 The encyclopedist Song Yingxing ( 1587 – 1666 ) documented a wide array of technologies , metallurgic and industrial processes in his Tiangong Kaiwu ( Chinese : 天工開物 ) encyclopedia of 1637 . This includes mechanical and hydraulic powered devices for agriculture and irrigation , nautical technology such as vessel types and snorkeling gear for pearl divers , the annual processes of sericulture and weaving with the loom , metallurgic processes such as the crucible technique and quenching , manufacturing processes such as for roasting iron pyrite in converting sulphide to oxide in sulfur used in gunpowder compositions — illustrating how ore was piled up with coal briquettes in an earthen furnace with a still @-@ head that sent over sulfur as vapor that would solidify and crystallize — and the use of gunpowder weapons such as a naval mine ignited by use of a rip @-@ cord and steel flint wheel . 
