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Thenaval history of China dates back thousands of years, with archives existing since the lateSpring and Autumn period regarding the Chinese navy and the various ship types employed in wars.[1] TheMing dynasty of China was the leading global maritime power between 1400 and 1433, when Chinese shipbuilders builtmassive ocean-going junks and the Chinese imperial court launchedseven maritime voyages.[2] In modern times, the currentPeople's Republic of China and theRepublic of China governments continue to maintain standing navies through thePeople's Liberation Army Navy and theRepublic of China Navy, respectively.
TheHan dynasty established the firstindependent naval force in China, theTower Ship Navy.
Although naval battles took place before the 12th century, such as the large-scaleThree KingdomsBattle of Chibi in the year 208, it was during theSong dynasty (960–1279) that the Chinese established a permanent, standing navy in 1132.[3] At its height by the late 12th century there were 20squadrons of some 52,000 marines, with the admiral's headquarters atDinghai, while the main base remained closer to modernShanghai.[3]
The establishment of the first permanent Chinese navy by theSouthern Song dynasty[4] came out of the need to defend against theJin dynasty, who had overrun the northern China, and to escort merchant fleets entering the Southeast Pacific andIndian Ocean on long trade missions abroad to theHindu,Islamic, andEast African spheres of the world. However, considering variousCentral Plain polities were for a long time menaced by land-based nomadic tribes such as theXiongnu,Göktürks,Khitans andMongols, the navy was seen as an adjunct rather than an important military force. By the 15–16th centuriesChina's canal system and internal economy were sufficiently developed to nullify the need for the Pacific fleet, which was scuttled when conservativeConfucianists gained power in the court and began a policy of introspection. After theFirst andSecond Opium Wars, which shook up the generals of theQing dynasty, the government attached greater importance to the navy.
When the BritishRoyal Navy encountered the Chinese during theFirst Opium War, their officers noted the appearance ofpaddle-wheel boats among the Chinese fleet, which they took to be copies of a Western design. They also discovered a nearly-complete 30-gunman-of-war inXiamen, along with new paddle-boats and brass guns under construction inWusong andShanghai.[5] Paddle-wheel boats were actually developed by the Chinese independently in the 5th–6th centuries, only a century after their first surviving mention inRoman sources (seePaddle steamer),[6] though that method of propulsion had been abandoned for many centuries and only recently reintroduced before the war. Numerous other innovations were present in Chinese vessels during theMiddle Ages that had not yet been adopted by theWestern andIslamic worlds, some of which were documented byMarco Polo but were not adopted by other navies until the 18th century, when the British successfully incorporated them into ship designs. For example, medieval Chinese hulls were split intobulkhead sections so that a hull rupture only flooded a fraction of the ship and did not necessarily sink it (seeShip floodability). This was described in the book of the Song dynasty maritime authorZhu Yu, thePingzhou Table Talks of 1119 AD.[7] Along with the innovations described in Zhu's book, there were many other improvements to nautical technology in the medieval Song period. These included crossbeams bracing the ribs of ships to strengthen them, rudders that could be raised or lowered to allow ships to travel in a wider range of water depths, and the teeth ofanchors arranged circularly instead of in one direction, "making them more reliable".[8]Junks also had their sails staggered by wooden poles so that the crew could raise and lower them with ropes from the deck, like window blinds, without having to climb around and tie or untie various ropes every time the ship needed to turn or adjust speed.
A significant naval battle was theBattle of Lake Poyang from August 30 to October 4 of the year 1363 AD during theRed Turban Rebellion, a battle which cemented the success ofZhu Yuanzhang in founding theMing dynasty.
After the period of maritime activity during thetreasure voyages under theYongle Emperor, the official policy towards naval expansion swayed between active restriction to ambivalence.[9]
Despite Ming ambivalence towards naval affairs, theChinese treasure fleet was still able to dominate other Asian navies, which enabled the Ming to send governors to rule in Luzon and Palembang as well as depose and enthrone puppet rulers in Sri Lanka and the Bataks.[10]
However, the Chinese fleet shrank tremendously after its military/tributary/exploratory functions in the early 15th century were deemed too expensive and it became primarily a police force on routes like theGrand Canal. Ships like the juggernauts ofZheng He's "treasure fleet," which dwarfed the largestPortuguese ships of the era by several times, were discontinued, and thejunk became the predominant Chinese vessel until the country's relatively recent (in terms of Chinese sailing history) naval revival
In 1521, at theBattle of Tunmen a squadron of Ming naval junks defeated aPortuguesecaravel fleet, which was followed by another Ming victory against a Portuguese fleet at theBattle of Xicaowan in 1522. In 1633, a Ming navy defeated a Dutch and Chinese pirate fleet during theBattle of Liaoluo Bay. A large number of military treatises, including extensive discussions of naval warfare, were written during the Ming period, including theWubei Zhi andJixiao Xinshu.[11] Additionally, shipwrecks have been excavated in theSouth China Sea, including wrecks of Chinese trade and war ships that sank around 1377 and 1645.[12]
The continuing "sea ban" policy during the early Qing dynasty meant that the development of naval power stagnated. River and coastal naval defence was the responsibility of the waterborne units of theGreen Standard Army, which were based at Jingkou (nowZhenjiang) andHangzhou.
In 1661, a naval unit was established atJilin to defend against Russian incursions intoManchuria. Naval units were also added to variousBanner garrisons subsequently, referred to collectively as the "Eight Banners Navy". In 1677, the Qing court re-established the Fujian Fleet in order to combat the Ming-loyalistKingdom of Tungning based onTaiwan. This conflict culminated in the Qing victory theBattle of Penghu in 1683 and the surrender of the Tungning shortly after the battle. TheSecond Opium War showed the complete futility of the pre-modern Chinese fleet when facing modern European navies, when 300 Chinese naval junks, armed with British-made guns, did almost no damage to 56 British and Frenchironclads.
In the 1860s, an attempt to establish a modern navy via the British-builtOsborn or "Vampire" Fleet to combat theTaiping rebels' US-built gunboats. The so-called "Vampire Fleet" fitted out by the Chinese government for the suppression ofpiracy on the coast of China, owing to the non-fulfilment of the condition that British commander Sherard Osborn should receive orders from the imperial government only, was scrapped.[13]
There were four fleets of theImperial Chinese Navy:
In 1865, theJiangnan Shipyard was established.
In 1874, a Japanese incursion intoTaiwan exposed the vulnerability of China at sea. A proposal was made to establish three modern coastal fleets: the Northern Sea or Beiyang Fleet, to defend theYellow Sea, the Southern Sea or Nanyang Fleet, to defend theEast China Sea, and the Canton Sea or Yueyang Fleet, to defend theTaiwan Strait and theSouth China Sea. The Beiyang Fleet, with a remit to defend the section of coastline closest to the capitalBeijing, was prioritised.
A series of warships were ordered from Britain and Germany in the late 1870s, and naval bases were built atPort Arthur andWeihaiwei. The first British-built ships were delivered in 1881, and the Beiyang Fleet was formally established in 1888. Many children of Chinese military families were sent abroad to study in theUnited States in order to modernize the Imperial Chinese Navy, although they were denied admission to the military academies ofWest Point andAnnapolis and had to switch to other countries after the passage of theChinese Exclusion Act.[5] In 1894 the Beiyang Fleet was on paper the strongest navy in Asia at the time. However, it was largely lost during theFirst Sino-Japanese War after theBattle of the Yalu River. This battle allowed theImperial Japanese Army to invade China, occupy theShandong Peninsula, anduse the fortress at Weihaiwei to shell the Chinese fleet.[5][15] Although the modern battleshipsZhenyuan andDingyuan were impervious to Japanese fire, they were unable to sink a single ship and all eight cruisers were lost.[15] The battle displayed once again thatthe modernisation efforts of China were far inferior to theMeiji Restoration.
The Nanyang Fleet was also established in 1875, and grew with mostly domestically built warships and a small number of acquisitions fromBritain andGermany. It fought in theSino-French War, performing somewhat poorly against the French in all engagements and resulting in allowing theFrench colonization of Southeast Asia. The defeat of the Nanyang Fleet also emboldened the British to complete theirannexation of Burma in theThird Anglo-Burmese War.[citation needed]
The separateFujian andGuangdong fleets became part of the Imperial navy after 1875. TheFujian Fleet was almost annihilated during the Sino-French War, and was only able to acquire two new ships thereafter. By 1891, due to budget cuts, the Fujian Fleet was barely a viable fleet. Due to corruption much of the funds needed by the navy was taken by theDowager Empress Cixi to renovate theSummer Palace and build herMarble Boat.[5] TheGuangdong Fleet was established in the late 1860s and based atWhampoa, in Canton (nowGuangzhou). Ships from the Guangdong Fleet toured the South China Sea in 1909 as a demonstration of Chinese control over the sea.
After the First Sino-Japanese War,Zhang Zhidong established ariver-based fleet inHubei.
In 1909, the remnants of the Beiyang, Nanyang, Guangdong and Fujian Fleets, together with the Hubei fleet, were merged, and re-organised as the Sea Fleet and the River Fleet.
In 1911,Sa Zhenbing became the Minister of Navy of theGreat Qing.
One of the new ships delivered after the war with Japan, thecruiserHai Chi, in 1911 became the first vessel flying theYellow Dragon Flag to arrive in American waters, visitingNew York City as part of a tour.[16][17][18][19]
TheRepublic of China Navy is the navy of theRepublic of China, which was established after theoverthrow of the Qing dynasty.Liu Guanxiong, a former Qing dynasty admiral, became the first Minister of Navy of the Republic of China. During theWarlord Era that scarred China in the 1920s and 1930s the ROCN remained loyal to theKuomintang government ofSun Yat-sen instead of theBeiyang government inBeijing which fell to theNationalist government in the 1928Northern Expedition and between the civil war with theCommunist Party and1937 Japanese invasion of Northeast China. During that time and throughoutWorld War II, the ROCN concentrated mainly on riverine warfare as the poorly equipped ROCN was not a match toImperial Japanese Navy over ocean or coast.[20] The ROCN is currently the naval forces on the island ofTaiwan.
ThePeople's Liberation Army Navy was established in 1950 for thePeople's Republic of China. The PLAN can trace its lineage to naval units fighting during theChinese Civil War and was established in September 1950. The PLAN was initially dedicated to coastal defense, defending against commando raids on theFujian coast fromTaiwan. It also played a role in theFirst andSecond Taiwan Strait Crises.[5]
Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, theSoviet Union provided assistance to the PLAN in the form of naval advisers and export of equipment and technology.[21] This assistance ended after theSino-Soviet split.[5] Until the late 1980s, the PLAN remained largely ariverine andlittoral force (brown-water navy). However, by the 1990s, following thefall of the Soviet Union and a shift towards a more forward-oriented foreign and security policy, the leaders of the Chinese military were freed from worrying over land border disputes, and instead turned their attention towards the seas. This led to the development of the People's Liberation Army Navy into agreen-water navy by 2009.[22] Before the 1990s the PLAN had traditionally played a subordinate role to thePeople's Liberation Army Ground Force.
In 2020 the PLAN surpassed theU.S. Navy as the largest navy in the world in numbers of ships, although the U.S. Navy continued to have technological advantages. This development occurred amidincreasing tensions between China and the United States and as China was becoming involved interritorial disputes in the South China Sea.[23]
One of the oldest known Chinese books written on naval matters was theYuejueshu (Lost Records of theState of Yue) of 52 AD, attributed to theHan dynasty scholar Yuan Kang.[1] Many passages of Yuan Kang's book were rewritten and published inLi Fang'sImperial Reader of the Taiping Era, compiled in AD 983.[24] The preserved written passages of Yuan Kang's book were again featured in theYuanjian Leihan (Mirror of the Infinite, a Classified Treasure Chest) encyclopedia, edited and compiled by Zhang Ying in 1701 during theQing dynasty.[1]
Yuan Kang's book listed various water crafts that were used for war, including one that was used primarily forramming likePhoeniciantriremes.[25] These "classes" of ships were the great wing (da yi), the little wing (xiao yi), the stomach striker (tu wei), thecastle ship (lou chuan), and the bridge ship (qiao chuan).[1] These were listed in theYuejueshu as a written dialogue betweenKing Helü of Wu (r. 514 BC–496 BC) andWu Zixu (526 BC–484 BC). TheWu Kingdom's Navy is regarded as the origin of the first Chinese Navy which consisted of different ships for specific purposes. Wu Zixu stated:
Nowadays in training naval forces we use the tactics of land forces for the best effect. Thus great wing ships correspond to the army's heavychariots, little wing ships to light chariots, stomach strikers tobattering rams, castle ships tomobile assault towers, and bridge ships to lightcavalry.[1]
Ramming vessels were also attested to in other Chinese documents, including theShi Ming dictionary of c. 100 AD written by Liu Xi.[26] The Chinese also used a large iron t-shapedhook connected to aspar to pin retreating ships down, as described in theMozi book compiled in the 4th century BC.[27] This was discussed in a dialogue between Mozi andLu Ban in 445 BC (when Lu traveled to theState of Chu from theState of Lu), as the hook-and-spar technique made standard on all Chuwarships was given as the reason why the Yue navy lost in battle to Chu.[28]
The rebellion ofGongsun Shu inSichuan province against the re-established Han dynasty during the year 33 AD was recorded in theBook of Later Han, compiled byFan Ye in the 5th century.[25] Gongsun sent a naval force of some twenty to thirty thousand soldiers down theYangtze River to attack the position of the Han commander Cen Peng.[29] After Cen Peng defeated several of Gongsun's officers, Gongsun had a long floatingpontoon bridge constructedacross the Yangtze with fortified posts on it, protected further by a boom, as well as erecting forts on the river bank to provide further missile fire at another angle.[26] Cen Peng was unable to break through this barrier and barrage of missile fire, until he equipped his navy with castle ships, rowed assault vessels, and 'colliding swoopers' used for ramming in a fleet of several thousand vessels and quelled Gongsun's rebellion.[26]
The 'castle ship' design described by Yuan Kang saw continued use in Chinese naval battles after the Han period. Confronting the navy of theChen dynasty on theYangtze River,Emperor Wen of Sui (r. 581–604) employed an enormous naval force of thousands of ships and 518,000 soldiers stationed along the Yangtze (fromSichuan to thePacific Ocean).[30] The largest of these ships had five layered decks, could hold 800 passengers, and each ship was fitted with six 50 ft. longbooms that were used to swing and damage enemy ships, along with the ability of pinning them down.[30]
During the ChineseTang dynasty (618–907 AD) there were some famous naval engagements, such as the Tang-Silla victory over the Korean kingdom ofBaekje andYamato Japanese forces in theBattle of Baekgang in 663. Tang dynasty literature on naval warfare and ship design became more nuanced and complex. In hisTaipai Yinjing (Canon of the White and Gloomy Planet of War) of 759 AD,Li Quan gave descriptions for several types of naval ships in his day (note: multiple-deck castle ships are referred to as tower ships below).[31] Not represented here are thepaddle-wheel crafts innovated by the Tang PrinceLi Gao more than a decade later in 784 AD.[6] Paddle-wheel craft would continue to hold an important place in the Chinese navy. Along withgunpowder bombs, paddle-wheel craft were a significant reason for the success in the later Song dynasty naval victory of theBattle of Caishi in the year 1161 AD during theJin–Song wars.[32]
Covered swoopers (Meng chong, 蒙衝); these are ships which have their backs roofed over and (armored with) a covering ofrhinoceros hide. Both sides of the ship haveoar-ports; and also bothfore and aft, as well as toport andstarboard, there are openings for crossbows and holes for spears. Enemy parties cannot board (these ships), nor can arrows or stones injure them. This arrangement is not adopted for large vessels because higher speed and mobility are preferable, in order to be able to swoop suddenly on the unprepared enemy. Thus these (covered swoopers) are not fighting ships (in the ordinary sense).[33]
Combat junks (Zhan xian); combat junks haveramparts and half-ramparts above the side of thehull, with the oar-ports below. Five feet from the edge of the deck (to port and starboard) there is set adeckhouse with ramparts, having ramparts above it as well. This doubles the space available for fighting. There is no cover or roof over the top (of the ship). Serrated pennants are flown from staffs fixed at many places on board, and there aregongs anddrums; thus these (combat junks) are (real) fighting ships (in the ordinary sense).[33]
Flying barques (Zou ge); another kind of fighting ship. They have a double row of ramparts on the deck, and they carry moresailors (lit. rowers) and fewersoldiers, but the latter are selected from the best and bravest. These ships rush back and forth (over the waves) as if flying, and can attack an enemy unawares. They are most useful for emergencies and urgent duty.[33]
Patrol boats (Yu ting) are small vessels used for collectingintelligence. They have no ramparts above the hull, but to port and starboard there is onerowlock every four feet, varying in total number according to the size of the boat. Whether going forward, stopping, or returning, or making evolutions in formation, the speed (of these boats) is like flying. But they are forreconnaissance, they are not fighting boats/ships.[33]
Sea hawks (Hai hu); these ships have lowbows and highsterns, the forward parts (of the hull) being small and the after parts large, like the shape of thehu bird (when floating on the water). Below deck level, both to port and starboard, there are 'floating-boards' (fou ban) shaped like the wings of thehu bird. These help the (sea hawk) ships, so that even when wind and wave arise in fury, they are neither (driven) sideways, noroverturn. Covering over and protecting the upper parts on both sides of the ship are stretched rawox-hides, as if on acity wall [a footnote: protection againstincendiaryprojectiles]. There areserratedpennants, and gongs and drums, just as on the fighting ships.[34]
The Qing established a sea defence force of 7 fleets across 4 sea zones. Due to rebellions in the late 18th century the navy was neglected and declined, ultimately suffering defeat in theOpium Wars.
The modernImperial Chinese Navy was established in 1875, prompted by a Japanese incursion intoTaiwan that exposed the vulnerability of the existing, pre-modern Chinese navy. Numerous modern ships equipped withKrupp guns, electricity, gatling guns,torpedoes, and other modern weapons were acquired by the Qing dynasty from western powers. They were manned by western trained Chinese officers.[35]
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) -Entry atWorldCatThe cruiser Hai Chi ("Flag of the Sea") earned in 1911 the distinction of being the first Chinese war boat ever to visit the West when she steamed as near as possible to the Coronation of King George V, discharged a cargo of Chinese emissaries in gorgeous silken robes. Built in 1897 the Hai Chi and the equally venerableHai Shen ("Pearl of the Sea") were still listed last week as the only cruisers in China's Northeastern Squadron.
Who cruiser Hai-Chi of the Imperial Navy of China, the first vessel of any kind flying the yellow dragon flag of China that has ever been in American waters, steamed into the Hudson yesterday morning and anchored in midstream opposite the Soldiers and Sailors' Monument, at Eighty-ninth Street.
Officers and men of the Chinese cruiser Hai-Chi, which arrived at this port Monday, are to be given ample opportunity to see New York during their stay of 10 days here. ...
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. Country Studies.Federal Research Division.[1]
