中国传统制针历史悠久。明末清初,伴随商品经济的发展,传统制针业在一些冶铁中心地区呈现出繁荣景象。两次鸦片战争后,大量机制洋针进口,传统制针受到严重冲击而逐步衰落。20世纪初,中国人开始尝试建立机械制针工业。在描述中国传统制针的发展、繁荣到衰落、转型历史过程的同时,与西方制针技术的发展进行对比,并对中国传统制针兴衰的社会背景进行了考察。

Traditional Chinese needle-making has a long history. In the late Ming and early Qing, with the development of a commodity economy, traditional needle-making flourished in some centers of iron production. After the Opium Wars, a huge number of foreign mechanically-produced needles were imported into China, which had a great impact on traditional needle-making and led to its collapse. This paper outlines the development, flourishing, decline and transformation of traditional Chinese needle-making, makes a comparison to the development of needle-making in the West, and explores the social context of the rise and collapse of traditional Chinese needle-making.