Makers › Engineer / Architect
Hou Debang
Hou Debang (1890–1974), a chemical engineer, ran technical work at the Yongli soda works from 1921, wrote a monograph on soda making and devised the combined soda process.
A stone arch bridge is being built across a river gorge, with wooden centering under the arch and bamboo scaffolding around the piers; many small workers haul stone blocks up a ramp with ropes and pulleys, and blocks and logs lie in the foreground below a distant city wall.
Also known as Hou Qirong (other name) · Zhiben (courtesy name)
Hou Debang, also known as Hou Qirong, with the courtesy name Zhiben, came from Houguan in Fujian. He graduated in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1917, took a doctorate at Columbia University in 1921 and returned the same year at Fan Xudong's invitation to run the technical work of the Yongli soda works. He wrote Manufacture of Soda and later devised the combined soda process, also called the Hou process.
Life and times
Dates 1890–1974