Analysis Of The Reformation Of Chinese Coal-mining Technologies In The Late Qing Dynasty (1840-1911)

It's an important period from 1860s to the perishment of Qing Dynasty for the development of the coal-mining industry.Under the leadership of Li Hung-chang who launched the Westernization Movement,the western scholars set up many coal-mining factories in a technologically western mode in different provinces like Hebei,Hubei etc.Gradually the coal-mining industry developed covering the whole country.With the motivation of new technology,coal-mining became the supporting industry of Qing Dynasty and supply the source of energy to industries ranging from manufacturing to transporting.It also had a profound effect on the heavy industry of Qing Dynasty and even on the Republic of China subsequently.This paper will expound the formation and perfection of the coal-mining technology system in late Qing Dynasty from the perspective of technique,with the highlight on the significant influence of the coal-mining technology on the responding industry and the economy of the whole society.Through this way,we can make readers comprehend the dialectical relationship among the development of technology,exploitation of energy and self-independence and improvement of our country.There are many studies about the history of Chinese coal-mining industry in late Qing Dynasty from the perspective of politics and economy but few from that of techniques,while other studies on the coal-mining techniques focus on the period from the Republic of China to the contemporary society.In view of the status quo,my dissertation will collate the date and expound the form,background,characteristics and lasting effect of the coal-mining technological system in late Qing Dynasty meticulously and comprehensively.The key development period of this paper is arranging from 1870s to the early 20th century.There are three parts for discuss:The first part,the first of this chapter,mainly discusses the form and improvement of the coal-mining technological system,including the introduction of the definition of the system,the summary of the track of ancient coal-mining techniques as well as the analysis of the background of the innovation of the technology in Late Qing Dynasty.The second part,including the second and the third chapter of this paper,main body of this paper,expounds the two branches of the coal-mining technological system.One branch of this system includes the core technologies which consist of coal-mining methods,underground transportation,and lift technique and safety-production tech.There are two types for coal-mining which are opencast working and underground mining.Here mainly talk about the coal-mining method for underground mining.In modern times,there are two ways of coal-mining method which are called room and pillar work and long wall mining method;underground transportation and lift technique are the key part of the production system which plays an important role in the mining process;Safety-production technique mainly contains lighting,dewatering and ventilation.Safety-production is the fundamental of coal-mining production which guarantees the safety of workers and collieries.The other branch is the auxiliary technology of coal-mining which covers the exploration,sifting,process and the management of collieries.This paper will make discreet narration of the import of coal-mining technologies and relevant personal,preservation of ancient sifting and processing tech of coal-mining;regarding the management of collieries,it includes the establishment of the managing mode and institutions,management of the mining cost and import and cultivation of the professional personal.The core and auxiliary technologies supplement each other jointly forming the new coal-mining system in the modern times.The third part mainly analyzes the characteristics,influences of the innovation of coal-mining technology.Meanwhile,this part will discuss the academic value and social significance of my study about coal-mining technology system in Late Qing Dynasty,with the expectation of making contributions to the study of Chinese coal-mining technological history in academic field.