Coal Gas

Chen HengqingNanhai Publication Company · ChinaJun 2024

3.1

Word count: 547 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

In the winter, while I was inspecting the central city, there were always reports of people suffocated by coal gas. The Yan region is bitterly cold; without a coal fire at night, one's bones shiver. My teacher, Lord Song Wentin, who served as Minister of Justice and was also a Grand Minister of the Imperial Household, actually died of coal gas. Other officials and servants who died from it cannot be counted. For thousands of years, the Chinese had no method for eliminating coal gas. That changed only when the foreign stove entered China. In a foreign stove, the flue leads the smoke outside; the smoke goes out and the fire burns brightly, and now such stoves have spread throughout the world. People all say that foreign stoves can warm a person but cannot be used for cooking—this is simply stubborn and unreasonable. In a double-lidded foreign stove, one seals both ends with clay and uses only the round lid in the middle, which burns very little coal. Remove the lid and one can cook; when cooking is finished, put the lid back, and a family of several mouths is both full and warm. If a place has no coal, firewood can be used instead. Siberia has no coal; not only stoves but even trains use wood there. Its heating power is inferior to coal, and on steep slopes more wood is added to build up steam and climb in one go. The only nuisance is that flying ash fills the streets. Most of that firewood is taken from our thousand-year-old forests in Heilongjiang.

Editor's review

In the concise style of a Qing dynasty notebook entry, Coal Gas chillingly captures the everyday danger of winter heating and gas poisoning in the north, then leads naturally into the technical improvement introduced when foreign stoves reached China: venting smoke outside through a pipe. Chen Hengqing's account does not rely on grand argument; it begins with personal observation, the fate of teachers and friends, and the countless deaths among officials and servants, letting readers see the harsh northern winter where "without a coal fire, one's bones shiver at night," and the long困境 of a people who for thousands of years had no way to remove coal gas. The essay's greatest strength is its concrete, tangible treatment of material change: how a double-lidded foreign stove, with clay sealing both ends and only the central round lid in use, burns very little coal; how removing the lid allows cooking, and replacing it afterward keeps a family of several fed and warm. It even records such telling details as Siberia, lacking coal, using firewood not only for stoves but for trains, where the weaker heat means extra wood on slopes to build up steam in one push—though fly ash fills the streets, an annoyance. This is both a slice of daily-life history and primary material on the reception of technology. Readers will gain more by treating it as a Qing notebook's cross-section of technology and custom than as mere nostalgic writing; it suits those interested in winter heating, the history of modern objects entering China, or notebook literature—short but information-dense, best read slowly and with attention to its correction of the stubborn claim that "a foreign stove cannot cook."

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in Qing dynasty notebooks, daily-life history, and folk customs
Readers concerned with the introduction of modern objects and the evolution of winter heating technology
Writers seeking source material and historical detail from short classical Chinese notebook entries
Readers living in the north with practical concerns about gas safety and heating methods

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a systematic history of science and technology or a full chemical explanation of coal gas
Readers who prefer Vernacular long novels and have little tolerance for the classical notebook style

Reading tips

Read through once for the gist, then take notes on details such as the double-lidded foreign stove and cooking with the lid removed.
Read alongside winter heating and carbon monoxide safety knowledge, comparing historical experience with present-day reminders.
If classical Chinese is a barrier, read a vernacular translation first and return to the original, noting the author's terse treatment of deaths among officials and servants.

About the publisher

Nanhai Publication Company China · Founded in 1988

Nanhai Publication Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its literature and arts titles, covering fields such as classical poetry, martial arts fiction, and folk literature. Judging from the more than 1,600 books in the database, the company has released classical poetic works including the Nineteen Old Poems and the Nine Songs, as well as multiple volumes of Huanzhulouzhu's series The Swordsmen of Mount Shu, along with related writings by authors such as Guan Hanqing, Qu Yuan, Zuo Si, and Wang Zhihuan. Its publishing character lies in balancing the organization of classic texts with the dissemination of popular literature, placing poetry anthologies alongside long martial arts novels and presenting a relatively diverse literary profile. Public information is limited, and further details about its editorial practices and series planning remain to be supplemented.

版权信息
煤气

FAQ

Is this essay "Coal Gas" mainly about gas poisoning or about foreign stove technology?

Both. It begins with the severe northern cold and the shivering of those without coal fires, records cases of death by coal gas and the many deaths among officials and servants, then turns to the improvement introduced when foreign stoves reached China: smoke vented outside through a pipe, with a bright fire and smoke drawn out. It also discusses how a double-lidded foreign stove saves coal and can also be used for cooking. The core is using the harm of coal gas to introduce material change and practical responses in daily life.

Does the author agree with the claim that "a foreign stove cannot cook"?

No. The author explicitly calls it "stubborn and unreasonable" and gives a concrete method: a double-lidded foreign stove with clay sealing both ends and only the central round lid in use burns little coal; removing the lid allows cooking, and replacing it afterward keeps a family of several both fed and warm. The author is correcting this stubborn claim, not endorsing it.

Where there is no coal, what substitute does the text mention?

It mentions firewood, citing Siberia as an example: there firewood is used not only for stoves but also for trains. Its heat is weaker than coal, so on slopes extra wood is added to build up steam in one push; the drawback is fly ash filling the streets. It also says most of the firewood comes from the ancient forests of Heilongjiang.

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About the author

Chen Hengqing Author · Chinese · 1844–1920

Chen Hengqing (1844–1920), courtesy name Zijiu, was a native of Weixian in Shandong (present-day Weicheng District, Weifang). A late Qing official and scholar, he passed the provincial examination in 1873 and the metropolitan examination in 1886. He served successively as a secretary in the Ministry of Works, rising through the Waterways, Construction, and Colonization Departments, and later held posts as Supervising Censor of the Ministry of War, Investigating Censor of the Henan Circuit, and Chief Supervising Censor. In 1908 he was appointed prefect of Jinzhou. He retired at sixty and wrote works including Jianshu Xian Notes (also known as Jili Qingtan) and Unofficial Gleanings of the Late Qing. His extant writings are considerable, with 154 titles held in our collection, many drawing on folk literature and Eastern philosophy. They touch on modern upheavals such as the militia conflicts, the Boxer movement, and the Nian rebels, as well as rural tales and social types like foxes and swindlers, and social issues such as Manchu-Han differences, bearing the documentary flavor of note-style historiography. Public information is limited, and his literary standing and influence await further study.