NOTES AND QUERIES
157
island of Hainan). An account of the historical episode mentioned above is given in Yang Lu-yung *, San-fan Chi-shih Pên-mo *, Chüan 3, The entry on the Southern Expedition of the Imperial Army; and in Wan Jui-lin *, Nan-chiang Yi-shih 40#, Chüan 4 (A brief account of the history of the Kwangtung Province), the Prince Yung Ming, Part One (edited by Li Yao 李瑤).
As the date of construction of this cannon was 26th September, 1650, it must have been cast for the express purpose of fighting the Ch'ing army during the siege of Canton.
FAN, REGIONAL COMMANDER OF GUARDIAN OF THE IMPERIAL HEIR(?) KWANGTUNG
AND
Fan's full name was Fan Ch'êng-ên ✯✯&. He was the traitor who conspired with the Ch'ing army during the siege of Canton. He caused the leakage in the embankments so that the Ch'ing army was able to land by stepping on floating logs and eventually took over the forts at Canton. When Shang K'o-hsi entered the city of Canton, Fan went up to surrender to him. See Yang Lu-yung, op. cit. and Wan Jui-lin, op. cit.
WU, SUPERINTENDENT OF INLAND SEAS, CHIEF MILITARY COMMISSIONER, INSTALLED(?) AS TING-HAI GENERAL.
Wu may be a mistranscription of hsi, which together with yin Ep, signify the official credentials. In my opinion these titles of Superintendent of Inland Seas, Chief Military Commissioner installed as Ting-hai General do not refer to any particular person but were given to the cannon itself. It was the custom in the Ming dynasty to confer the title of 'ta chiang-chün' (the great general) on a new type of cannon called the fo-lang-chi (Franks) which the Chinese had learnt to manufacture in the sixteenth century. (See Chang Ting-yu 張廷玉, Ming Shih 明史, Chüan 92, military affairs, section 4). This tradition persisted in the Ch'ing dynasty and the fo-lang-chi type of cannon was invariably called 'The great general'. (See Ch'ing Wên-hsien T'ung-kao 清文獻通考, Chüan 194, military affairs, section 16.) This cannon constructed by Tu must have been cast according to the fo-lang-chi type. It is natural therefore that this cannon would have been conferred with the titles mentioned in the inscription.