Editor's Note: The new military revolution with information technology as the core is becoming a problem that the armies of various countries pay attention to and study. China was once the inventor of gunpowder, but in the process of ancient gunpowder military revolution, China was far behind the West. In this new military revolution, countries are facing different opportunities and challenges. We hope that through this article, we can sum up the ancient experience and provide useful reference for our army to better seize the opportunity of the new military revolution.
In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, that is, in the late 10 century, China began to trial-produce the first batch of gunpowder firearms, completed the stereotyped invention of military gunpowder in the world, and took the lead in starting the application of gunpowder in the military field. However, the gunpowder military revolution was not first completed in China, because it originated in China. Gunpowder and firearms invented by China were introduced to Europe by Arabs in the early 4th century A.D./KLOC-0, and then planted in Europe. With the rapid development of modern natural science and engineering technology in the17th century, a series of new gunpowder weapons with better performance and greater lethality have been developed, and the corresponding artillery, engineers, modern navy and other arms and services have also been born in Europe, and new combat methods and new military ideas and theories have been produced one after another.
Why did China fail to maintain the first-Mover advantage of the gunpowder military revolution and gradually fall behind?
First, the long-term backward feudal mode of production hindered the development of China's gunpowder military revolution.
Ancient China took the lead in the gunpowder military revolution, benefiting from the relatively developed social productive forces since the Tang and Song Dynasties. The development of firearms in Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties and early Qing Dynasty was closely related to the continuous development of handicraft production at that time. However, this kind of workshop handicraft industry has always been tightly wrapped by a strong feudal production relationship, and it is difficult to transform the small-scale handicraft production mode nationwide into a large-scale workshop handicraft industry. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty (1522- 1566), capitalism sprouted in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and parts of the southeast coast, and the scale of handicrafts was greatly expanded. However, in order to maintain a self-sufficient natural economy, the feudal rulers at that time used state power to impose heavy taxes, ban the sea and monopolize mining and metallurgy. , inhibiting the development of commerce and handicrafts.
After Jiajing, on the basis of long-term small-scale industrial production, from the late Ming Dynasty (1621-kloc-0/627) to the Kangxi period of Qing Dynasty (1662- 1722), China could not produce firearms from its own firearms manufacturing department. Generally speaking, the firearms manufacturing in China turned from prosperity to decline during the period of prosperity and Daoguang, and the delay in the transition from small-scale handicraft production to large-scale handicraft production for more than 100 years laid the foundation for this decline. The emergence, renewal and dominance of firearms is an important symbol of the in-depth development of gunpowder military revolution. The long-term backward feudal mode of production in the late feudal society of China restricted the improvement of firearms technology and the advancement of gunpowder military revolution to a higher development stage.
/kloc-in Europe in the 0/6th century, the capitalist mode of production developed rapidly, and handicraft workshops became the basic form of industrial production organization at that time. 17 and18th century gradually shifted to machine industrial production. The technological and social changes triggered by the industrial revolution have created better conditions for the development of the gunpowder military revolution.
Second, the strict control of feudal autocracy was the political reason why the gunpowder military revolution in China could not be further developed.
After the Song Dynasty, China's feudal autocratic system became more perfect. When feudal emperors seized imperial power, they often paid attention to recruiting experts and craftsmen who made gunpowder and firearms, and armed their own troops with new firearms, thus promoting the development of firearms. However, once the imperial power came to hand and a relatively stable political situation was established, the manufacture and use of firearms throughout the country made these emperors fidgety, fearing that the loss and unauthorized manufacture of firearms would pose a threat to their rule. 1380, Zhu Yuanzhang set up the Bureau of Military Supplies and Equipment, demanding that firearms be strictly controlled throughout the country, and that all localities should not manufacture them without authorization, and offenders should be punished as felony. The feudal rulers of the Qing Dynasty exercised stricter control over the manufacture of firearms throughout the country. During the Kangxi period, artillery was divided into imperial system, factory system and local system. The best gun factory bureau is located in hall of mental cultivation, directly controlled by the emperor. The royal family and Manchu Eight Banners used sophisticated firearms. The Han army in Beijing can only use the worst quality firearms in the local area, and it is not allowed to manufacture and use excellent firearms from other places. Due to the extremely powerful feudal ruling power, although China produced the seeds of the military revolution based on gunpowder, it failed to further develop the revolution in the end.
From a global perspective, due to the anti-feudal struggle, the expansion of global capitalism and the needs of colonial and hegemonic wars, the enthusiasm of the emerging bourgeoisie to promote the gunpowder military revolution is far higher than that of the conservative feudal lords.
Thirdly, China's traditional concept of attaching importance to morality and neglecting weapons and his policy of neglecting invention hindered the development of gunpowder military revolution.
Because Confucianism emphasizes the distinction between "Tao" and "device" in the overall value tendency, and emphasizes that "the metaphysical is the Tao and the metaphysical is the device", it highlights the thinking of the concept of war in the military and ignores the operability of the theory. The development and application of firearms in war is a new topic in the military field, and it is also a very specific problem. The militarists in the late feudal society of China, who were influenced by Confucianism, were not very excited about it on the whole, and their research was not thorough. By the Qing dynasty, the negative impact of this traditional concept was hard to see. When Qianlong celebrated his eightieth birthday, the British special envoy Magani visited China with the latest achievements of the western military revolution, including 29 kinds of gifts with high scientific and technological content and military value, such as new celestial globe, globe, self-invited musket, ship model and telescope, but the Qing court only collected them as "tribute" and "play well". Magyarny invited Fu Kang 'an, the general of the Qing army, to watch the British Mission Guard drill new weapons. Fu Kang 'an refused to say, "Do you want to see it or not? There is nothing unusual about the operation of this firearm. "
More sadly, in ancient China, the creativity of firearms developers was regarded as "kit kat" and "inferior work", which failed to receive policy support and due social respect. Apollo was an outstanding firearms developer in the late Ming Dynasty. He had profound attainments in mines and muskets, and his reputation spread far and wide overseas. However, after being recommended to the imperial court, she was left out in the cold, and Apollo eventually died of poverty. Dai Zi, who invented the firearm "Julian Company" and presided over the casting of Weiyuan General Gun in the early Qing Dynasty, was not taken seriously by the imperial court. He only worked as an odd job for the academician courtyard, and was later expelled from the army because of people entering. Wu, the blacksmith of the armament institute, made a sub-gun, and his treatment was only to get an extra salary.
/kloc-in the 6th century, Europe is experiencing the development period of the early capitalist free market system. The huge arms market and prosperous arms trade make the improvement and development of new firearms a means for private military entrepreneurs to pursue profits, and firearms designers and technicians are worth a hundred times. At this time, the level of firearms equipment and training of European armed forces quickly surpassed other parts of the world and achieved a decisive leading position.
Fourthly, the outdated firearms theory and backward command system failed to fully stimulate the technical efficiency of China gunpowder.
Judging from the development of firearms, China has always used theoretical methods that lack accurate quantitative concepts, such as "Yin-Yang and Five Elements Metaplasia Theory" and "Ethics of Monarch and Minister" to explain the composition collocation and combustion process of gunpowder, which makes the production purity of gunpowder not high and its power unable to be increased. After Europe17th century, the door of modern natural science was opened, and firearms technology made great strides. At that time, China had two opportunities to approach the modern western firearms manufacturing technology, but neither of them seized it. At the end of Ming Dynasty, Xu Guangqi and others introduced and disseminated the advanced theory of European firearms manufacturing, trying to turn to the natural scientific method characterized by scientific experiments. Due to the untimely death of these scientists and the frequent political corruption and wars in the late Ming Dynasty, China's military technology has not been able to enter the modern natural science hall. On another occasion, in the early years of the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi asked the Belgian missionary Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest to cast a gun. At this time, China was in a period of political prosperity, but Kangxi only put Ferdinand ferdinand verbiest in charge of gun casting, and did not know how to introduce and popularize the advanced theory and technology of modern European firearms development. With the implementation of the closed-door policy, the door of the introduction of advanced European firearms theory into China was closed.
From the perspective of command and organizational structure, the use level of firearms in ancient China once reached a certain level, and firearms played an increasingly important role in the war. However, during the Qianlong and Daoguang periods of the Qing Dynasty, the development of the command and organization system stagnated or even regressed. Because there was no foreign invasion from the enemy for a long time, the court suddenly promoted "people who are only familiar with guns and arrows"
We can only rely on the "excellent" policy. 17 and 18 centuries were the periods when European countries established artillery units one after another, and the status of engineers gradually rose, and the modern navies of Atlantic coastal countries also competed to develop in the gunpowder military revolution. During this period, profound changes have taken place in Europe's military system and combat mode. However, in the same period, the manufacturing technology of firearms in the Qing Dynasty lagged far behind the progress of the times, and the tactics of the Qing army in field, water and coastal defense also lagged behind the development of the world. 1840 before the outbreak of the opium war between China and Britain, the level of weapons and equipment of the Qing army was 120 years behind that of its opponents.
5. The indifference of crisis consciousness and the lack of strategic demand make China's gunpowder military revolution lack sufficient motivation.
After the rise of Liaodong, Jin wiped out the main force of the Ming army outside the customs after several battles, and also gained the firepower advantage over the Ming army inside the customs. After the Qing army entered the customs, the Nanming regime, the local anti-Qing people and the peasant rebels could not resist the trend of the Qing army's "unification" of the whole country, and the firearms of the Qing army were in an advantageous position. The advantage of firepower and a series of victories in long-term fighting against the enemy made the Qing rulers satisfied with the existing cold weapons such as artillery, shotguns, bows and arrows, swords and spears, boasted that "building the country by force" and repeatedly stressed that "riding and shooting is the foundation of Manchuria" and were unwilling to organize the development of new firearms and improve military equipment and national defense facilities. After that, people don't know what happened on the other side of the world because the door was closed. In the article "Advantages and Disadvantages of Electricity", Lu Xun once described the social phenomenon in the late feudal society of China: "Foreign countries used gunpowder as bullets to defend the enemy, but China used it as firecrackers to worship the gods; Foreign countries use a compass to sail, but China uses it to see Feng Shui; Foreign countries use opium to treat diseases, but China uses opium as a meal. "
Indifferent crisis consciousness and insufficient strategic demand almost made it difficult to carry out the gunpowder military revolution in ancient China. With the outbreak of the Opium War in 1840, although the development of firearms in modern China rebounded, semi-feudal and semi-colonial China failed to catch up with the progress of the gunpowder military revolution. 1949 The founding of New China enabled the Chinese nation to win the initiative of military transformation in the face of world turmoil.