The Ming Dynasty was a feudal dynasty established by the Han Chinese, whose military integration of land and sea, although for a period of time implemented the policy of "closing the country off", but the strength of the sea was still developed. Since the Opium War in 1840, China's status has gradually declined, and the Western powers have opened the door to China with their strong military strength, and all this is inseparable from the "ship gun profit", in fact, since the end of the Ming Dynasty, "ship gun sharp" has become a symbol of the military strength of the Western powers represented by Britain, and has been running through China's modern history.
The impression of "ship strong cannon sharpness" began to appear - Portugal sent four escort fleets to the Ming Dynasty to fire cannons to show friendship
Historically, the term "ship's guns" originally meant that a country's navy was strong, its warships were strong, its artillery mighty, and its mighty mighty might. There is evidence that "ship guns" should be a long-standing Impression of Europe. At the beginning of the 16th century, when a Portuguese army was docked in the southeast coastal area of our country, the Ming government paid great attention to the gunboats of the Western world at that time.
Subsequently, the fleets of many other countries, such as Spain, the Netherlands and Britain, came to China, and the Ming government was even more impressed by the gunboats of the Western world. During the Ming Dynasty, the earliest description of the Western world's "ship gun sharp" came from a Portuguese. In 1517, the Portuguese government at the time, in order to strengthen friendly ties with the Ming Dynasty, sent emissaries to the Ming Dynasty for exchange activities.
The envoys who came with an escort fleet of four sailing ships, in order to express their love for the Ming Dynasty, the envoys ordered the flag to be raised and fired, which was mistaken by the Chinese minister who was greeting at the time to open fire and fight, and after some explanation, the contradiction was resolved. In the "History of Ancient Chinese Artillery", there is a clear written record: there are three ships under the provincial city, three guns, and the city is shocked.
After this incident, people paid a lot of attention to the European ship guns, and they studied what kind of mythical objects they were. By 1523 AD, the Portuguese warships were once again witnessed, leaving an even deeper impression. There is a clear written record in the "Chen Yu Seeing the Troubles of the Side of the Road":
Its ship's splint, ten zhang long, three zhang wide, more than forty branches on both sides, more than thirty pipes around the periphery, the bottom of the boat is pointed and flat, not afraid of wind and waves.
Later, many people personally saw the strength of the Maritime Military Strength of European countries, so since the end of the Ming Dynasty, the term "ship strong guns" has become the first impression of Europe.
The impression of "ship guns and guns" was finally formed - after the emergence of the late Ming Dynasty, it gradually became a symbol of the military strength of Western countries
At the beginning, the term "ship gunnery" was mostly used to describe the military strength of Britain and Portugal, but the emergence of military powers such as the Netherlands and Spain later was used to describe the military strength of the whole of Europe.
In 1601 AD, the Dutch "two giant ships" suddenly attacked Macao, which shocked many people. At that time, there was a clear written record:
"Its boat is very large, and it is wrapped in copper leaves on the outside, and it enters the water for two feet."
Youyun: "Driving a big boat through Java and the big mud." ”
This was only the beginning, and by 1604, a Dutch fleet, at the instigation of others, had entered The Lake in an attempt to blackmail each other. In order to reduce the attrition of the war, the rulers repeatedly sent ministers to talk with Dutch emissaries, hoping that the Dutch army would withdraw peacefully and reduce losses.
At that time, many ordinary people along the coast witnessed the Dutch people's strong boat cannons and were very impressed by the Dutch fleet. In the Book of Chosibana, there is a clear written record:
There is a middle and horizontal pole, there is a bucket on the mast, the bucket is large enough to accommodate forty or fifty people, the rope is like a ladder, up and down, or far away, or there is a sharp throwing of arrows.
It can be seen that at this time, the dutch fleet was already very large, so it is not surprising that the word "ship strong guns" is used to describe the Dutch army. At the same time, the portuguese and Spanish armies were on par with those of the Dutch fleet.
At that time, due to the needs of national development, the three countries often exchanged with each other, so there were great similarities in the use of materials for the army and in the process of shipbuilding. Among them, the most powerful was the Hongyi cannon at that time, which was extremely lethal, and could be described as "the fierceness of the weapon, to kill a hundred thousand people in one shot, and today's Western Cannon is extremely strong, and there is nothing to add." ”
Due to the strength of this kind of warship, many countries in Europe were developing this kind of warship strength at that time, which greatly improved the maritime military strength of the entire European countries, so that the "ship gun" represented the maritime military strength of the whole of Europe and became a unique symbol.
In the late Ming Dynasty, China has formed the basic impression of the Western world's "ship and cannon", and this impression was also inherited during the Qing Dynasty, and there is a very close connection between the Ming and Qing dynasties' understanding of the Western world.
First of all, the Ming and Qing dynasties had a relatively similar view of the western military strength at sea. From the 16th century to the 19th century, the military equipment of European navies developed rapidly, from battleships to naval guns to artillery ammunition, these military weapons that played a key role, during this period of time, there were great breakthroughs and great improvements in technology.
The shape and technical level of European gunboats in the 16th and 19th centuries basically belonged to the same level, so there was no difference in the technical content and combat effectiveness of European gunboats witnessed Chinese the late Ming and Opium Wars. In other words, the so-called "ship cannon profit" of the Qing people has been generally experienced by people in the Ming Dynasty.
Secondly, from the objective description of "ship strong guns and sharp guns", the Ming and Qing dynasties generally had the same content. In many historical materials, we find that in the military perception of those European countries, the Qing Dynasty basically continued or copied the impression of gunboats at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Taking Hongmao, that is, the Netherlands, as an example, we can see the consistency of the description content and the similarity of perception between the Ming and Qing dynasties.
"The red hair is the dutch state, also known as the red yi, a Persian hu, also in the West ... Its ship is the largest, and the Chinese is a splint boat. ”
By the Qing Dynasty, it was the name of "Hongmao Naixi Island Fan, among which there were Yingguili, Dried Silk Wax, Francis, Dutch, Atlantic, and Little Western Countries, all of which were fierce and abnormal." It can be seen that the Ming and Qing dynasties had a relatively similar view of the strength of the European fleet.
Finally, both the Ming and Qing dynasties regarded strong maritime military strength as an important capital of a country and a strong military guarantee for a country to invade other countries. During the Ming Dynasty, people called the dutch strong military strength "ship gun li", and in the Qing Dynasty, people used the term "ship gun li" to describe Britain's maritime military strength.
The intrinsic significance of "ship strong guns" has brought about a major transformation in the relationship between China and the West, inspiring Chinese to create their own maritime military equipment
Since the late Ming Dynasty, when Western colonial powers came to China extensively, the relationship between China and the West in ancient times has undergone great changes. Before this, the East has always been the center of world economic and cultural politics, but since the military strength of Western countries has improved, the focus of world economic and cultural development has gradually shifted.
At the same time, the phenomenon of the past "heavenly kingdom" and accepting worship from various regions and countries began to gradually disappear after the late Ming Dynasty, and China was no longer the object of study and worship by various countries. In many ways, the power of those european countries has far surpassed that of China at that time. Against this background, the relations between China and the West and the measures and ideas taken by Our country in dealing with the threat from European forces have also quietly changed.
The strong maritime military power of European countries not only made the people of the Ming Dynasty change their views on these countries, but also made the rulers of the time realize the seriousness of the problem. Since the Opium War, the former heavenly kingdom suddenly fell from the clouds and became a lamb to be slaughtered, and the rulers gradually realized the importance of a strong military strength for the development of a country.
Therefore, in the Qing Dynasty and even in modern times, there have been many historical phenomena, such as opening eyes to see the world, mastering and mastering skills to control Yi, etc., which show that rulers and many people with lofty ideals have consciously developed the country's maritime military strength, and are willing to invest a lot of manpower and material resources to promote the development of national military strength.
All of this is the enlightenment brought to China by the European impression of "ships and guns", a short four words, which seems to be a new understanding of European countries, but in essence, it reflects the accurate grasp of western maritime military strength by Chinese since the late Ming Dynasty, reflecting the surprise and anxiety of the people about European forces and the psychology of striving to be strong. The four words of "ship strong guns and sharp guns" are not only the Chinese's understanding of European military strength since the late Ming Dynasty, but also a powerful driving force to encourage Chinese to continuously develop military strength.
bibliography:
History of the Ming Dynasty
The Case of Ming Confucianism
Tokyo Dream