The ''Kao Gong ji'' (考工记), translated variously as the ''Record of Trades'', ''Records of Examination of Craftsman'', ''Book of Diverse Crafts'' or ''Artificers' Record'', is a classic work on science and technology in
Ancient China
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...
, compiled sometime between the fifth and third centuries BCE and later included in the
Zhou Li
The ''Rites of Zhou'' (), originally known as "Officers of Zhou" () is a work on bureaucracy and organizational theory. It was renamed by Liu Xin to differentiate it from a chapter in the ''Book of History'' by the same name. To replace a lost ...
.
The study of ''Kao Gong Ji'', ''Kao Gong Ji Jie'', was published ca 1235 by
Lin Xiyi 林希逸. It was followed by
Dai Zhen
Dai Zhen (, January 19, 1724 – July 1, 1777) was a Chinese philosopher of the Qing dynasty. Hailing from Xiuning, Anhui Dai was a versatile scholar who made great contributions to mathematics, geography, phonology and philosophy. His philoso ...
(''Kaogongji tu'', 1746) and
Cheng Yaotian 程瑶田 (''Kaogongji chuangwu xiaoji'', ca 1805).
It has been suggested that "The Kaogong ji may have been written by an administrator to assure the emperor that everything was under control. It is part of a manual for how to run the empire".
[
The ''Kao Gong Ji'' is the oldest known technical encyclopedia.]bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
for 100 years thought to have been copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
and tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal.
Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
, as possibly pre-made alloy
An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...
s of composition not yet determined. This can yield bronzes more like early Chinese bronzes
Sets and individual examples of ritual bronzes survive from when they were made mainly during the Chinese Bronze Age. Ritual bronzes create quite an impression both due to their sophistication of design and manufacturing process, but also beca ...
, revealing unexpected complexity in early Chinese metal production.
English translations
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References
{{Reflist
External links
Illustrations and intro on www.cultural-china.com
Chinese classic texts
Science and technology in China
Zhou dynasty texts
5th-century BC books
Qi (state)