924 years ago today, on June 18, 1101 (May 20, 1101, the 1101 lunar calendar), Su Song, the maker of the armillary sphere, passed away. On June 18, 1101, Su Song, the maker of the armillary sphere and an astronomer of the Song Dynasty in my country, died. Su Song (1020-1101), also known as Zirong, was born in Tong 'an, Quanzhou (now Fujian). He served as Minister of Punishment and Minister of Civil Affairs, and in his later years he went to the cabinet to worship as prime minister. He was a famous astronomer, astronomer machinery manufacturer, and pharmacologist in the Song Dynasty. In the second year of the Qingli Dynasty (1042), Su Song was a scholar and was an observation and promotion official in Suzhou. The following year, he was appointed magistrate of Jiangning. His three-year term ended, just as his father Su Shen died of illness. He buried his father in Jingkou and moved to Danyang, Runzhou. In the fifth year of Huangyou (1053), he was appointed as the collate of the museum and pavilion. In the sixth year of Jiayou (1061), he was transferred to Yingzhou. In the eighth year of Jiayou, he was called to serve as an official in various counties and towns in the Kaifeng Prefecture. In the second year of Zhiping (1065), he was transferred to the third division as a judge. In the fourth year of Xining (1071), he served as governor of Wuzhou. In the sixth year of Xining, he was transferred to the governor of Bozhou. In the eighth year, he became the governor of Yingtianfu. In the ninth year, he became the governor of Hangzhou. In the tenth year of Xining, he was transferred to the court to revise history. In the first year of Yuanfeng (1078), he learned about Kaifeng Prefecture. In two years, he was transferred to Haozhou, in three years, he was transferred to Cangzhou, and in four years, he was recalled to serve in the Ministry of Civil Affairs. In the eighth year of Yuanyou (1093), he became a local official again. When serving as a local official, Su Song did his best to benefit the people. For example, when the Kaifeng Prefecture boundary mentioned the official affairs of various counties and towns, he "built and asked for dredging the Zimeng, Baigou, Gui, and Daosi Rivers to drain the stagnant water in the capital" ¢Ù and built water conservancy to protect farmland and prevent disasters. When he learned about Cangzhou in the fourth year of Yuanfeng (1081), the Yellow River flooded. He also submitted a petition pointing out the danger of only building embankments without paying attention to dredging the Haikou. After careful investigation and research, he proposed a better solution: "I have secretly seen that there are three tangpo in the northeast of Cangzhou, which are more than a hundred miles wide and connected to the sea route. The name is Heilonggang... Its west is only 30 to 50 miles away from Pozangkou of the Yuhe River and Fanqiao Town. It can divert rivers and flow eastward into the lake. If it is full, it will flow into the sea from Black Dragon Port. The situation is very easy." During his tenure in Hangzhou, he introduced the spring water of Fenghuang Mountain into the urban area to use it as tap water and benefit the people. During his tenure as Huainan Transport Envoy, he saw the tragic scene of famine causing widespread sorrow and victims starving to be fed, so he immediately wrote a letter and asked for relief for the people: "I have heard that recently, people injured by disasters in the north have been migrating to neighboring Luzhou to seek food... Although the counties in the Huai River have become more prosperous now, if there are more food, prices will surely rise. If autumn becomes disappointed in the future, there will be no time for the wandering people to return to work. Sitting down and eating expensive grains, you will see what you have lost. At that time, the county magistrate had to be troubled by relief, but it was too late to provide benefits, and the loss would be even worse. I think that the method of saving and caring is to first level prices. If goods and goods are balanced, then it is better to sell them to them so that they can often eat cheap things, so that they will not be aware of the danger of migration."¢Ú He not only thought of relief to the victims during the famine years, but also thought of how prices could remain stable after relief, how refugees could return to work and settle down, etc. What he thinks is very thoughtful and long-term. At that time, various places were competing to build temples, and the emperor also indiscriminately awarded plaques, which greatly increased the financial burden on the people. Su Song stepped forward and asked for the people: "I want to ask the court to establish a clear treaty, and in the future, we will not allow special temples and temples to be created. "For monasteries built illegally," the prefectures and counties were ordered to inspect and direct all demolitions, and people of all colors were allowed to buy them and ask for archers, so that they would always be their own business."¢Û Su Song cared about the people and cared for the people, and was deeply known to the emperor. In the first month of the ninth year of Xining (1076), the Suhang area was hit again. When selecting local governors, Shenzong said that "Su Song is kind and will surely be able to pacify the people of Wu." Su Song was appointed as a collator in the fifth year of Huangyou, and began his career of correcting and sorting ancient books. Soon after, he was moved to Dali Temple Governor, and in the first year of He (1054), Tongzhi Taichang Liyuan, and in the second year of Jiayou (1057), he was appointed as Jixian School Manager and Correction Medical Book Officer. For four years, he served concurrently as the Re-Examiner of the Palace Examination. In five years, he was moved to Dr. Taichang, still serving as Correction Medical Book Officer. Six years later, he left the country to serve as governor of Yingzhou. This was his first appointment in the court, mainly compiling ancient books, which lasted for nine years. In the first year of Xining (1068), he was appointed to make a patent. In the second year, he was promoted to the Yintai Department and the door to seal and refute matters, and he was appointed to the Court of Trial Officials. Three years later, Quan Tongzhi was dismissed from his post by Shenzong for refusing to draft an edict and Li was appointed as a supervisory censor. This was his second time in the court, mainly doing secretarial work. In the tenth year of Xining, he was recalled from Hangzhou to compile the records of Renzong and Yingzong, and also promoted the First Palace of Zhongtai and Jixi Temple. In just one year, he was transferred to a local official. In the fourth year of Yuanfeng (1081), he was recalled to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to define the official system in detail. In five years, he was promoted to Shangshu Zuo Cheng. In seven years, he served as Shangshu Youpushe and Zhongshu Assistant Minister (i.e. Prime Minister), and he held the administrative power of the country. During his tenure at the court, Su Song's first commendable thing was to correct and compile ancient books. As a result, he had extensive access to relevant documents and materials, creating conditions for him to become a profound scholar. The second major event in Su Song's tenure at the court was the "Li Ding Incident". He refused to draft an edict appointing Li as Prince Zhongyun and Quan Supervisory Censor Lixing. He refused to draft the imperial edict three times, and Shenzong angrily scolded him: "If you despise the imperial edict and repeat it like this, how can the national law tolerate it?"¢Ù So Su Song was dismissed. However, Su Song refused to draft the edict several times for his own reasons: The first was that the extraordinary promotion of Li Ding violated previous laws and regulations, and the appointment of officials must be carried out in accordance with the law. The second is that Li Ding does not meet the criteria for exceptional promotion. He "never claims" and cannot be promoted exceptionally just because he occasionally plays a favor. The third is to make general promotions first and place them next to the emperor for inspection. If there are any strange plans and masterpieces, it will not be too late to make special promotions. Su Song's opinions are very sincere. The third thing Su Song did in the DPRK was to participate in reform. The reform of the official system during the Yuanfeng period was one of the reform measures of Shenzong and Wang Anshi. In the fourth year of Yuanfeng, he was recalled to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to determine the official system in detail. He actively participated in the reform of the official system and did a lot of work to eliminate the shortcomings of officials, positions and dispatches in the Song Dynasty. Before Yuanfeng of the Song Dynasty, officials were used to determine the rank and salary; the positions were palace halls, literary scholars, and waiting to be made to show respect and favor. Only dispatching is a real duty and power can be exercised. This has resulted in shortcomings such as the inconsistency between the official name and the actual position, chaotic institutions, and excessive redundant staff. Su Song put forward many useful opinions in this regard. In the "petition to request that Changping County and other official affairs be handed over to the Zhulu Transportation Department and that the lifting officer be changed to be the official affairs of the department," he proposed that the lifting office of Changping County, which distributes green crop money, be brought under the jurisdiction of each transportation envoy. In this way, the government would not be separated from two sides and the state and county governors would be confused. This was also his good suggestion for institutional reform at that time. Su Song lived in an era when factional struggles between the DPRK and China swept the entire political stage. However, he has never been able to establish party support or join factions, which shows his firmness and steadiness, and also shows that he is indeed a mature politician. Su Song's first leadership in scientific and technological work began when he served as a correcting medical book officer in the second year of Jiayou (1057). At first, he participated in the compilation of Jiayou Materia Medica, and later led the compilation of Tujing Materia Medica (also known as "Materia Medica Tujing"). When leading this work, he used the method of mobilizing doctors and drug farmers to submit specimens and drug maps, and wrote detailed explanations, which changed the previous disadvantage of being divorced from book to book, thereby correcting the confusion and errors of drugs. Made a major contribution. Su Song compiled "Jiayou Materia Medica" with Lin Yi and others in the second year of Jiayou, which advanced the Tang Dynasty's "Xinxiu Materia Medica" and the early Song Dynasty's "Kaibao Materia Medica" a big step forward. However, he is not satisfied with the general advancement, but wants to make new breakthroughs in the field of medication and completely solve the shortcomings of herbal medicine from book to book, repeating each other and spreading rumors. He mobilized doctors and farmers across the country to collect specimens, draw medicine maps, and fill in instructions. He finally completed the "Picture Classics Materia Medica" that combines pictures and texts, making it the first herbal book with pictures that has been passed down to this day not only in China but also in the world. Joseph Needham spoke highly of "Picture Classics Materia Medica":"As a poet friend of the great poet Su Dongpo, Su Song was also a talented pharmacologist. He wrote" Picture Classics Materia Medica "in 1061, which is attached with illustrations of woodcut specimens. One of the masterpieces in the history of medicine. It was not until the 15th century that animals and plants that might have been collected in the wild were woodcut and printed so accurately in Europe.