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Wee Kek Koon

A coal mine explosion occurred in China’s Shanxi province last week. It was one of the deadliest in recent years, with 82 miners killed at the time of writing and many more injured. The details are familiar: a suspected gas blast, difficult rescue conditions, grieving families waiting above ground.
Much has been said about improved safety standards and stricter oversight in China’s coal industry, and much of it is true. Yet accidents like this continue to punctuate the sector, both within China and the rest of the world, with tragic regularity.
The terrible loss of human lives is a grim reminder that, for all of humanity’s technological strides, coal mining remains a very dangerous enterprise.
It is hard not to wonder what it must feel like to be a coal miner, to go underground each day, fully aware of the risks and the possibility that it may be the last time you see your family.

Long before it powered factories or lit cities, coal was already being used in China during the Han period (206BC-AD220) as a practical fuel, albeit in a very limited capacity. Without the know-how to dig deep and limited knowledge of the combustible substance itself, the only coal obtained was that exposed above ground. For centuries, wood was the main source of fuel.
By the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) periods, population explosions in urban centres presented multiple problems, one of which was fuel. Most previously forested areas around the cities had been denuded. As timber became scarce, coal became a viable alternative fuel.
The Song dynasty, often described as a moment of early industrial awakening in China, brought new intensity to this relationship with coal. At the height of the Northern Song (960-1127), the population of its capital, Bianjing, reached 1.5 million people. At the time, it was one of the biggest and most populous cities in the world.
The acute demand for fuel sparked the gathering of more knowledge about coal and greater advances in mining technology. Mining began to push deeper underground. Records from this period, complete with illustrations, referred to shafts, tunnels and even ingenious ventilation systems fashioned from bamboo.
Miners also adopted techniques such as fire-setting to fracture rock, alongside simple hoisting systems, drainage channels and manual pumps to deal with flooding.
These developments allowed deeper extraction, but also introduced new dangers, including gas accumulation and tunnel collapse, risks that remain familiar today.

By the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties, coal mining had settled into a more recognisable pattern of organised industry.
Mines were run by local operators or the government, and knowledge began to circulate in written manuals. Yet for all this structure, the work remained physically demanding and often perilous, dependent less on machines than on human endurance.
It was only in the late 19th century, with the introduction of Western technology, that mining in China began to take on a more modern shape. Steam power, improved engineering and better surveying techniques promised greater efficiency and, one might have hoped, greater safety.
After 1949, state-led industrialisation accelerated these changes dramatically, embedding coal at the centre of national development. And still, even as mechanisation advanced, the risks never quite disappeared.
Seen in this light, today’s coal industry feels less like a break from the past than a continuation of it. China now leads the world in both producing and consuming coal, its mines a mix of cutting-edge technology and uneven safety records.
Perhaps that is what makes the news from Shanxi all the more poignant. Coal has always powered humanity forward, but it has never done so gently. And every so often, it reminds us, with terrible clarity, of the cost.


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Lifestyle

Chinese culture

From bamboo ventilation systems to steam power and beyond, China now leads the world in producing and consuming coal, but dangers remain


From bamboo ventilation systems to steam power and beyond, China now leads the world in producing and consuming coal, but dangers remain.


Chinese history

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column

Reflections

How China’s coal mining industry evolved over history, as Shanxi disaster shocks country

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From bamboo ventilation systems to steam power and beyond, China now leads the world in producing and consuming coal, but dangers remain

From bamboo ventilation systems to steam power and beyond, China now leads the world in producing and consuming coal, but dangers remain