Gas Lighting In China: The Study Of It's Knowledge Transmission, Technical Application And Influence

The gas lighting was the product of the western industrial development in modern times and its origin could be date to the late 18th century in Europe. In the 19th century, the gas lighting was first used in England, and thereafter transmitted to other places. During the period of the middle 19th century, the gas lighting was spread to some other countries in Europe and America as well.In 1864,the gas lighting was introduced to Hongkong. In the next year, it was introduced to Shanghai , then it was introduced successively to Guangzhou, Beijing and Tianjin. The gas lighting had produced great effects, not only on the illumination system of these cities, but also on the society, the economy, culture and so on, which accelerated Chinese modernization process.Up to now, scholars have paid few attention to the knowledge transmission of the gas lighting from western countries to China and its technical application as well as its effects on many aspects in China. Althought articles have presented some introduction to the application of gas lighting in Shanghai, the analysis and the discussion in them need to be further studied from the angle of the history of technology. This article probes into the knowledge transmission and the technical application of the gas lighting in China, and attempts to find the reasons why China hadn't been able to develop the gas lighting independently, comparing the technical traditions in China with the western countries.The main contents of this paper are listed in the following:First, by studying the English texts and Chinese translations, we describe the origin and development of western gas lighting. The analysis shows that the gas lighting's coming to being mainly dues to the westerners getting to know the gas burning. Modern European's coal industry development had provided ansessential ground for producing gas. Gas lighting's putting into practice involves many technologies,such as gas produceing, storaging, transmitting, measuring, and so on. In fact, the popularity of the gas lighting is a systemic engineering.Second, the author consults some Chinese literatures published in the 19th century, and classifies the theory and technical knowledge related to the gas lighting in them. Obviously, the Chinese earliest periodical Dongxiyangkao meiyuetongjizhuan(Eastern Wester Monthly Magazine, in 1833) made the brief description on the gas lighting for the first time. Since 1940s,the number of the reports about the gas lighting had been increasing,such as Xiaer guanzhen(the Chines Serial,in 1854), Bowu xinbian(in 1855).After 1864, textbooks such as Gewu rumen(the Foundation physics,1868), Huaxue chujie(the Inorganic chemistry, in 1870)and Huaxuejianyuan xubian(in 1875),and the periodicals such as Zhongxi wenjianlu(the Peking Magazine Magazine) and Gezhi huibian(Chinese Scientific Magazine ), and so on, all have special and careful introduction to the related knowledge of the gas lighting . Through all these literature, the author analyses many important links of the coal gas production, the purification, the storage , the transmission as well as the gas lamp production at that time. As the time went on, China caught up with England in the coal gas knowledge and the practical technology of the coal gas lighting.Third, takes Shanghai as a case to analyse the prosperity and decline of the gas lighting. In Shanghai there were only two foreign coal gas enterprises the Shanghai Gas Co., Ltd and the French Gas Co., Ltd which brought in the mature technology of English and France. The gas lighting not only improved the city illumination, also affected the economy, the culture and many other aspects. In 1882, the electric illumination entered Shanghai, but it had little influence to the gas lighting. After 1890, the carbon lamps which were widely used took the place of the gas lighting gradually. It was untill 1912, that the gas light became weaken as tungsten lamp were put into use.Fourth, by comparing the development pattern of the natural gas illumination with that of the gas lighting, the author attempts to find the reasons why China had not been able to develop the gas lighting independently. From the aspect of social and economical sides, as China was still kept as a traditional agricultural society, the industry and commerce as well as the city development had not been an urgent demand on the use of the gas lighting. As to the technical sides, the Chinese traditional technology hadn't supported the technical application of the coal gas storaging, metal pipeline manufacturing, welding and gauge precise manufacturing, which were the necessary and essential elements for developing the gas lighting.