1 Scholar and commentator of “Kao Gong Ji” Zheng Xuan 郑玄 (127–200) 2
2 Scholar Dai Zhen 戴震 (1724–1777), author of The Illustrated Kao Gong Ji 3
3 A page of Dai Zhen’s 戴震 “Kao Gong Ji Tu” 考工记图 3
4 Illustration of a war chariot in Dai Zhen’s “Kao Gong Ji Tu” 4
5 China during the Chunqiu 春秋 period 5
6 Minister Guan Zhong 管仲 6
7 China during the Zhanguo 战国 period 8
8 Emperor Qin Shihuangdi 秦始皇帝 10
9 Philosopher Kong Zi 孔子 11
10 Philosopher Meng Zi 孟子 12
11 Philosopher Zhuang Zi 庄子 12
12 Minister Lü Buwei 吕布韦 13
13 Reconstruction of a chariot from tomb No. 8 belonging to Zhao Qing 赵卿, from the state Jin 晋 in Jinsheng 金胜 (now near Taiyuan 太原) 122
14 Structure of a wheel 122
15 Sizes of the wheel 123
16 Structure of the wheel, consisting of rim, spokes and hub 125
17 Bronze axle caps 125
18 An axle’s end pin 126
19 Wall relief from the Han 汉 dynasty, with a representation of the manufacture of a wheel, excavated in Hongshan 洪山, Jiaxiang 嘉祥 (Shandong Province 山东) 127
20 Wheel from a carriage, made using traditional technology 127
21 Carriage with bent pole 128
22 Two types of horse harnesses: Left – old throat-and-girth harness, right – the newer breast strap harness using the bent pole 128
23 Components of the carriage’s umbrella 129
24 Bronze chariot from the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi 秦始皇帝 129
25 Bronze chariot from the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi 秦始皇帝 (detail of the charioteer) 130
26 Star map with the star constellations represented by 28 lunar mansions. The map shows the ecliptic in its position today (solid line) and in its position around 2400 BCE (broken line) 131
27 Representation of the 28 lunar mansions on the lid of a lacquered box from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng 曾侯乙 132
28 Form of the lunar mansions Great Fire (da huo 大火) (left) and Quail Fire (chun huo 鹑火) (right) 133
29 Form of the lunar mansions Chopper Fa 伐 (left) and Chamber (ying shi 营室) (right) 133
30 Form of the lunar mansion Bow and Arrow (hu shi 弧矢) 134
31 Form of the pole of a carriage from the Zhanguo 战国 period, compared with the form of the lunar mansion Willow (liu 柳) 134
32 Mixing ratios of bronze alloys for the six product groups according to Table 4 136
33 Ternary phase diagram of Cu-Sn-Pb alloys, with indication of the colours of the bronze alloys 137
34 Ternary phase diagram of bronze alloys, indicating the relationship between Cu-, Sn- and Pb-content and the tensile strength (in kp/mm2) of the bronze alloys 138
35 Types of bronze ceremonial vessels 141
36 Rectangular bronze vessel for food sacrifices of type ding 鼎 (Shang 商 dynasty). Weight 833 kg, length 110 cm, height 133 cm, width 79 cm 142
37 Lü Buwei’s 吕布韦 lance, with the knives yuan 援, hu 胡 and nei 内 (Zhanguo 战国 period) 142
38 Battleaxe 143
39 Bronze swords (Zhanguo 战国 period) 143
40 Bronze axe yue 钺 (late Shang 晚商 dynasty, ca. 1300–1030 BCE) 143
41 Erasing knife for correcting script on bamboo strips (Zhanguo 战国 period) 144
42 Bronze arrowheads from the Chunqiu 春秋 period (Museum of Shaanxi 陕西 province in Xi’an 西安) 144
43 Bronze mirrors from the Zhanguo 战国 period (Museum of Shaanxi 陕西 province in Xi’an 西安) 145
44 Concave mirror from the Chunqiu 春秋 period 145
45 Cross section of the concave mirror in Fig. 4.10 145
46 Bronze volume standard Youli 右里 from the state Qi 齐 147
47 Bronze volume standard Zihezi 子禾子 for the measurement unit Fu 釜 from the state Qi 齐 148
48 Structure of the standard Li Shi Liang 栗氏量 of “Kao Gong Ji” 150
49 Reconstruction of the standard Li Shi Liang 栗氏量 according to the proposal of researchers Chen Mengjia 陈梦家 and Qiu Guangming 丘光明 151
50 Bronze volume standard for the unit Sheng 升, manufactured at the order of Shang Yang 商鞅 in the year 344 BCE. The original is kept in the museum of Shanghai 上海 152
51 Combined measurement standard Jia Liang 嘉量 from the reign of Wang Mang 王莽 153
52 Cross section through the combined measurement standard Jia Liang 嘉量 153
53 Combined measurement standard “Kepler vessel” for the measurement units of length, volume and mass 154
54 Structure of an old Chinese bronze bell 155
55 Bronze bell (early Zhanguo 战国 period), Shanghai 上海 Museum 155
56 Set of bells from the Marquis Su of Jin 晋侯苏 (Western Zhou 西周 dynasty, mid-9th century BCE), Shanghai Museum 156
57 Locations for hitting a bell (P – location for hitting the bell, R – wave knot) 156
58 Set of bells from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng 曾侯乙 158
59 Statue of a bird, functioning as carrier of the crossbar in a set of chime stones from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng 曾侯乙 158
60 Geometry of a chime stone “qing” 磬 according to the description in “Kao Gong Ji” 159
61 Set of chime stones from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng 曾侯乙 159
62 Change of the obtuse angle on the upper side of chime stones over time 160
63 Geometry of the drum gao 皋 161
64 Six types of ritual jades used by the princes (jades rui 瑞) 163
65 Jade disc bi 璧 (late Shang 商 dynasty (13–10th-century BCE)) 164
66 Jade sceptre gui 圭 (late Shang 商 dynasty, 13–11th-century BCE), Shanghai Museum 164
67 Jade tube cong 琮 (Liangzhu culture 良渚文化, ca. 3000–2800 BCE) 165
68 Jade jewellery huang 璜 with two dragons (Zhanguo 战国 period), Shanghai Museum 165
69 Jade tiger hu 琥 (late Shang 商 dynasty, ca. 1300–1030 BCE) 165
70 Measurement of shadow length with a gnomon (Qing 清 dynasty, illustration from the book Shujing 书经) 166
71 Reconstruction of the sceptres Wan Gui 琬圭 and Yan Gui 琰圭 by Dai Zhen 戴震 in his work “Kao Gong Ji Tu” 考工记图 (Illustrated Kao Gong Ji) 167
72 Cooking jar type yan 甗 (Zhanguo 战国 period) and cross section through such a jar 169
73 Steamer insert of cooking jar type zeng 甑 (Zhanguo 战国 period) 169
74 Cooking jar type li 鬲, excavated at Erligang 二里岗 (Neolithic age) 170
75 Cooking jar type gui 簋 (Shang 商 dynasty) 170
76 Ceramic vessel type dou 豆 (Zhanguo 战国 period) 171
77 Ceramic vessel type pen 盆 (Yangshao culture 仰韶文化, 5000–3000 BCE, excavated at Banpo 半坡 village near Xi’an 西安, 1954) 171
78 Method, described in “Kao Gong Ji”, for the determination of the east-west direction 173
79 Reconstruction of the layout of a king’s city during the Zhou 周 dynasty 174
80 Area module of the city layout derived from the well-field system 175
81 Reconstruction of the layout of a king’s palace during the Zhou 周 dynasty 176
82 Layout of the king’s ancestor temple 177
83 Cross section of main streets (above) and of the street running along the city wall of the king’s city 177
84 Design of a barrage in a watercourse 179
85 Layout of the capital Chang’an 长安 during the Han 汉 dynasty 180
86 Reconstruction of the layout of the capital Chang’an 长安 during the Tang 唐 dynasty 181
87 Layout of the capital Beijing 北京 around the year 1900 182
88 Detail of the centre of Beijing 北京 from a contemporary city map 183
89 Structure of a bow 185
90 Test of the bow force (original illustration of “Tian Gong Kai Wu” 天工开物) 188
91 Corrected illustration by Qiu Guangming 丘光明 on testing of the bow force 188