1. Song Yingxing was a Chinese scientist and encyclopedist who lived during the late Ming Dynasty.
11 Facts About Song Yingxing
1. 2.
Song Yingxing was the author of Tiangong Kaiwu, an encyclopedia that covered a wide variety of technical subjects, including the use of gunpowder weapons.
3.
Song Yingxing was born in Yichun of Jiangxi in 1587 to a gentry family of reduced circumstances, he participated in the imperial examinations, and passed the provincial test in 1615, at the age of 28.
4.
Song Yingxing achieved only modest wealth and influence during his life.
5.
The works for which Song Yingxing is known today all date from 1636 to 1637.
6.
Song Yingxing retired from public life in 1644, after the fall of the Ming dynasty.
7.
Also the state placed heavy regulations and taxes on the various craft industries Song Yingxing profiled in his encyclopedia.
8.
Song Yingxing's life coincided with a period of rising literacy and education, despite increased economic strain.
9.
Song Yingxing's repeated examinations were common for the time, as the required exams were incredibly competitive, despite their formulaic nature.
10.
The Four Great Books of Song Yingxing compiled much earlier in the 10th and 11th centuries.
11.
Song Yingxing published two scientific tractates that outline his cosmological views.