Science and Civilisation in China. Vol. 5 Part 11: Ferrous Metallurgy -

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South China Sea LME

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Introduction

The East China Sea, the Yellow Sea, the South China Sea, the Sulu-Celebes Sea, and the Indonesian Seas are five Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) of great ecological and economic importance to the East Asia region. These five LMEs are semi-enclosed and interconnected. They are strategic, globally significant and geologically unique international water systems. The South China Sea, which lies within the Indo-West Pacific marine biogeographic province, has long been recognized as the global center of marine shallow-water, tropical biodiversity. It is bordered by China to the north, the Philippines to the east, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Brunei Darussalam to the south, and Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam to the west.

Adapted from Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA).

Photo title: Lug rig

Photo credit: George Saxton, NOAA NESDIS

Photo title: Seas of East Asia

Photo credit: PEMSEA

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Title

Science and Civilisation in China. Vol. 5 Part 11: Ferrous Metallurgy ( DOCUMENT )

Author(s) / Editor(s)

Needham, J, Wagner, D B

Description

Donald B. Wagner provides a comprehensive historical account of the production and use of iron and steel in China in their political and economic context. An initial chapter on the traditional Chinese iron industry introduces the important technical concepts and the ways in which technology, geography, and economics interact and influence political phenomena. Recent archaeological work indicates that the earliest production of iron in China was in the Northwest, and that the technology was introduced from the West via Central Asia. It was, however, the invention in South China of large-scale technologies which put China on a very different developmental path from that of the West. The use of iron for ship-building including iron spikes and nails, tools, cooking and fishing implements is described. Further chapters deal with developments from the Han to the Tang, the technical evolution and economic revolution of the Song period, and economic expansion under the Ming. A final chapter investigates the debt of the modern steel industry to Chinese developments.

Keywords

CHINA;

SOUTH CHINA SEA;

EAST CHINA SEA;

SCIENCE;

MARITIME HISTORY

Geography Keywords

CHINA;

SOUTH CHINA SEA;

EAST CHINA SEA

Content Language(s)

English