NOTES AND QUERIES
153
Long before the arrival of the Europeans in south China (1514) the Chinese were manufacturing cannon. Examples of them, some bearing fourteenth century dates, may be seen in museums in north China. The earliest one known, bearing a date equivalent to 1332, is housed in the Historical Museum in Peking. For an illustration see my short article in ISIS55(no.180), June 1964, pp. 193-4. At the beginning of the sixteenth century a new type appears, apparently introduced from Java or Cochin-China. It is known in Chinese literature as fo-lang-chi (or Farangi-Franks), the name applied slightly later to the Portuguese. This type is remarked as early as 1510. (Cf. Pelliot in T'oung Pao, 1948, pp. 199-207.) In the struggles against the Japanese and other pirates who infested the coast during the Chia-ching reign (1522-66) these cannon were frequently put to use not only on land but also at sea. (See Chao Shih-chen, Shen-ch'i p'u i, published 1598. Chao knew what he was writing about, as he was a drafter in the Grand Secretariat at the court in Peking, concerned with military defense, and is said to have manufactured some firearms himself.) Ming dynasty illustrations of war vessels sometimes show cannon mounted on deck. (See Mao Yüan-i, Wu-pei chih, published 1621, chüan 117. Mao was an expert on military affairs, and saw service both in Liao-ning and Fukien.) In the effort to repel the Manchu invaders in the north the Ming court sought the aid of both the Spanish and the Portuguese. Huang K'o-tsuan, for example, reports that when he was serving in the ministry of war (up to 1619) he recruited people from Luzon who could manufacture cannon; they made twenty-eight pieces, which he sent up to the northeast frontier in Manchuria. These must have been formidable (or Huang was trying to impress his superiors) for one cannon is said to have weighed over three thousand catties, and a shot could dispose of some seven hundred barbarians! (Ming shih-lu, Hsi-tsung, 4/29b. I owe this reference to Dr. Ray Huang, visiting professor at Columbia University.)5
*
The importation of cannon and cannoneers from Macao about this same time is well known. In 1621 the well-known Christian convert and high official Hsü Kuang-ch'i ordered a shipment sent up to Peking, and a year later he recommended that the Jesuit fathers, Nicolo Longobardi and Manuel Diaz, proceed to Macao to purchase ten cannon and a few soldiers to operate them. In
NOTES AND QUERIES
153
Long before the arrival of the Europeans in south China (1514) the Chinese were manufacturing cannon. Examples of them, some bearing fourteenth century dates, may be seen in museums in north China. The earliest one known, bearing a date equivalent to 1332, is housed in the Historical Museum in Peking. For an illustration see my short article in ISIS 55 (no. 180), June 1964, pp. 193-4. At the beginning of the sixteenth century a new type appears, apparently introduced from Java or Cochin-China. It is known in Chinese literature as fo-lang-chi (or Farangi-Franks), the name applied slightly later to the Portuguese. This type is remarked as early as 1510. (Cf. Pelliot in T'oung Pao, 1948, pp. 199-207.) In the struggles against the Japanese and other pirates who infested the coast during the Chia-ching reign (1522-66) these cannon were frequently put to use not only on land but also at sea. (See Chao Shih-chen, Shen-ch'i p'u i, pub- lished 1598. Chao knew what he was writing about, as he was a drafter in the Grand Secretariat at the court in Peking, concerned with military defense, and is said to have manufactured some fire- arms himself.) Ming dynasty illustrations of war vessels sometimes show cannon mounted on deck. (See Mao Yüan-i †, Wu- pei chih, published 1621, chùan 117. Mao was an expert on military affairs, and saw service both in Liao-ning and Fukien.) In the effort to repel the Manchu invaders in the north the Ming court sought the aid of both the Spanish and the Portuguese. Huang K'o-tsuan, for example, reports that when he was serving in the ministry of war (up to 1619) he recruited people from Luzon who could manufacture cannon; they made twenty- eight pieces, which he sent up to the northeast frontier in Man- churia. These must have been formidable (or Huang was trying to impress his superiors) for one cannon is said to have weighed over three thousand catties, and a shot could dispose of some seven hundred barbarians! (Ming shih-lu, Hsi-tsung, 4/29b. I owe this reference to Dr. Ray Huang, visiting professor at Colum- bia University.)5
*
The importation of cannon and cannoneers from Macao about this same time is well known. In 1621 the well-known Christian convert and high official Hsü Kuang-ch'i ordered a shipment sent up to Peking, and a year later he recommended that the Jesuit fathers, Nicolo Longobardi and Manuel Diaz, proceed to Macao to purchase ten cannon and a few soldiers to operate them. In
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