is made by man-made stepping stones. The well produces yellow brine, oil and natural gas, with a production life of more than 88 years.
Yang Yuan said that the purpose of compiling 3148 salt wells into this book is to compile a popular and scientific research historical material book with historical basis and easy to understand for readers.
Compilation:
The whole book took two years to be compiled.
Unified measurement units and corrected some errors.
Red Star News reporters learned that in order to systematically excavate, deeply organize and comprehensively display the history and culture of Zigong salt industry, and inherit the historical context, the Zigong CPPCC has successively Organized and compiled the "Zigong Salt Industry History and Culture Series", namely "Zigong Salt Industry History", "Zigong Salt Well Mouth Book", "Zigong Well Salt Science and Technology History", "Zigong Well Salt Financial History", "Zigong Well Salt Historical Images" and "Zigong Salt Industry Cultural Landscape" 6 volumes. "Zigong Salt Well Mouth Book" is one of them. It was compiled by the Zigong Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and published by Sichuan People's Publishing House.
Yang Yuan introduced that the data in the "Zigong Salt Well Mouth Book" mainly come from the salt well archival documents of the Zigong Municipal Archives, including the "Investigation Form of Historical Brine Wells (Including Brine Fire Wells) in the Zigong Salt Field" and the "Salt Well Survey Form of the Southwest Geological Survey Salt Field" "Zigong Salt Bureau Mine Files", "Zigong City Industrial Distribution Status Map", "Zigong Salt Field Well and Stove Records", etc.
Annotations about the distribution of some salt wells and stoves in historical materials
During the compilation, Yang Yuan found that the records of the original salt wells in many files were mostly oral. In addition, the time span was long, and there were some errors and omissions. For example: the units of measurement are not unified, and the owners of each salt well keep the depth of the brine well secret, and the length of the well is different, which must be verified one by one and calculated uniformly; there are typos and aliases, and the "炶" (read: qian, 二) in the original record (sound) is used to represent the saltiness of brine. For the convenience of understanding, it is unified as "salt". However, the naming of salt wells still retains the original names, such as "Tianxian Well", "Dexian Well", "Guikai Well" and "Fengxian Well". "炶京"; in the original data, the word "qiang" was often handwritten as the onomatopoeia "哐", so it was corrected; at the same time, the units of measurement such as "market dan" and "standard dan" were unified into "dan"...
The book It is divided into two volumes, the upper and lower volumes, with a total text of more than 970 pages. It took two years to delete and proofread tens of millions of words.
Value:
Experts on the history of salt say that the number of people who are alive today
is both a reference book and has historical and cultural value
Mr. Lu Jian, an expert on the history of Zigong salt industry, commented on "Zigong Salt Wellhead Book" by saying "the number of people who are alive today is a treasure". This book. He said that how many salt wells there are in Zigong, where they are located, and what the situation is like in the past and present life has always been a difficult point in the historical research of Zigong's salt industry.
"In the past, salt factories had statistics on their respective salt wells; now they have been summarized into a book, which makes it clear at a glance and provides convenience for researchers." Lu Jian said that this book is not only a reference book, but also a reference book. Books with historical and cultural value. Because the book lists Zigong's "family treasures" so that we can see them clearly at a glance; at the same time, through the records in the book about the time when each salt well was dug, the gas brine produced, etc., readers can truly feel the past of Zigong Salt Industry The prosperity of Zigong Salt Industry and the contribution made by Zigong Salt Industry in the process of social and economic development.
In Lu Jian's view, the publication of this book is a good start. Subsequent research on Zigong salt wells can also include "continuing to dig out undiscovered salt wells", "summarizing famous wells in Zigong history" and "further improving salt well information". ” and other aspects will be further enriched.
Red Star News reporter Yuan Wei, photo report
editor Peng Jiang, editor-in-chief Wei Kongming
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