Tiangong Kaiwu
[8] In the first chapter, The Growing of Grains, Song Yingxing wrote about the great necessity of rural farmers in society, and although they were emulated by tradition, were scoffed at by aristocrats throughout time.
It was because the rich men regarded the [farmer's] straw hat and cape as convicts garb, and in aristocratic households the word "peasant" had come to be used as a curse.
[9]Song wrote about the general terms used in agriculture, saying that the "hundred grains" referred to crops in general, while the "five grains" were specifically sesamum, legumes, wheat, panicled millet, and glutinous millet (rice was not included in this, says Song, because the ancients were only used to the environment of northern China, which was devoid of rice at the time).
[11] In aiding the text, he also provided many different drawn illustrations, including a man loosening the soil by ploughing with an ox,[12] soil broken into fine particles by an ox-drawn harrow,[13] men engaging in foot weeding and hand weeding of rice,[14] a vertical waterwheel with hollow wooden cylinders dipping water into an open woodwork tub feeding an irrigation canal,[15] a cylinder-type chain pump powered by a vertical waterwheel placed in a narrow, low-lying stream with a mounted rotating wheel placed at the top of an elevated plane, whereupon the cylinders fed water into an irrigation canal,[16] a wooden river dam correcting the flow of water around a field of crops,[17] a sluice gate controlling the flow of a water channel,[18] a square-pallet chain pump powered by a horizontal waterwheel, connected by an axle to a gear-tooth wheel above, which in turn engaged a vertical gear-tooth wheel,[19] another square-pallet chain pump employing an ox-drawn set of geared wheels,[20] two different types of foot-treadle operated chain pumps,[21] a counterweighted lever for raising or lowering a bucket,[22] a pulley-wheel for raising or lowering a bucket,[23] an ox-drawn plough-seeder with a cone-shaped filter,[24] an ox-drawn pair of stone rollers, used for pressing seeds into the soil,[25] the simpler process of sewing seeds by hand and pressing them into the dirt by foot,[26] and finally, an illustration of men cultivating wheat with broad-headed hoes.
[43] Song wrote that these divers were able to stay underwater for prolonged periods of time since a secure rope was tied around their waists connected to the ship as they breathed through a long curving pipe that led up above the surface of the water.
[44] In his admiration for the stern-mounted steering rudder (which had been known to the Chinese since at least the 1st century AD),[45] he wrote: The nature of a ship is to follow water as the grass bends under the wind.
The water divided and obstructed by the rudder's strength, is echoed as far as the bows; it is as if there were underneath the hull a swift current carrying the vessel in the very direction desired.
[60] He also described the proper dimensions of different draw looms,[61] Song Yingxing wrote that although silk was reserved for those with economic means, both rich and poor used cotton clothing during the winter.
[63] He noted the process of straightening the cotton fibers with wooden boards, which prepared them for the spinning wheel, the "slivers drawn out to desired size and twisted into yarns.
[66] He wrote of how gold was held to be the most precious metal of them all, and that it could be obtained in the mountains, panned from river sand, and from underground mining.
[67] To eliminate trace elements of other metals found in gold alloys, Song Yingxing outlined the use of a crucible technique.
[68] Song Yingxing wrote that ancient rulers of early China cast inscriptions of writing onto bronze tripods since this was a much more durable method of preserving the written record than using the perishable materials found in books and scrolls.
[70] In the smelting process, long pits for the liquid metal flow had to be dug, having a drymold construction of lime and mortar that was dried and covered in ox fat and beeswax.
[70] Then he noted the following process of pounded earth and charcoal powder that was screened and mixed into a mud paste that would be gradually spread on the surface of the wax several inches thick.
[71] When dried and heated so that the melted fat and wax could flow out entirely by means of apertures at the base, the bell or tripod could be cast in the vacated cavity between the core and the mold.
[40] He also outlined the quench-hardening process of rapid cooling in clear water immediately after iron and steel products were forged.
[75] He outlined the different types of knives, axes,[75] hoes,[76] file tools,[76] awls,[77] saws,[77] wood chisels,[41] anchors,[41] and metal needles[78] that could be forged and produced.
Merchants who sell (saltpetre) in the southern and eastern (parts of the country) without first paying for the official certificate are punished for illegal trading.
In places north of the Yangtze and the Huai rivers, after the mid-Autumn fortnightly period, (people) just have to be at home and sweep the earthen floors on alternate days to collect a little for purifying.
[80]After collecting saltpetre by scraping or sweeping the ground (as also from walls) it is immersed in a tub of water for a night, and impurities floating on the surface are skimmed off.
As soon as any moisture has all gone, the saltpetre is ground to a powder, but one should never use an iron pestle in a stone mortar, because any spark accidentally produced could cause an irretrievable catastrophe.
[81]Many of the gunpowder weapons that Song Yingxing described were similar to those in the Chinese Huolongjing of the earlier 14th century, although there are many noted differences between the two.
[83] However, it was the Tiangong Kaiwu of Song Yingxing that outlined the use of a rip-cord pulled from ambushers hidden on a nearby shore that would trigger the steel-wheel mechanism in producing sparks for the naval mine placed in the river or lake.
It is absolutely necessary to use the wooden framework or the tub in order to prevent any premature breakage as the missile falls (until the gunpowder explodes).
