Coke appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty,

After the Yuan Dynasty, it was widely used.

The Western Han Dynasty was the earliest period of mining and using coal in China.

Coal is dark in color and looks like stone, so in ancient times it had names such as "Shi Nie", "Carboniferous", "Graphite", "Blackstone" and "Black Dan". At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States Period (about the fifth century BC), the Five Zang Mountains in the Classic of Mountains and Seas said "the mountain of women's beds", "the mountain of women's widowhood" and "the nirvana of Loki". Nvchuang Mountain is in today's Shaanxi and Nvchuang Mountain is in today's Sichuan, indicating that coal has been discovered in these areas at that time, which is the earliest record of coal in China.

During the Western Han Dynasty, China began to mine coal and used coal as fuel. Historical Records Family of Consoles records that in the year when Emperor Wen ascended the throne, that is, in 180 BC, Dou Taihou's younger brother "Dou Guangguo ... made charcoal for his master". "Burning charcoal in the mountains" means coal mining in the mountains. At that time, there was also a "bank collapse" (landslide) accident, "more than 0/00 people under the embankment" and "killing as much as possible", indicating that the scale of coal mining was not small. After liberation, in the iron smelting sites of Han Dynasty, such as Tieshenggou in Gongxian County, Henan Province, Guxing Town in Zhengzhou, etc., coal blocks and pulverized coal for smelting were found mixed with clay and briquettes made in time. Generally speaking, coal as smelting fuel should be later than ordinary fuel, and coal cake should be later than coal block. It can be seen that coal has been used for a long time in the Western Han Dynasty.

The earliest record of smelting iron from coal in ancient China was recorded in Li Daoyuan's Notes on Water Classics and Rivers in the Northern Wei Dynasty: "There are mountains 200 miles north of Quzi. ..... People take this mountain as the Carboniferous period, smelting this mountain as iron, and charging 36 countries. " Kuzi, or Qiuci, was located in Kuche County, Xinjiang, where iron was smelted for use by 36 countries in Xinjiang at that time. It can be seen that the scale of coal mining and iron smelting is considerable.

At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, China began to exploit and use coal extensively. Coal has been widely used as fuel for ironmaking and porcelain making. In some places, it has replaced firewood and become the main fuel for urban residents. By the Song Dynasty, there had been a set of relatively complete technologies for coal mining. With the further development of coal mining technology in Ming dynasty, measures to eliminate gas and prevent mine collapse appeared.

China is the first country to mine and use coal in the world. In Europe, the written record of coal is only 3 15 AD, which is about 800 years later than that of China. Britain started coal mining in 13 century, about 1400 years later than China.