Song Yingxing, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, wrote "Tiangong Kaiwu" in Xinyu. Today, Xinyu is a steel city and is the largest steel base in Jiangxi. The spirit of "Tiangong creates things" lasts forever and gives this city a new meaning. The Paper reporter Long Yunjie and editor Xu Jianing Packaging: Zhou Huanchao Jiasheng Source of material Shizhiyong's scientific attitude is known as "my country's 17th-century craft encyclopedia."
It is "Tiangong Kaiwu", a treasure book that embodies the Chinese people's scientific and technological civilization for more than 2,000 years. After being introduced to Europe, it was translated and published in large numbers by various countries.
The scientific and technological work "Tiangong Kaiwu" compiled by the Ming Dynasty inventor Song Yingxing. Visual China Map
And the place where it was written, Xinyu, Jiangxi Province, not only provided a large number of technical samples for the creation of advanced ancient technology "Tiangong Kaiwu", but also was used by this book for hundreds of years to "practice the world." , nourished by the wisdom of creation that is unique and original.
On October 6, The Paper's National Day special planning "Becoming China" reporting team came to Xinyu to examine this handed down work from a new era perspective and its distant echoes in a city across time and space.
The long scroll of history reaches the tenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1637). Song Yingxing , who was then the teaching magistrate of Fenyi, Jiangxi, traveled far and wide, went deep into the fields, workshops and mines, and interacted with workers - the rich products of Fenyi County in Xinyu City impressed him; the farmers' farming skills impressed him He was fascinated; and every process of making exquisite linen cloth, from ramie to finished product, made him feel like he had discovered a new world.
Jiangxi Fenyima Museum
He recorded all this with pictures and texts, and named it "Tiangong Kaiwu", telling people in the world: Man should use nature and develop everything with his intelligence and wisdom.
"Tiangong Kaiwu" is divided into eighteen volumes, which respectively introduce grain cultivation, clothing weaving, dyeing, grain processing, salt making, sugar making, pottery making, casting, vehicle and ship manufacturing, forging, ore smelting, oil extraction, and papermaking. , metallurgy, weapon making, pigment making, wine making, pearl and jade mining. The book is accompanied by 123 woodcut prints, which provide detailed descriptions of human movements, livestock, tool use and related environments involved in related technologies, vividly showing labor production scenes in the late Ming Dynasty.
Regardless of the passing of time and the changes in the world, the industrial genes bred by "Tiangong Kaiwu", the people-oriented ideas that are practical and practical, and the creative wisdom of being unique and inspired by human beings are still endlessly creating a new era. value. Some traditional agricultural farming techniques and methods of rational utilization of natural resources recorded in the book have promoted the development of ecological agriculture. Its detailed explanation of handicraft techniques has inspired modern craftsmen to inherit and carry forward the craftsman spirit of excellence.
In Xinyu, "Tiangong Kaiwu" is like a key, opening up the re-understanding and re-creation of traditional crafts. "Tiangong Kaiwu Culture" continues to develop and grow, becoming an important part of Xinyu's local excellent traditional culture. .
New Steel Group's garden-style factory
As depicted in "Tiangong Kaiwu", the fiery red of iron ore and the delicate craftsmanship of linen are the fusion of nature and human wisdom. The furnace fire described by Song Yingxing has become an important source of industrial civilization in Xinyu Steel City. Today, Xinyu has a large-scale state-owned steel complex with a production capacity of 10 million tons. It can produce nearly a thousand varieties and more than 4,000 specifications of steel products from 0.08 mm to 380 mm. Among them, 0.08 mm ultra-thin non-oriented electrical steel has reached the world level. highest level. Today's Xinyu is the "Hometown of China's Linen Cloth" and has the national intangible cultural heritage "Xiabu Embroidery". The export volume of linen cloth accounts for 80% of the country's total. Today's Xinyu is accelerating the construction of a new industrial powerhouse, a national innovative city, and a global lithium battery highland.
Today, when we read "Tiangong Kaiwu" again, we will find that this is not only an encyclopedia of craftsmanship, but also an answer sheet given by the author when facing complicated situations.
Back then, Song Yingxing failed repeatedly in the imperial examinations. He began to re-examine his pursuits. He gradually realized that the practical knowledge and skills in those books had a more direct and far-reaching impact on the development of society and people's lives. This It is a vast world, so there is the opening line of "Tiangong Kaiwu": "This book has nothing to do with fame and progress."
Mr. Song Yingxing’s light of wisdom not only illuminates the glory of ancient technology, but also finds resonance and continuity in the ancient and modern land of Xinyu, inspiring generations of Chinese people to innovate in inheritance and innovate. development.
(Author’s unit, Xinyu Media Center)
