China
China and Firearms I
Sengoku Jidai: Shadow of the Shogun Collector’s Edition In China the transmission of early firearms seems to have followed a similarly meandering and haphazard route. “European” weaponry appears in China with the Portuguese breech-loading culverins presented at the Ming court in 1522 (calledfolangii or “Frankish machines”) whose use to fight the Mongols was advocated in 1530 by Wang Hong. These…
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The National Revolutionary Army, 1924-30
Nationalist officers of the victorious NRA, wearing various shades of khaki uniform, cheer their success at a parade in 1929. They would have little time to enjoy their victory over the Ankuochun; revolts against Kuomintang rule continued into 1930, and it is unlikely that many of these young officers would…
Hong Kong 1941
Japanese troops enter Hong Kong and march on Queen’s Road led by Lieutenant General Takashi Sakai and Vice Admiral Masaichi Niimi in December 1941, after the British surrender. Hong Kong was a British Crown colony of some four hundred square miles situated on the coast of southern China, near the…
Han-Era Military Problems
With the creation of the Qin and Han empires came the rise of the Xiongnu nomads. These people were considered barbarians by the Chinese because they did not farm or dwell in cities. Instead they lived off of their livestock—mainly horses, cows, and sheep—which they herded from pasture to pasture…
Battle of Nanjing
Date March 20, 1853 Location Nanjing (Nanking), on the lower Yangzi River in east central China Opponents (* winner) *Taipings Manzhus Commander *Taipings Hong Xiuquan (Hung Hsiuch’üan) Manzhus Lu Jianying Approx. # Troops *Taipings Up to 500,000 Manzhus 40,000–60,000 men, plus assistance from the city population of some 750,000 Importance…
The Soldier in Late Imperial and Republican China
For much of the nineteenth century, Chinese soldiers were not held in very high esteem. The standing armies of the late Qing were in considerable disrepair: Bannermen had become demoralized, poorly trained, and equipped with broken or antiquated weaponry; the Green Standard forces were slovenly, ill disciplined, and incompetent. In…
A SOLDIER’S STATUS IN CHINESE CULTURE
Qing forces of Chinese soldiers in 1899–1901. Left: two infantrymen of the New Imperial Army. Front: drum major of the regular army. Seated on the trunk: field artilleryman. Right: Boxers Whether a soldier’s image is positive or negative is largely determined within the broader realm of political culture. Whether the…