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{{Infobox weapon
{{Infobox weapon
|name= Hongyipao
| name = Hongyipao
| image= Korean culverin.jpg
| image = Korean culverin.jpg
| image_size = 300
| image_size = 300
|caption= ''Hongyipao'' displayed at [[Hwaseong Fortress]]
| caption = ''Hongyipao'' displayed at [[Hwaseong Fortress]]
|origin=[[Kingdom of England|England]]
| origin = Portugal
|type= Smoothbore muzzle-loading [[culverin]]
| type = Smoothbore muzzle-loading [[culverin]]
<!-- Type selection -->
<!-- Type selection -->| is_artillery = yes
⚫
<!-- Service history -->| service = Early 17th – late 19th centuries
|is_artillery=yes
⚫
| used_by = {{Noflag|[[Ming dynasty]]|size=25px}}<br />{{Flag|Qing dynasty|size=23px}}<br />{{Flag|Joseon|size=23px}}
<!-- Service history -->
⚫
| wars = [[Manchu conquest of China]]
⚫
|service= Early 17th – late 19th centuries
⚫
<!-- Production history -->| production_date = 17th to 19th centuries
⚫
|used_by={{Noflag|[[Ming dynasty]]|size=25px}}<br/>{{Flag|Qing dynasty|size=23px}}<br/>{{Flag|Joseon|size=23px}}
⚫
<!-- General specifications -->| weight = {{convert|1800|kg|lb}}
⚫
|wars=[[Manchu conquest of China]]
⚫
| length = {{convert|2.15|m|ft}}
<!-- Production history -->
⚫
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->| caliber = {{convert|12|cm|in}}
⚫
|production_date= 17th to 19th centuries
⚫
| barrels = 1
⚫
<!-- General specifications -->
|weight= {{convert|1800|kg|lb}}
| range = {{convert|700|m|ft}}
|length= {{convert|2.15|m|ft}}
| max_range = {{convert|2|to|5|km|mi}}
⚫
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
|caliber= {{convert|12|cm|in}}
⚫
|barrels= 1
⚫
|range= {{convert|700|m|ft}}
|max_range= {{convert|2|to|5|km|mi}}
}}
}}


'''''Hongyipao''''' ({{zh|c=紅夷炮|p=hóngyípào|l=red barbarian cannon}}; {{lang-vi|hồng di pháo}}) was the Chinese name for European-style [[muzzle-loading]] [[culverin]]s introduced to China and Korea from the Portuguese colony of [[Macau]] and by the [[Hendrick Hamel]] expedition to [[Joseon]] in the early 17th century.
'''''Hongyipao''''' ({{zh|c=紅夷炮/紅衣炮|p=hóngyípào|l=red barbarian cannon/red coat cannon}}; {{langx|vi|hồng di pháo}}) was the Chinese name for portuguese-style [[muzzle-loading]] [[culverin]]s introduced to China and Korea from the Portuguese colony of [[Macau]] and with the help of portuguese diplomats and advisors in the Beijing imperial Court like [[João Rodrigues Tçuzu|João Rodrigues]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Oliveira |first=Francisco Roque De |date=2011 |title=João Rodrigues (1561?-1633) |url=https://repositorio.ul.pt/handle/10451/58632 |journal=DITEMA: Dicionário Temático de Macau |volume=4 |pages=1307–1309}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=National Museum of Korea Quarterly Magazine |url=https://webzine.museum.go.kr/eng/sub.html?amIdx=15584 |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=National Museum of Korea Quarterly Magazine |language=en}}</ref>


{{anchor|Etymology|Names}}
{{anchor|Etymology|Names}}


==Name==
==Name==
The term "red barbarian cannon" derives from the weapons' supposed [[Dutch Republic|Dutch]] origins, as the Dutch were called [[ang mo|"red haired barbarians"]] in southern China. However, the cannons were originally produced by the Portuguese at Macau, with the exception of two cannons dredged up from a Dutch ship in 1621. The Dutch ship may have been in fact an English ship and the cannons had English coats of arms. The English ship ''Unicorn'' sank near Macau.
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<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cast in bronze and iron |url=http://www.bbc.com/storyworks/travel/specials/get-to-know-macao/casting-light |access-date=2024-03-02 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en}}</ref>


The Jurchens renamed the "red barbarian cannon" to "red coat cannon" ({{zh|c=紅衣炮|p=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]].{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=201}}
The Jurchens renamed the "red barbarian cannon" to "red coat cannon" ({{zh|c=紅衣炮|p=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]].{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=201}}
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[[Breech-loading swivel gun#Use|Breech loading swivel cannons]] from Portugal entered the Chinese weaponry after a Ming fleet defeated the Portuguese at the [[Battle of Xicaowan]] in 1521 and captured their guns as war booty. However it's possible that individuals in China had been able to purchase Portuguese style cannons even earlier from pirates.
[[Breech-loading swivel gun#Use|Breech loading swivel cannons]] from Portugal entered the Chinese weaponry after a Ming fleet defeated the Portuguese at the [[Battle of Xicaowan]] in 1521 and captured their guns as war booty. However it's possible that individuals in China had been able to purchase Portuguese style cannons even earlier from pirates.


After the [[Ming dynasty]] suffered a series of defeats against the [[Later Jin (1616-1636)|Later Jin]], they contacted the Portuguese in Macau to have iron cannons made for them. Attempts were made to bring Portuguese gunners to the north as well, but they were repeatedly turned away because Chinese officials harbored suspicions against them.{{sfn|Chase|2003|p=168}} [[Yu Zigao]], commander of [[Zhejiang]] and [[Fujian]], ordered several "red-barbarian cannon" in 1624 prior to his expedition against the [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]] outpost on [[Penghu Island]] in the [[Pescadores]].{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=197}}
After the [[Ming dynasty]] suffered a series of defeats against the [[Later Jin (1616–1636)|Later Jin]], they contacted the Portuguese in Macau to have iron cannons made for them. Attempts were made to bring Portuguese gunners to the north as well, but they were repeatedly turned away because Chinese officials harbored suspicions against them.{{sfn|Chase|2003|p=168}} [[Yu Zigao]], commander of [[Zhejiang]] and [[Fujian]], ordered several "red-barbarian cannon" in 1624 prior to his expedition against the [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]] outpost on [[Penghu Island]] in the [[Pescadores]].{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=197}}


The Ming dynasty used Fujianese to reverse engineer salvaged British and Dutch cannons they recovered from the sea.<ref>{{cite book |last=Andrade |first=Tonio |date=2011 |title=Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China's First Great Victory Over the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6yzRscizpLMC&pg=PA308 |publisher=Princeton University Press |edition=illustrated |page=308 |isbn=978-0691144559 }}</ref> At the [[Siege of Fort Zeelandia]], Koxinga deployed powerful cannon his uncle had dredged up years earlier from the sea.<ref>{{cite book |last=Andrade |first=Tonio |date=2011 |title=Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China's First Great Victory Over the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6yzRscizpLMC&pg=PA244 |publisher=Princeton University Press |edition=illustrated |page=244–245 |isbn=978-0691144559 }}</ref>
The Ming dynasty used Fujianese to reverse engineer salvaged British and Dutch cannons they recovered from the sea.<ref>{{cite book|author1-link=Tonio Andrade |last=Andrade |first=Tonio |date=2011 |title=Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China's First Great Victory Over the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6yzRscizpLMC&pg=PA308 |publisher=Princeton University Press |edition=illustrated |page=308 |isbn=978-0691144559 }}</ref> At the [[Siege of Fort Zeelandia]], Koxinga deployed powerful cannon his uncle had dredged up years earlier from the sea.<ref>{{cite book |last=Andrade |first=Tonio |date=2011 |title=Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China's First Great Victory Over the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6yzRscizpLMC&pg=PA244 |publisher=Princeton University Press |edition=illustrated |pages=244–245 |isbn=978-0691144559 }}</ref><blockquote>
=== Portuguese expeditions ===

Several Ming officials who supported the use of the new technology were Christian converts of the [[Jesuit China missions|Jesuit mission]], such as the influential minister [[Xu Guangqi]] and [[Sun Yuanhua]] in [[Shandong]]. The [[Tianqi Emperor]] asked a German Jesuit, [[Johann Adam Schall von Bell]], to establish a foundry in [[Beijing]] to cast the new cannons. The first pieces produced there could throw a forty-pound shot. In 1623 some ''hongyipao'' were deployed to China's northern frontier at [[Ignatius Sun|Sun]]'s request under generals such as [[Sun Chengzong]] and [[Yuan Chonghuan]].{{sfn|Wakeman Jr.|1985|pp=76-77}}<ref name="Turnbull2012">{{cite book|author=Stephen Turnbull|title=Siege Weapons of the Far East (2): AD 960-1644|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YwLtVGpq3nUC&pg=PA21 |date=2012 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-78200-226-0|pages=21 f}}</ref><ref name="Chase2003">{{cite book|author=Kenneth Warren Chase|title=Firearms: A Global History to 1700|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esnWJkYRCJ4C&pg=PA168 |date=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-82274-9|pages=168 f}}</ref> They were used to repel [[Nurhaci]] at the [[Battle of Ningyuan]] in 1626.{{sfn|Chase|2003|p=169}} After the Later Jin captured a Ming artillery unit at Yongping in 1629, they too began production of the {{transl|zh|hongyipao}}. The manufacture and use of the hongyipao within the Later Jin Banner armies were carried out by Han Chinese defectors called {{trans|zh|ujen coohai}} (heavy troops). The Jurchen forces did not manufacture nor wield the guns themselves. The Later Jin army under Nurhaci's son [[Hong Taiji]] used these cannons along with the "generalissimo" cannons (also of European design) to great effect at the [[Battle of Dalinghe]] in 1631.{{sfn|Wakeman Jr.|1985|pp=170-194}} Even after the later Jin became the Qing and Jurchens and Han defectors were reorganized into the [[Manchu people|Manchu]] [[Eight Banners]], cannons and gunpowder weapons were still restricted exclusively to the Han Banners while the Manchu Banners avoided them. Han Bannermen specializing in artillery and muskets played a major role during Qing sieges of Ming fortifications.
''see also :'' [[Gonçalo Teixeira Correia|Gonçalo Teixeira Corrêa]] </blockquote>Several Ming officials who supported the use of the new technology were Christian converts of the [[Jesuit China missions|Jesuit mission]], such as the influential minister [[Xu Guangqi]] and [[Sun Yuanhua]] in [[Shandong]]. The [[Tianqi Emperor]] approved in having a company of Portuguese gunners approved in 1620 only to have them returned the way they'd come in 1621, owing to local resistance upon various pretexts. After [[Battle of Guangning|the fall]] of [[Guangning, Liaoning|Guangning]] (now Beizhen in [[Liaoning]]), [[Ignatius Sun]]'s extremely thorough memorials on the superiority of [[Hongyipao|Western cannon]] and [[Star fort|fortification]] attracted attention at the highest levels of the War Ministry. The [[Tianqi Emperor]] permitted a second Portuguese expedition to reach his capital in the spring of 1622.The first pieces produced there could throw a forty-pound shot. In 1623 some ''hongyipao'' were deployed to China's northern frontier at [[Ignatius Sun|Sun]]'s request under generals such as [[Sun Chengzong]] and [[Yuan Chonghuan]].{{sfn|Wakeman|1985|pp=76-77}}<ref name="Turnbull2012">{{cite book|author=Stephen Turnbull|title=Siege Weapons of the Far East (2): AD 960-1644|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YwLtVGpq3nUC&pg=PA21 |date=2012 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |isbn=978-1-78200-226-0|pages=21 f}}</ref><ref name="Chase2003">{{cite book|author=Kenneth Warren Chase|title=Firearms: A Global History to 1700|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esnWJkYRCJ4C&pg=PA168 |date=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-82274-9|pages=168 f}}</ref> They were used to repel [[Nurhaci]] at the [[Battle of Ningyuan]] in 1626.{{sfn|Chase|2003|p=169}} After the Later Jin captured a Ming artillery unit at Yongping in 1629, they too began production of the {{transl|zh|hongyipao}}. The manufacture and use of the hongyipao within the Later Jin Banner armies were carried out by Han Chinese defectors called {{trans|zh|ujen coohai}} (heavy troops). The Jurchen forces did not manufacture nor wield the guns themselves. The Later Jin army under Nurhaci's son [[Hong Taiji]] used these cannons along with the "generalissimo" cannons (also of Portuguese design) to great effect at the [[Battle of Dalinghe]] in 1631.{{sfn|Wakeman|1985|pp=170-194}} Even after the later Jin became the Qing and Jurchens and Han defectors were reorganized into the [[Manchu people|Manchu]] [[Eight Banners]], cannons and gunpowder weapons were still restricted exclusively to the Han Banners while the Manchu Banners avoided them. Han Bannermen specializing in artillery and muskets played a major role during Qing sieges of Ming fortifications.


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."{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=222}}
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."{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=222}}


==Chinese improvements==
==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.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=201}}<ref name="Huang">{{cite web|title=The Rise and Fall of Distinctive Composite-Metal Cannons Cast During the Ming-Qing Period|url=http://thjcs.web.nthu.edu.tw/ezfiles/662/1662/img/1294/THJCS411-3.pdf|access-date=11 June 2018|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140820/http://thjcs.web.nthu.edu.tw/ezfiles/662/1662/img/1294/THJCS411-3.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Taku Composite Metal Cannons.jpg|thumb|Composite metal cannons encountered by the British at the [[Taku Forts]] in 1860.]]


⚫
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"{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=202}} 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.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=202}} 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."<ref>https://www.universalhistory.info/M_Nosske_2012_ChinaStudies.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref>
⚫
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.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=201}}<ref name="Huang">{{cite web|title=The Rise and Fall of Distinctive Composite-Metal Cannons Cast During the Ming-Qing Period|url=http://thjcs.web.nthu.edu.tw/ezfiles/662/1662/img/1294/THJCS411-3.pdf|access-date=11 June 2018}}</ref>


⚫
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.<ref name=Huang /> 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.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=334}} Many of the Qing cannons deployed along the coast were forged in the 17th or early 18th century.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=241}}
⚫
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"{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=202}} 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.{{sfn|Andrade|2016|p=202}} 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."<ref>https://www.universalhistory.info/M_Nosske_2012_ChinaStudies.pdf</ref>


⚫
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.<ref>http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/Hoskins-MA2004.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Rise and Fall of Distinctive Composite-Metal Cannons Cast During the Ming-Qing Period| date=March 2011 | volume=41 | issue=1 | pages=73–36 |url=http://lawdata.com.tw/tw/detail.aspx?no=269813|access-date=8 October 2021}}</ref> Of the currently known extant composite metal cannons, there are 2 English, 2 Dutch, 12 Gujarati, and 48 from the Ming-Qing period.<ref name=Huang />
⚫
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.<ref name=Huang /> 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.{{sfn|Needham|1986|p=334}} Many of the Qing cannons deployed along the coast were forged in the 17th or early 18th century.{{sfn|Andrade|1016|p=241}}

⚫
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.<ref>http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/Hoskins-MA2004.pdf</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Rise and Fall of Distinctive Composite-Metal Cannons Cast During the Ming-Qing Period|url=http://lawdata.com.tw/tw/detail.aspx?no=269813|access-date=8 October 2021}}</ref> Of the currently known extant composite metal cannons, there are 2 English, 2 Dutch, 12 Gujarati, and 48 from the Ming-Qing period.<ref name=Huang />


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
Line 61: Line 54:
! Date || Bore (cm) || Length (cm) || Weight (kg)
! Date || Bore (cm) || Length (cm) || Weight (kg)
|-
|-
| 1533 || 2.6 || 29.5 || 4.65
| 1533 || {{convert|2.6|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|29.5|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|4.65|kg|abbr=on}}
|-
|-
| 1533 || 2.6 || 29.5 || 5
| 1533 || {{convert|2.6|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|29.5|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|5|kg|abbr=on}}
|-
|-
| 1541 || 2.7 || 29.3 || 4.25
| 1541 || {{convert|2.7|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|29.3|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|4.25|kg|abbr=on}}
|-
|-
| 1541 || || || 4.75
| 1541 || || || {{convert|4.75|kg|abbr=on}}
|-
|-
| 1543 || 3.5 || 23 ||
| 1543 || {{convert|3.5|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|23|cm|abbr=on}} ||
|-
|-
| 1628 || 7.8 || 170 || 420
| 1628 || {{convert|7.8|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|170|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|420|kg|abbr=on}}
|-
|-
| 1642 || 10.2 || 382 || 2,500
| 1642 || {{convert|10.2|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|382|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|2500|kg|abbr=on}}
|}
|}


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! Date || Bore (cm) || Length (cm) || Weight (kg)
! Date || Bore (cm) || Length (cm) || Weight (kg)
|-
|-
| 1643 || 13 || 264 || 2,340
| 1643 || {{convert|13|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|264|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|2340|kg|abbr=on}}
|-
|-
| 1643 || 13 || 266 || 2220
| 1643 || {{convert|13|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|266|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|2220|kg|abbr=on}}
|-
|-
| 1643 || 13 || 299 || 2400
| 1643 || {{convert|13|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|299|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|2400|kg|abbr=on}}
|-
|-
| 1643 || 14.5 || || 2160
| 1643 || {{convert|14.5|cm|abbr=on}} || || {{convert|2160|kg|abbr=on}}
|-
|-
| 1646 || 13 || 214 ||
| 1646 || {{convert|13|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|214|cm|abbr=on}} ||
|-
|-
| 1658 || 10 || 384 || 1848
| 1658 || {{convert|10|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|384|cm|abbr=on}} || {{convert|1848|kg|abbr=on}}
|}
|}


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|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esnWJkYRCJ4C
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esnWJkYRCJ4C
}}
}}
* {{Citation |last=Needham |first=Joseph |authorlink=Joseph Needham |title=Science & Civilisation in China |year=1986 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=V:7: ''The Gunpowder Epic'' |isbn=0-521-30358-3}}

* {{citation
* {{citation
| last = Wakeman Jr. | first = Frederic
| last = Wakeman | first = Frederic Jr.
| author-link = Frederic Wakeman
| author-link = Frederic Wakeman
| year = 1985
| year = 1985

Latest revision as of 00:19, 8 November 2024

Hongyipao
Hongyipao displayed at Hwaseong Fortress
TypeSmoothbore muzzle-loading culverin
Place of originPortugal
Service history
In serviceEarly 17th – late 19th centuries
Used by Ming dynasty
 Qing dynasty
 Joseon
WarsManchu conquest of China
Production history
Produced17th to 19th centuries
Specifications
Mass1,800 kilograms (4,000 lb)
Length2.15 metres (7.1 ft)
Caliber12 centimetres (4.7 in)
Barrels1
Effective firing range700 metres (2,300 ft)
Maximum firing range2 to 5 kilometres (1.2 to 3.1 mi)

Hongyipao (Chinese: 紅夷炮/紅衣炮; pinyin: hóngyípào; lit. 'red barbarian cannon/red coat cannon'; Vietnamese: hồng di pháo) was the Chinese name for portuguese-style muzzle-loading culverins introduced to China and Korea from the Portuguese colony of Macau and with the help of portuguese diplomats and advisors in the Beijing imperial Court like João Rodrigues.[1][2]

Name

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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

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See also: Gunpowder weapons in the Ming dynasty

Breech loading swivel cannons from Portugal entered the Chinese weaponry after a Ming fleet defeated the Portuguese at the Battle of Xicaowan in 1521 and captured their guns as war booty. However it's possible that individuals in China had been able to purchase Portuguese style cannons even earlier from pirates.

After the Ming dynasty suffered a series of defeats against the Later Jin, they contacted the Portuguese in Macau to have iron cannons made for them. Attempts were made to bring Portuguese gunners to the north as well, but they were repeatedly turned away because Chinese officials harbored suspicions against them.[5] Yu Zigao, commander of Zhejiang and Fujian, ordered several "red-barbarian cannon" in 1624 prior to his expedition against the Dutch outpost on Penghu Island in the Pescadores.[6]

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]

Portuguese expeditions

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see also : Gonçalo Teixeira Corrêa

Several Ming officials who supported the use of the new technology were Christian converts of the Jesuit mission, such as the influential minister Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua in Shandong. The Tianqi Emperor approved in having a company of Portuguese gunners approved in 1620 only to have them returned the way they'd come in 1621, owing to local resistance upon various pretexts. After the fall of Guangning (now Beizhen in Liaoning), Ignatius Sun's extremely thorough memorials on the superiority of Western cannon and fortification attracted attention at the highest levels of the War Ministry. The Tianqi Emperor permitted a second Portuguese expedition to reach his capital in the spring of 1622.The first pieces produced there could throw a forty-pound shot. In 1623 some hongyipao were deployed to China's northern frontier at Sun's request under generals such as Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan.[9][10][11] They were used to repel Nurhaci at the Battle of Ningyuan in 1626.[12] After the Later Jin captured a Ming artillery unit at Yongping in 1629, they too began production of the hongyipao. The manufacture and use of the hongyipao within the Later Jin Banner armies were carried out by Han Chinese defectors called transl. zh – transl. ujen coohai (heavy troops). The Jurchen forces did not manufacture nor wield the guns themselves. The Later Jin army under Nurhaci's son Hong Taiji used these cannons along with the "generalissimo" cannons (also of Portuguese design) to great effect at the Battle of Dalinghe in 1631.[13] Even after the later Jin became the Qing and Jurchens and Han defectors were reorganized into the Manchu Eight Banners, cannons and gunpowder weapons were still restricted exclusively to the Han Banners while the Manchu Banners avoided them. Han Bannermen specializing in artillery and muskets played a major role during Qing sieges of Ming fortifications.

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

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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]

Ming era composite metal guns
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)
Qing era composite metal cannons
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

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Oliveira, Francisco Roque De (2011). "João Rodrigues (1561?-1633)". DITEMA: Dicionário Temático de Macau. 4: 1307–1309.
  2. ^ "National Museum of Korea Quarterly Magazine". National Museum of Korea Quarterly Magazine. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Cast in bronze and iron". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  4. ^ a b Andrade 2016, p. 201.
  5. ^ Chase 2003, p. 168.
  6. ^ Andrade 2016, p. 197.
  7. ^ Andrade, Tonio (2011). Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China's First Great Victory Over the West (illustrated ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 308. ISBN 978-0691144559.
  8. ^ Andrade, Tonio (2011). Lost Colony: The Untold Story of China's First Great Victory Over the West (illustrated ed.). Princeton University Press. pp. 244–245. ISBN 978-0691144559.
  9. ^ Wakeman 1985, pp. 76–77.
  10. ^ Stephen Turnbull (2012). Siege Weapons of the Far East (2): AD 960-1644. Osprey Publishing. pp. 21 f. ISBN 978-1-78200-226-0.
  11. ^ Kenneth Warren Chase (2003). Firearms: A Global History to 1700. Cambridge University Press. pp. 168 f. ISBN 978-0-521-82274-9.
  12. ^ Chase 2003, p. 169.
  13. ^ Wakeman 1985, pp. 170–194.
  14. ^ Andrade 2016, p. 222.
  15. ^ a b c "The Rise and Fall of Distinctive Composite-Metal Cannons Cast During the Ming-Qing Period" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  16. ^ a b Andrade 2016, p. 202.
  17. ^ https://www.universalhistory.info/M_Nosske_2012_ChinaStudies.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  18. ^ Needham 1986, p. 334.
  19. ^ Andrade 2016, p. 241.
  20. ^ http://nautarch.tamu.edu/Theses/pdf-files/Hoskins-MA2004.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  21. ^ "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

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