沈括石油墨考述

Textual Research and Comments on Shen Kuo’s Fossil Oil Ink

首先,根据沈括《梦溪笔谈》卷二十四中对石油和制作石油墨的记载,对“石油”一词的最早提出者进行了考证,否定了《太平广记》中记载石油的说法,确认沈括是最早提出者。其次,对沈括“此物后必大行于世”的预言进行了分析,指出“此物”不是指石油而是指石油墨,那种认为沈括预言了现在石油的广泛利用的观点是错误的。沈括是在传统松烟墨工艺造成环境破坏和原材料短缺的基础上,认为石油墨将来会流行的。最后,考察了沈括的石油墨在中国传统制墨史上的地位,发现石油墨并未如沈括所预测“大行于世”,而是在历史长期湮没无闻,直到中国近代西方工业文明冲击之后,才占据了制墨的主流。

First of all,according to Shen Kuo’s records of fossil oil and the production of fossil oil ink in Volume 24 of Dream Pool Essays,this paper makes a textual research on the earliest user of the word“shi you”(fossil oil),refutes the view that the term had been recorded in the earlier Taiping Guangji,and confirms that Shen was the earliest proposer of the term.Secondly,this paper analyzes Shen’s prediction that“this thing will be widely used in the world”and points out that“this thing”does not refer to fossil oil,but refers to“fossil oil ink”.The view that Shen predicted the widespread use of fossil oil is incorrect.Shen thought that fossil oil ink would be popular in the future on the basis of the environmental damage and raw material shortage caused by traditional pine smoke ink process.Finally,the status of Shen’s fossil oil ink in the history of Chinese traditional ink production was investigated.It was found that the fossil oil ink did not become“widely used in the world”as predicted by Shen.Instead,it was not known for a long time in history.Its use did not become the mainstream until the impact of modern western industrial civilization on China.