During the 1860s, industrialization movements arose independently in China and Japan, while new iron- and steelmaking processes began to be transferred from the West to East Asia. Despite their similar beginnings, the fates of those two countries’ industries were very different after decades of development: China's iron industry was almost destroyed with the closure of the Hanyehping Company (漢冶萍公司) in the 1930s, while at the same time Japan's played an important role during the successful industrialization process from the Meiji Period on, becoming the economic foundation for the invasion of Japan's neighbors. What then had happened in these two countries? Yi-bing Fang's 2013 book, The History of Iron and Steel Technology in Modern China and Japan, 1868–1933: A Comparative Study (in Prof. Baichun Zhang's 張柏春 History of Technology Transfer and Innovation series), has given us excellent insight into the transfer of...
Zhongri Jindai Gangtie Jishushi Bijiao Yanjiu: 1868–1933 中日近代鋼鐵技術史比較研究: 1868–1933 [The History of Iron and Steel Technology in Modern China and Japan, 1868–1933: A Comparative Study]
Wei Qian (潛偉), a professor of history of science and technology, is the director of the Institute of Historical Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB). He got his doctoral degree in history of science and technology at USTB China (2001) and became a Mellon Fellow at the Needham Research Institute in the United Kingdom (2005–2006). He was elected as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar (2014–2015) at Princeton University. His research focuses primarily on the history of metallurgy, technology and society, and industrial heritage.
Wei Qian 潛偉; Zhongri Jindai Gangtie Jishushi Bijiao Yanjiu: 1868–1933 中日近代鋼鐵技術史比較研究: 1868–1933 [The History of Iron and Steel Technology in Modern China and Japan, 1868–1933: A Comparative Study]. East Asian Science, Technology and Society 1 June 2016; 10 (2): 215–218. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/18752160-3442816
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