Song Yingxing

In this Chinese name, the family name is Song.
Song Yingxing
Born1587
Yichun of Jiangxi, China
Died1666
Known forEncyclopedist, scientist
The puddling process of smelting iron ore to make wrought iron from pig iron, with the right illustration displaying men working a blast furnace, from the Tiangong Kaiwu encyclopedia, 1637.

Song Yingxing (Traditional Chinese: 宋應星; Simplified Chinese: 宋应星; Wade Giles: Sung Ying-Hsing; 1587–1666 AD) was a Chinese scientist and encyclopedist who lived during the late Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). He was the author of Tiangong Kaiwu, an encyclopedia that covered a wide variety of technical subjects, including the use of gunpowder weapons.[1] The British biochemist, sinologist, and historian Joseph Needham called Song Yingxing "The Diderot of China."[2]

  1. ^ Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 36.
  2. ^ Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 102.