Ziliujing District,
formerly romanized
Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
as Tzuliutsing, is a
district
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...
of
Zigong
Zigong (, ), formed by the merger of the two former towns of Ziliujing (Tzuliuching, literally "self-flow well") and Gongjing (Kungching, literally "offering well"), is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan, southwestern China.
Demographics
Accord ...
in
Sichuan Province
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
, China. The district covers and had a population of 330,000 people in 2005.
History
According to Fang, China has always managed
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
and
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...
, with Sichuan containing many salt deposits together with
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...
, especially in Ziliujing.
[ "Invisible gas fire" was mentioned as early as the Han dynasty, gas wells were taxed by 1662, gas was used in one tenth of the salt evaporating plants by 1821 (the remainder using wood or charcoal), and by 1857 gas was the more common fuel.][ The wells used stone casing for the first hundred feet or so followed by wood for another .][ An iron drill weighing up to is attached to a bamboo rope and when brine is reached, the well is called "success" or if no brine is reached by 3000 feet it is called "useless well".][ A well was drilled to in depth to reach the heaviest brine, the gas rising to the surface with a "rumbling noise", where the gas was contained by a wooden basin placed upside down over the well, from which protruded ]bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...
or wooden pipes, transporting the gas up to 1000 feet to salt evaporating boilers.[ Some gas wells serviced up to 700 boilers.][ Separate pipes carried the brine.][
]
Gallery
File:Salt evaporation.png, Salt evaporation in Sichuan, 1882
File:Drilling a well.png, Drilling a well in Sichuan, 1882
See also
* Zigong
Zigong (, ), formed by the merger of the two former towns of Ziliujing (Tzuliuching, literally "self-flow well") and Gongjing (Kungching, literally "offering well"), is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan, southwestern China.
Demographics
Accord ...
* Salt in Chinese history
Salt, salt production, and salt taxes played key roles in Chinese history, economic development, and relations between state and society. The lure of salt profits led to technological innovation and new ways to organize capital. Debate over g ...
Notes
References
External links
Ziliujing District Government website
Districts of Sichuan
Zigong
{{Sichuan-geo-stub