Did ancient people use coal?

The history of human discovery of coal is quite long, and China is the first country in the world to use coal as fuel. More than 3,000 years ago, our ancestors began to mine coal, using this "black stone" to keep warm and boil water for cooking. By the Han and Tang Dynasties, the handmade coal industry had been established, and coal was widely used for smelting and casting metals (using heat energy). But at this time, most countries in the world still don't know what coal is! In ancient times, coal had many other names besides Blackstone. Such as stone, black gold, graphite, Carboniferous and so on. Up to now, it is recognized that the earliest written record of human coal mining activities in China is Sima Qian's consorts. Therefore, it is certain to mine and use coal in the Tang and Song Dynasties.