Hongyipao
Hongyipao | |
---|---|
Manchu conquest of China | |
Production history | |
Produced | 17th to 19th centuries |
Specifications | |
Mass | 1,800 kilograms (4,000 lb) |
Length | 2.15 metres (7.1 ft) |
Caliber | 12 centimetres (4.7 in) |
Barrels | 1 |
Effective firing range | 700 metres (2,300 ft) |
Maximum firing range | 2 to 5 kilometres (1.2 to 3.1 mi) |
Hongyipao (
Name
The term "red barbarian cannon" comes probably from the huge burst of red fire produced by the explosion when fired, while the term barbarian was how the Portuguese were known since their arrival in southern China and Japan in the 16th century.The cannons were originally produced by the Portuguese at Macau in the largest cannon production center in the Far East, founded by António Bocarro[3]
The Jurchens renamed the "red barbarian cannon" to "red coat cannon" (Chinese: 紅衣炮; pinyin: hóngyīpào) when it entered their arsenal because they found the term "barbarian" to be insulting, and were known as such in the Manchu Eight Banners.[4]
History
After the
The Ming dynasty used Fujianese to reverse engineer salvaged British and Dutch cannons they recovered from the sea.[7] At the Siege of Fort Zeelandia, Koxinga deployed powerful cannon his uncle had dredged up years earlier from the sea.[8]
Several Ming officials who supported the use of the new technology were Christian converts of the
By the 1680s, the Hongyipao had lost their place as the strongest weapons in the Qing arsenal, and were superseded by another type of cannon called the "miraculous-power general cannon."[14]
Chinese improvements
Chinese gunsmiths continued to modify "red barbarian" cannons after they entered the Ming arsenal, and eventually improved upon them by applying native casting techniques to their design. In 1642, Ming foundries merged their own casting technology with European cannon designs to create a distinctive cannon known as the "Dingliao grand general." Through combining the advanced cast-iron technique of southern China and the iron-bronze composite barrels invented in northern China, the Dingliao grand general cannons exemplified the best of both iron and bronze cannon designs. Unlike traditional iron and bronze cannons, the Dingliao grand general's inner barrel was made of iron, while the exterior of brass.[4][15]
The resulting bronze-iron composite cannons were superior to iron or bronze cannons in many respects. They were lighter, stronger, longer lasting, and able to withstand more intensive explosive pressure. Chinese artisans also experimented with other variants such as cannons featuring wrought iron cores with cast iron exteriors. While inferior to their bronze-iron counterparts, these were considerably cheaper and more durable than standard iron cannons. Both types were met with success and were considered "among the best in the world"[16] during the 17th century. The Chinese composite metal casting technique was effective enough that Portuguese imperial officials sought to employ Chinese gunsmiths for their cannon foundries in Goa, so that they could impart their methods for Portuguese weapons manufacturing.[16] According to the soldier Albrecht Herport, who fought for the Dutch at the Siege of Fort Zeelandia, the Chinese "know how to make very effective guns and cannons, so that it’s scarcely possible to find their equal elsewhere."[17]
Soon after the Ming started producing the composite metal Dingliao grand generals in 1642, Beijing was captured by the Manchu Qing dynasty and along with it all of northern China. The Manchu elite did not concern themselves directly with guns and their production, preferring instead to delegate the task to Chinese craftsmen, who produced for the Qing a similar composite metal cannon known as the "Shenwei grand general." However, after the Qing gained hegemony over East Asia in the mid-1700s, the practice of casting composite metal cannons fell into disuse until the dynasty faced external threats once again in the Opium War of 1840, at which point smoothbore cannons were already starting to become obsolete as a result of rifled barrels.[15] After the Battle of Taku Forts (1860), the British reported with surprise that some of the Chinese cannons were of composite structure with similar features to the Armstrong Whitworth guns.[18] Many of the Qing cannons deployed along the coast were forged in the 17th or early 18th century.[19]
Although the southern Chinese started making cannons with iron cores and bronze outer shells as early as the 1530s, they were followed soon after by the Gujarats, who experimented with it in 1545, the English at least by 1580, and Hollanders in 1629. However the effort required to produce these weapons prevented them from mass production. The Europeans essentially treated them as experimental products, resulting in very few surviving pieces today.[20][21] Of the currently known extant composite metal cannons, there are 2 English, 2 Dutch, 12 Gujarati, and 48 from the Ming-Qing period.[15]
Date | Bore (cm) | Length (cm) | Weight (kg) |
---|---|---|---|
1533 | 2.6 cm (1.0 in) | 29.5 cm (11.6 in) | 4.65 kg (10.3 lb) |
1533 | 2.6 cm (1.0 in) | 29.5 cm (11.6 in) | 5 kg (11 lb) |
1541 | 2.7 cm (1.1 in) | 29.3 cm (11.5 in) | 4.25 kg (9.4 lb) |
1541 | 4.75 kg (10.5 lb) | ||
1543 | 3.5 cm (1.4 in) | 23 cm (9.1 in) | |
1628 | 7.8 cm (3.1 in) | 170 cm (67 in) | 420 kg (930 lb) |
1642 | 10.2 cm (4.0 in) | 382 cm (150 in) | 2,500 kg (5,500 lb) |
Date | Bore (cm) | Length (cm) | Weight (kg) |
---|---|---|---|
1643 | 13 cm (5.1 in) | 264 cm (104 in) | 2,340 kg (5,160 lb) |
1643 | 13 cm (5.1 in) | 266 cm (105 in) | 2,220 kg (4,890 lb) |
1643 | 13 cm (5.1 in) | 299 cm (118 in) | 2,400 kg (5,300 lb) |
1643 | 14.5 cm (5.7 in) | 2,160 kg (4,760 lb) | |
1646 | 13 cm (5.1 in) | 214 cm (84 in) | |
1658 | 10 cm (3.9 in) | 384 cm (151 in) | 1,848 kg (4,074 lb) |
See also
References
Citations
- ^ Oliveira, Francisco Roque De (2011). "João Rodrigues (1561?-1633)". DITEMA: Dicionário Temático de Macau. 4: 1307–1309.
- ^ "National Museum of Korea Quarterly Magazine". National Museum of Korea Quarterly Magazine. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ "Cast in bronze and iron". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ^ a b Andrade 2016, p. 201.
- ^ Chase 2003, p. 168.
- ^ Andrade 2016, p. 197.
- ISBN 978-0691144559.
- ISBN 978-0691144559.
- ^ Wakeman 1985, pp. 76–77.
- ISBN 978-1-78200-226-0.
- ISBN 978-0-521-82274-9.
- ^ Chase 2003, p. 169.
- ^ Wakeman 1985, pp. 170–194.
- ^ Andrade 2016, p. 222.
- ^ a b c "The Rise and Fall of Distinctive Composite-Metal Cannons Cast During the Ming-Qing Period" (PDF). Retrieved 11 June 2018.
- ^ a b Andrade 2016, p. 202.
- ^ https://www.universalhistory.info/M_Nosske_2012_ChinaStudies.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Needham 1986, p. 334.
- ^ Andrade 2016, p. 241.
- ^ http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/Hoskins-MA2004.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "The Rise and Fall of Distinctive Composite-Metal Cannons Cast During the Ming-Qing Period". March 2011. pp. 73–36. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
Bibliography
- Andrade, Tonio (2016), The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-13597-7.
- Chase, Kenneth Warren (2003), Firearms: A Global History to 1700, ISBN 9780521822749
- ISBN 0-521-30358-3
- ISBN 0520048040