The Legend of Three Stones

Preface In the ninth year of Xianfeng's reign in the Qing Dynasty, a group of people came from Jiaohe County, Zhili, Hebei Province. The leader was Qin Heqing, with several nephews and nephews of his family, pushing several wheelbarrows (the old Tianjin guards called these carts "Coward Gong"). The carts were loaded with blacksmithing tools and a small coal-burning stove. They went from house to house shouting: "Repair ironware and farm tools...". People called this business "making a furnace" and walked into Tianjin Wei while working. They found a high platform and built a shop near the mouth of the Sancha River outside the north gate. The "work furnace" became a "ding furnace". It gradually developed from a "workshop" that could only do simple processing to a factory capable of casting castings. Gradually, No. 100 Pavilions gathered here. So much so that it is known as "Tiechang Street". The establishment of Tiechang Street coincided with the Second Opium War and the rampant invasion of China by the British and French forces. The invaders forcibly expropriated land in Tianjin to build churches and concessions. The invaders did not hesitate to use force, coerced the Qing government, monopolized the means of production and robbed private treasures, and persecuted the operators and workers of Tiechang Street. The debts of blood were so numerous that it is difficult to write down. With the efforts of Qin Heqing, the change from "dry mold casting" to "hard mold casting" was a revolutionary breakthrough in the history of casting. It realized the continuous operation of the casting process and played a key role in the subsequent development of Santiaoshi Machinery Industry and the improvement of productivity. In the sixth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang held a funeral for his wife and laid three rows of bluestone slabs in the middle of Tiechang Street. It was named after the object and the name of Tiechang Street was changed to "Three Stones". I am glad that the ruins of "Fujuxing Machinery Manufacturing Factory" have been left in the prosperous "TEDA City" as history for people to pay homage to, which is worthy of celebration.