In the hall of the Mawei Chinese Shipbuilding Culture Museum, an old machine tool is very eye-catching. This is a plug bed made by the French Mulhouse Ducmont Company in 1867, a national first-class cultural relic, about 1.8 meters high, weighing 2-3 tons, and the French inscription and the word "1867" on the machine tool. For more than 100 years, this plug-in bed has basically not replaced parts, is one of the earliest existing industrial machine tools in China, and is also a witness and witness to the century-old history of shipping administration, and it is also a strong evidence of the history of industrial changes in modern China. Experts say that in the world, this is a rare industrial heritage.
It was once "separated" from the Fujian shipping administration, and returned to its "hometown" after several twists and turns in previous years. The 155-year-old man silently narrates the legend of his life and the history of modern Chinese industry that has lasted for more than a hundred years in the hall of the museum.
Cross the sea from France to Horsetail
This mechanical processing equipment, commonly known as "insertion bed", is actually a vertical planer imported from France in the early days of shipping administration, which can be used to cut metal parts, process iron plate steel rivet holes, etc., and is a very advanced machine and equipment in the world at that time.
When Zuo Zongtang of the Qing Dynasty created the shipping administration, in order to ensure the fundamental principle of the sovereignty of the ship administration on the mainland, when formulating the shipbuilding construction plan and goals, not only required the production department of the shipping administration to have the ability to manufacture the hull, but also required the shipbuilding administration to master the steam engine, boiler, instrument, sail cable and other technical equipment related to the modernization of the ship and the manufacturing capacity of the outfitting parts. According to historical records, the machine tools and equipment customized by the shipping administration from Europe were hired by Western scissor sail cargo ships to be transported to Mawei in batches, of which the first one arrived in Mawei from France on December 13, 1867, and unloaded machinery and equipment including "fire saws, iron drilling machines, splitting iron machines, and wheels", of which "drill iron machines" refers to this kind of insertion bed.
"China's establishment of ships in Mawei is a pioneering move without any industry. Zuo Zongtang formulated the policy of opening up factories to the outside world, first purchasing a batch of mechanical processing equipment from foreign countries in order to form productive forces as soon as possible, and also 'using machines to make machines, accumulate small and huge, and turn one into a hundred'. To this end, at the beginning of the establishment of the shipping administration, all kinds of machinery and equipment for the manufacture of marine steam engines were purchased from foreign countries, and this insert bed was an imported product from this period. Lin Yingyao, director of the original history exhibition hall of Mawei Shipyard, introduced that after the purchase of this batch of mechanical processing equipment, it played an important role in the processing of various machine parts made by the shipping administration.
Later, this old insert bed can be described as "fateful". It experienced the devastation of the Sino-French Naval Battle of the Majiang River and survived the turbulent political situation of the Republic of China. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Mawei Shipbuilding Institute became the key target of the Japanese invading army's bombing, and in order to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy, the Navy's Mawei Shipbuilding Institute relocated the important equipment and materials in the factory, and it was transferred to the rear area with many equipment - xizhong temple in Nanping Gorge, and was transported back to Mawei after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. In 1970, Mawei Shipyard updated some of the old equipment, and most of the old equipment replaced was purchased by Fujian Machine Factory, which was included in the insertion bed, and then transferred to Sanming Machine Tool Factory, which lasted for nearly 50 years.
According to the old workers of Sanming Machine Tool Factory, "This plug-in bed was still in use in the 80s of the last century, and later there was a more efficient machine, in order to earn more work, this plug-in bed was slowly idle." ”
The "original taste" of the hometown must be preserved
In the 1990s, the second floor of the Ship Administration Engine Workshop was set up as the "Mawei Shipbuilding History Exhibition Hall" as an industrial tourism project, at that time, in addition to the newly established sculptures and display panels, visitors could only see an empty workshop, so that some visitors sighed: "More than a hundred years of inheritance only leave this empty factory building, the taste is indescribable." ”
Lin Yingyao often takes people to visit the engine workshop, and at this time he often explains: "After walking through this workshop, I have walked through the course of More than a hundred years of Chinese industry. But in the face of the visitor's feelings, he also felt that "history has been cut off, too many things, have not been inherited." ”
In 2019, with the full development of the construction of China Shipping Culture City, in order to find more shipbuilding industry cultural relics, when learning the information of this old insert bed, on October 3, 2019, the Shipping Administration Cultural Management Committee and Lin Yingyao began to look for the person in charge of Sanming Machine Tool Factory through various channels, hoping to collect it. After several efforts, on October 30, 2019, the insertion bed was smoothly transported back to Mawei, collected by the China Shipbuilding Culture Museum, and the old equipment of the ship administration that had been lost several times finally "returned to the mother's home".
Lin Yingyao said that this plug bed, manufactured in 1867, spanned tens of millions of miles, crossed the ocean to Mawei, to help China's modern shipbuilding industry, inscribed on the machine is not only the development mark of China's modern industry, but also the epitome of the world's advanced manufacturing industry at that time, "put in the world, this is a rare 'industrial heritage'." ”
"At present, in China, and even in East Asia, such an old machine tool is extremely rare, and it can be said that it is a 'national treasure' cultural relic." Chen Yue, president of the Mawei Ship Administration and Culture Research Association, was surprised by the completeness of the preservation of this insert bed, "Judging from the current state of preservation, this machine can be said to be preserved in its original appearance, and its scientific name is 'straight planing bed'." In the 1860s it was a very advanced form of machine, and it could be seen that there was a hammer-like design on the top, and the straight planer could cut metal, but every cut would have an upward reaction force, which would produce strong vibrations, and the rear hammer-shaped thing was used to counteract this reaction force. Straight planers can be used to machine metal parts such as large screws. The lower round dial plays a conveyor role, improving work efficiency and metal parts processing accuracy. ”
The shape of the insert bed can find the shadow of "industrial aesthetics"
"This French 1867 insertion bed collected by the Museum of Shipping Culture is the earliest modern machine tool in mainland China, and it is also rare in the world." Chen Yue introduced that considering that this batch of equipment was shipped out of France, and the time was at the end of 1867, this plug-in bed was most likely transported at that time and was a witness to the history of the creation of shipping.
Chen Yue took some photos and drawings of straight planers produced in britain and the United States and compared them and found that this insert bed actually had artistic modifications. From the shape of the old insert bed itself, you can also find the shadow of the French "industrial aesthetics". Although they are all industrialized products, as long as they meet the production purposes, in the eyes of the romantic French, stiff industrial products can also have tender artistic decoration. The rear end of this machine tool, which could have been in a vertical shape and straightforward, was incorporated into the industrial aesthetic by the French, which was beautified here and designed in an arc shape, which was not so blunt.
"This insert bed is almost 'original' preserved, and has high research value." Chen Yue said that the plug-in bed was originally powered by steam, the belt drove the machine from above, and later electricity gradually replaced the steam power, and people installed a motor for it and transferred power from below. What is even more valuable is that this old insert bed is cast as a whole, although it has gone through a hundred years of vicissitudes, but there is very little artificial transformation in the later period.
This modern industrial product, which has gone through 155 spring and autumn seasons, has a unique charm and is now displayed in the hall on the first floor of the China Museum of Shipping Culture.
□ expert treasure
It plays a role in promoting the protection of the heritage of the shipping industry
■ Invited expert: Chen Yue, president of the Mawei Ship Politics and Culture Research Association
The successful expropriation of this ship administration old bed has enriched the cultural relics and historical evidence of ship administration culture, and has played a great role in promoting the protection of industrial heritage. The protection of the industrial heritage of shipping administration involves all aspects, and now we have a century-old factory building, with docks and ship platforms, but they are all buildings, and this "straight planer" is alive and is a witness to industrial production. In the past, I had only seen it in the historical data, and I did not expect that the scale of the physical object would be so large, which was a very good equipment at that time.
At that time, there were more machines to buy in Britain, and after the baptism of the industrial revolution, the industrial production in Britain was at the leading level in the world, but this straight planer was not imported from the technologically advanced Britain, but France, which is indeed very interesting.
(The next issue of "Treasure of the Town Hall" will tell the story of "Tang Qing Glazed Tiger Shaped Porcelain Pillow", so stay tuned!) ）