Research on the Coal Industry in the Qing Dynasty based on Zhuzhi Ci in Western Regions

Abstract

This paper focuses on the Zhuzhi Ci and related literature in the western regions of the Qing Dynasty to explore the development of the coal industry in Xinjiang in the Qing Dynasty. For a long time, academic circles have paid limited attention to the study of Xinjiang coal history, and the existing achievements are mostly scattered in the research of mining history and economic history and lack of in-depth exploration. This paper makes a systematic analysis of the coal industry in Xinjiang during the Qing Dynasty from the aspects of origin, technical level, and the relationship with people’s lives. It is found that although the history of coal mining in Xinjiang was early, it had been interrupted, and the coal industry in Xinjiang in the Qing Dynasty originated from the large-scale development after the unification of Xinjiang by Qianlong. Technically, Xinjiang had mastered mature coal cake processing and coking technology during the Jiaqing period. In daily life, due to the cold climate and other reasons in Xinjiang, coal is more popular than firewood, is low price, and is widely used. People’s understanding of coal is also constantly rich, divided into different categories, and know its function. The people knew that coal could easily cause carbon monoxide poisoning, developed the Ruaner pear-eating detoxification method. Zhuzhu Ci in the Western regions provides a unique perspective for the study of the Xinjiang coal industry in the Qing Dynasty and opens up new ideas for subsequent research.