<Articles>The Iron Manufacturing in China (Studies on the Cultural Intercourse)

産業革命以前の世界史において、中国の鉄産は世界的に重要な意義を有した。戦国時代の頃から中国では鉄器の使用が盛んとなり、漢代に入って一つの頂点を形造る。支那の鉄はローマの市場にまで販売された。漢が匈奴に打撃を与えて之を西方に遁走せしめたのは、鉄製武器のおかげであった。然るに三国以後に入って中国国内は鉄の不足を感じた。クビカセ、アシカセのような刑具をも、従来鉄製であったものを木製品で代用した。この時代に成立したと思われる北方民族の言語の中に、中国語の鉄という言葉が直接受容された形迹がない。ところが唐末から宋初にかけて中国に燃料革命とも称すべきものが起り、石炭を燃して高熱を得、製鉄にも石炭を利用して大量生産が可能となった。ここに世界史上、極東の優位が出現し、支那鉄を利用した蒙古の大征服、これに圧されてトルコ族の西遷という事件も起った。南海方面では中国の鉄が重要な貿易品となり、アラビア半島にまで輸出された。In the world history before the industrial revolution, the iron manufacturing in China was of world-wide importance. The ironwares were extensively used since the age of Chan-kuo (戦国時代 or Warring Kingdoms) and culminated in the Han dynasty. Chinese iron was sold as far as Rome. It was accomplished by iron weapons that the Han dynasty could attack and expel the enemy Huns to the west. After the age of the Three Kingdoms (三国時代), there was lack of iron in China; even the implements of pubishment, however, such as cangues and fettets, formerly ironmade, were replaced with wooden ones. In that language of the northern tribes which appeared to be established in this period, there was no evidence that the Chinese word t'ieh (鉄 iron) was directly introduced. The revolution which deserved the name of the feul revolution, however, broke out from the end of T'ang (唐) to the beginning of Sung dynasty; by mass production in the iron manufacturing realized by using coal, the Far East civilization had the advantage over the world, such as the Mongolian conquest by using Chinese iron and the consequent westward movement of Turks. In the South Seas, Chinese iron became one of the most important merchandise and was exported as far as the Arabian Peninsula