Du Shi (, d. 38'' Book of Later Han'', vol. 31Crespigny, 183.) was a Chinese hydrologist, inventor, mechanical engineer, metallurgist, and politician of the

Eastern Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

. Du Shi is credited with being the first to apply

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

power (i.e. a

waterwheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...

) to operate

bellows A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtigh ...

(air-blowing device) in

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

. His invention was used to operate piston-bellows of the

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...

and then

cupola furnace A cupola or cupola furnace is a melting device used in foundries that can be used to melt cast iron, Ni-resist iron and some bronzes. The cupola can be made almost any practical size. The size of a cupola is expressed in diameters and can range ...

in order to forge

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

, which had been known in China since the 6th century BC. He worked as a censorial officer and administrator of several places during the reign of

Emperor Guangwu of Han Emperor Guangwu of Han (; 15 January 5 BC – 29 March AD 57), born Liu Xiu (), courtesy name Wenshu (), was a Chinese monarch. He served as an emperor of the Han dynasty by restoring the dynasty in AD 25, thus founding the Eastern Han (Later ...

. He also led a brief military campaign in which he eliminated a small bandit army under Yang Yi (d. 26).

Life

Early career

Although the year of his birth is uncertain, it is known that Du Shi was born in

Henei Henei Commandery ( zh, 河內郡) was a commandery of China from Han dynasty to Tang dynasty, located in modern Henan province, to the north of Yellow River. In ancient China, Henei ("Inside the Yellow River") referred to the land north of the low ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

province. Du Shi became an Officer of Merit in his local

commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

before receiving an appointment in 23 as a government clerk under

Gengshi Emperor The Gengshi Emperor (; died AD 25), born Liu Xuan (), was an emperor of the Han dynasty restored after the fall of Wang Mang's Xin dynasty brought on by the Lülin. He was also known by his courtesy name Shenggong () and as the King or Prince of H ...

(r. 23–25), following the revolt against the

Xin Dynasty The Xin dynasty (; ), also known as Xin Mang () in Chinese historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty which lasted from 9 to 23 AD, established by the Han dynasty consort kin Wang Mang, who usurped the throne of the Emperor Ping o ...

usurper

Wang Mang Wang Mang () (c. 45 – 6 October 23 CE), courtesy name Jujun (), was the founder and the only Emperor of China, emperor of the short-lived Chinese Xin dynasty. He was originally an official and consort kin of the Han dynasty and later ...

(r. 9–23). However, Du soon after swore his allegiance to

(r. 25–57), who is considered the true founder of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220).

Censorate officer

Under Emperor Guangwu, Du Shi was appointed as an officer in the

Censorate The Censorate was a high-level supervisory agency in Imperial China, first established during the Qin dynasty (221–207 BC). The Censorate was a highly effective agency during the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). During the M ...

and was in charge of monitoring affairs and upholding law and order within the new capital at

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

. When the undisciplined troops of the military officer Xiao Guang (d. 26) ran rampant in the capital city and terrorized its inhabitants without any perceivable action on Xiao's part to prevent it, Du Shi had him arrested. Du had Xiao summarily executed without explicit consent from the throne, sending in a report of the event only after the execution.Crespigny, 183 & 890. Guangwu was not displeased with this, as he called him into his court to grant him an insignia which justified his actions. Shortly after this event, the bandit leader Yang Yi (d. 26) caused a major disturbance in

Hedong Commandery Hedong Commandery () was a historical region in the Qin and Han dynasties of ancient China. Hedong was located to the east of the Yellow River in Shanxi (around present-day Yuncheng). History Hedong Commandery was established by the Qin state ...

, which Du Shi was sent to quell.Crespigny, 183 & 963 When word of the arrival of Du Shi's forces in the region reached Yang Yi, he planned to flee across the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

. However, Du Shi anticipated this, sending a raiding party to burn the boats Yang Yi intended to use for his escape. After conscripting troops from the Hedong Commandery, Du Shi led a surprise ambush with a cavalry unit that dispersed Yang's bandits and annihilated them.

Administrator

For three years, Du served as a county magistrate in Henan province where his administration gained wide acclaim from provincial authorities.Crespigny, 183–184. Afterwards, Du distinguished himself as a Commandant in

Pei PEI or Pei may refer to: Places *Matecaña International Airport, Pereira, Colombia, IATA code PEI *Pei County (沛县), Jiangsu, China *Pei Commandery (沛郡), a commandery in Chinese history *Prince Edward Island, a province of Canada * Pei, ...

and in

Runan Runan County () is a counties of China, county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhumadian, in the southeast of Henan, Henan Province, China. History In ancient times, this area was called "the middle of the world" (), ...

.Crespigny, 184. In 31 he was appointed as an administrator over

Nanyang Nanyang is the romanization of two common Chinese place names. It may refer to: Written as 南洋 (Southern Ocean) * Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea ;China * Nanyang Fleet, Qing ...

. While serving there, he had an array of dykes and canals built for

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

and growth of local agriculture. It is here that he also developed a water-powered reciprocator for bellows in smelting

, a machine which reportedly saved an enormous amount of physical labor. It is recorded that the locals were so fond of him that they often referred to him as "Mother Du" and compared him to noteworthy figures of history, such as Shao Xinchen of the Western Han era. Du Shi was by all means a local administrator, yet he also made recommendations to the imperial court on policy issues. He recommended that the Tiger Tallies system be reinstated. This was a means for imperial authorities to check possible official corruption in the forgery of mobilization of troops for war. Du also nominated several minor officials he deemed worthy as candidates for higher posts in the capital, including Fu Zhang. In a memorial of 37, he urged the court to consider Fu as the next Imperial Secretary.

Death

Du Shi's reputation was damaged in 38 when he was accused of having one of his retainers sent to kill a man out of vengeance for his brother. In that same year, Du became ill and died. Despite Du's long-standing official career, the Director of Retainers Bao Yong reported that no proper funeral ceremony could be arranged for Du, since Du was nearly broke when he died. However, the Emperor had an imperial edict made which granted Du a proper funeral ceremony at his commandery residence in the capital, along with silk to pay for the expenditures.

The Water-Powered Blast Furnace

Book of Later Han account

The engineer and statesman Du Shi is mentioned briefly in the '' Book of Later Han'' (''Hou Han Shu'') as follows (in Wade-Giles spelling): Donald B. Wagner writes that there is no remaining physical evidence of the bellows which Du Shi used, so modern scholars are still unable to determine whether or not they were made of leather or giant wooden fans as described later in the 14th century.Wagner, 77.

Spread of Use

The historical text ''

Sanguo Zhi The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220� ...

'' (Records of the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

) records the use of both human labor and horse-power to operate metallurgic bellows of a blast furnace before water-power was applied. It also records that the engineer and Prefect of Luoling

Han Ji Han Ji (died 10 April 238), courtesy name Gongzhi, was a Chinese politician who served in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He previously served under the warlords Liu Biao and Cao Cao during the late Eastern Han ...

(d. 238) reinvented a similar water-powered bellows that Du Shi had earlier pioneered.Wagner, 77–78. Two decades after this, it is recorded that another design for water-powered bellows was created by Du Yu (222–285). In the 5th-century text of the ''Wu Chang Ji'', its author

Pi Ling Changzhou ( Changzhounese: ''Zaon Tsei'', ) is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provin ...

wrote that a planned, artificial lake had been constructed in the Yuanjia reign period (424–429) for the sole purpose of powering water wheels aiding the smelting and casting processes of the Chinese iron industry.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 371-371. The 5th-century text ''

Shui Jing Zhu The ''Commentary on the Water Classic'' (), or ''Commentaries on the Water Classic'', commonly known as ''Shui Jing Zhu'', is a work on the Chinese geography in ancient times, describing the traditional understanding of its waterways and ancient ...

'' mentions the use of rushing river water to power waterwheels, as does the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

(618–907) geography text of the ''Yuanhe Jun Xian Tu Chi'', written in 814 AD.Wagner, 77–78.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 373. Although Du Shi is the first historical figure to apply water power to metallurgic bellows, the oldest extant Chinese illustration depicting such a device in operation can be seen in a picture of the ''Nong Shu'', printed by 1313 AD during the

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

(1271–1368) of China.Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 371. The text was written by Wang Zhen, who explained the methods used for a water-powered blast-furnace ( Wade-Giles spelling):

Notes

References

*de Crespigny, Rafe. (2007). ''A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23-220 AD)''. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill. . *Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 2''. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd. *Wagner, Donald B. (2001). ''The State and the Iron Industry in Han China''. Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Publishing. .

External links

History of waterwheels
{{DEFAULTSORT:Du, Shi 38 deaths Chemists from Henan Chinese civil engineers Chinese hydrologists Chinese inventors Chinese mechanical engineers Chinese metallurgists Engineers from Henan Han dynasty politicians from Henan Hydraulic engineers Political office-holders in Henan Politicians from Xinxiang Year of birth unknown