The Modern Backbone Tempered by Coal: German Investment and Industrial Transformation of Pingxiang Coal Mine
Pingxiang, Anyuan, Songjiafang, Xiangdong, Xiashankou, Gaokeng, Wangjiayuan (Jiangxi); Liling, Zhuzhou (Hunan); Hankou (Hubei); Shanghai In the summer of 1897, a German engineer arrived in Jiangxi and changed the history of a small county town forever. In June of the 23rd year of Guangxu’s reign, Sheng Xuanhuai, the Imperial Minister for Railway Affairs, acting on the advice of Zheng Guanying, dispatched Zhang Zanchen and German mining engineer Gustav Leinung to Anyuan for a field survey. After his geological investigation, Leinung delivered a staggering figure—500 million tons of coal reserves lay beneath Anyuan. ...