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the imperial decay. Nonetheless, the late Ming dynasty was still culturally vibrant and there was great demand for specialized craft goods. Also the state placed heavy regulations and taxes on the various craft industries Song profiled in his encyclopedia. His life also coincided with a period of rising literacy and education, despite increased economic strain. For many scholars, a life of simplicity and frugality was considered an ideal. Further, the study of subjects like agriculture and handicrafts was considered a worthy pursuit, since it was expected that the social elite should respect their obligation to care for the common folk
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187:. Song sat for the test five times, the last being in 1631 at the age of 44. After this last failure, he held a series of minor positions in provincial government. The works for which Song is known today all date from 1636 to 1637. The repeated trips to the capital to participate in the metropolitan examination likely provided him with the broad base of knowledge demonstrated in the works. Song retired from public life in 1644, after the fall of the Ming dynasty.
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interact will all manner of laborers and craftsmen, but also exposed him to the realities of the declining empire. Marauding bands and encroaching tribes people threatened China in the north, while peasant revolts and invasions plagued the south. Even in
Beijing, the twisting and turning machinations of those vying for power often spilled over into the scholarly realm, sometimes subjecting them to expulsion.
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Song's life and work coincided with the end of the Ming dynasty. While the empire was ultimately toppled by a series of succession crises, many historians noted that the collapse followed a period characterized by “indulgence and the lust for luxury goods”. Song’s family life in many ways mirrored
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Song’s repeated examinations were common for the time, as the required exams were incredibly competitive, despite their formulaic nature. It was common for would-be civil servants to attempt the exams even into their 40s. His treks to and from the capital for these exams not only allowed him to
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As the
British biochemist and historian Joseph Needham points out, the vast amount of accurately drawn illustrations in this encyclopedia dwarfed the amount provided in previous Chinese encyclopedias, making it a valuable written work in the history of Chinese literature. At the same time, the
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Tiangong Kaiwu broke from
Chinese tradition by rarely referencing previous written work. It is instead written in a style strongly suggestive of first-hand experience. In the preface to the work, Song attributed this deviation from tradition to his poverty and low standing.
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compiled much earlier in the 10th and 11th centuries (and all four combined, were much more extensive in size than his work). Just a few decades before
Yingxing's work, there was also the Ming Dynasty encyclopedia of the
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183:, and passed the provincial test in 1615, at the age of 28. He achieved only modest wealth and influence during his life. However, he was repeatedly unsuccessful in the
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is an encyclopedia covering a wide range of technical issues, including the use of various gunpowder weapons. Copies of the book were very scarce in China during the
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285:). Qi has been described in many different ways by Chinese philosophers. To Song, it is a type of all-permeating vapor from which solid objects (
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Cullen, Christopher (1990). "The
Science/Technology Interface in Seventeenth-Century China: Song Yingxing 宋 應 星 on "qi" 氣 and the "wu xing" 五 行".
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Although Song
Yingxing's encyclopedia was a significant publication for his age, there had been a long tradition in the history of
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Science and
Civilization in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7, Military Technology; the Gunpowder Epic
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Song also published two scientific tractates that outline his cosmological views. In these, he discusses the concepts of
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Science and
Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 3, Civil Engineering and Nautics
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Science and
Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering
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over certain industries described in the book), but original copies of the book were preserved in
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The
Crafting of the 10,000 Things: : Knowledge and Technology in Seventeenth-Century China
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129:; 1587–1666 AD) was a Chinese scientist and encyclopedist who lived during the late
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Song, Yingxing, translated with preface by E-Tu Zen Sun and Shiou-Chuan Sun (1966).
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Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
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in 1587 to a gentry family of reduced circumstances, he participated in the
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that covered a wide variety of technical subjects, including the use of
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T'ien-Kung K'ai-Wu: Chinese Technology in the Seventeenth Century
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The Confusions of Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China
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form indefinitely, while objects like stones are eternally
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491:"The Exploitation of the Works of Nature (Tiangong Kaiwu)"
585:. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
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in creating large encyclopedic works. For example, the
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550:. Berkeley: University of California Press.
635:Chapter 13, Papermaking, at rice-paper.com
316:History of science and technology in China
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606:United States Government Printing Office
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640:Tiangong Kaiwu at Orientaldiscovery.com
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239:The Exploitation of the Works of Nature
630:Tiangong Kaiwu Picture Gallery at ECHO
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601:Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period
499:(in Chinese). Jiangxi Sheng, China
133:(1368–1644). He was the author of
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620:Song Yingxing at China-corner.com
476:The Crafting of the 10,000 Things
461:The Crafting of the 10,000 Things
83:The puddling process of smelting
529:Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 172.
382:Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 102.
373:Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 36.
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343:History of ferrous metallurgy
680:Ming dynasty science writers
625:Song Yingxing at Jongo Knows
685:People from Yichun, Jiangxi
578:. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
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700:Philosophers of technology
665:Chinese technology writers
571:. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.
564:. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.
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171:Song Yingxing was born in
159:called Song Yingxing "The
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415:10.1017/S0041977X00026100
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574:Needham, Joseph (1986).
567:Needham, Joseph (1986).
560:Needham, Joseph (1986).
436:Schäfer, Dagmar (2011).
221:Four Great Books of Song
185:metropolitan examination
73:Encyclopedist, scientist
690:Scientists from Jiangxi
595:"Sung Ying-hsing"
489:Song, Yingxing (1637).
675:Ming dynasty essayists
670:Chinese encyclopedists
338:History of agriculture
311:List of Chinese people
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590:Hummel, Arthur W. Sr.
496:World Digital Library
181:imperial examinations
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695:Writers from Jiangxi
348:Wang Zhen (official)
328:History of gunpowder
115:Traditional Chinese
106:encyclopedia, 1637.
216:Chinese literature
119:Simplified Chinese
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478:. pp. 36–37.
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92:wrought iron
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18:Chinese name
660:1666 deaths
655:1587 births
322:Huolongjing
163:of China."
102:, from the
22:family name
649:Categories
544:. (1998).
517:Song, xiv.
444:. p.
354:References
251:monopolies
153:sinologist
123:Wade Giles
474:Schäfer.
459:Schäfer.
359:Citations
265:Cosmology
167:Biography
145:gunpowder
305:See also
96:pig iron
90:to make
16:In this
177:Jiangxi
161:Diderot
149:British
121:: 宋应星;
117:: 宋應星;
56:, China
54:Jiangxi
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503:28 May
423:619236
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173:Yichun
50:Yichun
20:, the
419:JSTOR
255:Japan
237:, or
139:, an
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552:ISBN
505:2013
299:xing
287:xing
277:xing
275:and
85:iron
65:1666
62:Died
46:1587
43:Born
27:Song
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