Abstract The Library of the Oriental Department of St. Petersburg State University has a rare Chinese manuscript on metallurgy, the Tieye zhi (铁冶志,Gazetteer of the Iron Works). Written by Fu Jun (傅浚) during the Ming dynasty and preserved by the collector Cao Yin (曹寅), it was eventually brought to Russia by members of the Russian Orthodox Mission to Beijing in the early 19th century. Unfortunately, no further copies of the work, which is recorded in bibliographic catalogs at the turn of the Ming and Qing dynasties, survived until the present day in China. This manuscript covers various aspects of metallurgical production at Zunhua, including technology, personnel, taxation, and rituals, records of which are not found in other historical documents. This paper introduces the content of the manuscript, the process of its creation, and explores its provenance and value as a historical source.
YAN Minxiang. Brief Research on the Manuscript Tieye Zhi in St. Petersburg State University. Studies in the History of Natural Sciences, 2021, 40(2): 184-193.
