The
naval history of China dates back thousands of years, with archives existing since the late
Spring and Autumn Period (
722 BC –
481 BC) about the ancient
navy of
China and the various ship types used in war.
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 678.] In modern times, the current
Mainland Chinese and
Taiwanese governments continue to maintain standing navies with the
People's Liberation Army Navy and the
Republic of China Navy, respectively.
History
Early coastal maritime endeavors
The legendary
Xu Fu searching for mythical
Fusang, or the setting up of the maritime
Silk Road since the 2nd century BC from
Hepu Commandery, drew the ancient Chinese naval maps.
Although numerous naval battles took place before the
12th century, such as the large-scale
Three Kingdoms Battle of Chibi in the year 208, it was during the
Song Dynasty (
960–
1279 AD) that the Chinese established a permanent, standing navy in 1132 AD.
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 476.] At its height by the late 12th century there were 20
squadrons of some 52,000 marines, with the admiral's headquarters based at
Dinghai, while the main base remained closer to modern
Shanghai in those days.
The establishment of the permanent navy during the Song period came out of the need to defend against the
Jurchens, who had overrun the northern half of China, and to escort
merchant fleets entering the South East
Pacific and
Indian Ocean on long trade missions abroad to the
Hindu,
Islamic, and
East African spheres of the world. However, considering
China was a country which was longtime menaced by land-based
nomadic tribes such as the
Xiongnu,
Göktürks,
Mongols and so on, the navy was always seen as an adjunct rather than an important military force. By the 15–16th centuries China's canal system and internal economy were sufficiently developed to nullify the need for the Pacific fleet, which was scuttled when conservative Confucianists gained power in the court and began the policy of inward perfection. With the
Opium Wars, which shook up the generals of the
Qing Dynasty, the
navy was once again attached greater importance.
When the British fleet encountered the Chinese during the first Opium War, their officers noted the appearance of paddle-wheel boats among the Chinese fleet, which they took for a copy of the Western design. Paddle-wheel boats were actually developed by the Chinese independently in the 5th–6th centuries AD, only a century after their first surviving mention in Roman sources (see
Paddle steamer),
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 31.] 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 the
Middle Ages that had not yet been adopted by the Western and Islamic worlds, some of which were documented by
Marco Polo but which did not enter into other navies until the 18th century, when the British successfully incorporated them into ship designs. For example, medieval Chinese hulls were split into
bulkhead sections so that a hull rupture only flooded a fraction of the ship and did not necessarily sink it (see
Ship floodability). This was described in the book of the Song Dynasty maritime author
Zhu Yu, the
Pingzhou Table Talks of 1119 AD.
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 463.] 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 of
anchors arranged circularly instead of in one direction, "making them more reliable".
[Graff, 86.] 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.
Arguably the
largest naval battle in history was the
Battle of Lake Poyang from
August 30 to
October 4 of the year
1363 AD, a battle which cemented the success of
Zhu Yuanzhang in founding the
Ming Dynasty. 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 the
Grand Canal. Ships like the juggernauts of
Zheng He's "
treasure fleet," which dwarfed the largest Portuguese ships of the era by several times, were discontinued, and the
junk became the predominant Chinese vessel until the country's relatively recent (in terms of Chinese sailing history) naval revival.
Literature
Early literature
One of the oldest known Chinese books written on naval matters was the
Yuejueshu (
Lost Records of the State of Yue) of 52 AD, attributed to the
Han Dynasty scholar Yuan Kang.
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 678.] Many passages of Yuan Kang's book were rewritten and published in
Li Fang's
encyclopedia of the
Taiping Yulan (
Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era), compiled in 983 AD as one of the
Four Great Books of Song.
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 678, F.] The preserved written passages of Yuan Kang's book were again featured in the
Yuanjian Leihan (
Mirror of the Infinite, a Classified Treasure Chest) encyclopedia, edited and compiled by Zhang Ying in 1701 during the
Qing Dynasty.
Yuan Kang's book listed various water crafts that were used for war, including one that was used primarily for
ramming like
Greco-Roman triremes.
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 679.] These "classes" of ships were the great wing (da yi), the little wing (xiao yi), the stomach striker (tu wei), the
castle ship (lou chuan), and the bridge ship (qiao chuan).
These were listed in the
Yuejueshu as a written dialogue between
King Helü of Wu (r.
514 BC–
496 BC) and
Wu Zixu (
526 BC–
484 BC), the latter of whom said:
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 heavy chariots, little wing ships to light chariots, stomach strikers to battering rams, castle ships to mobile assault towers, and bridge ships to light cavalry.
A 17th century handscroll depiction of battle during the
Imjin War.
Ramming vessels were also attested to in other Chinese documents, including the
Shi Ming dictionary of c. 100 AD written by Liu Xi.
The Chinese also used a large iron t-shaped
hook connected to a
spar to pin retreating ships down, as described in the
Mozi book compiled in the 4th century BC.
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 681.] This was discussed in a dialogue between Mozi and
Lu Ban in 445 BC (when Lu traveled to the
State of Chu from the
State of Lu), as the hook-and-spar technique made standard on all Chu
warships was given as the reason why the Yue navy lost in battle to Chu.
[Needham, Volume 3, Part 4, 681-682.]The rebellion of Gongsun Shu in
Sichuan province against the re-established Han Dynasty during the year 33 AD was recorded in the
Book of Later Han, compiled by Fan Ye in the 5th century.
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 679.] Gongsun sent a naval force of some twenty to thirty thousand troops down the
Yangtze River to attack the position of the Han commander Cen Peng.
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 679-680.] After Cen Peng defeated several of Gongsun's officers, Gongsun had a long floating
pontoon bridge constructed across 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.
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 680.] 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.
The '
castle ship' design described by Yuan Kang saw continued use in Chinese naval battles after the Han period. Confronting the navy of the
Chen Dynasty on the
Yangtze River,
Emperor Wen of Sui (r.
581–
604) employed an enormous naval force of thousands of ships and 518,000 troops stationed along the Yangtze (from
Sichuan to the
Pacific Ocean).
[Ebrey, 89.] The largest of these ships had five layered decks, could hold 800 passengers, and each ship was fitted with six 50 ft. long
booms that were used to swing and damage enemy ships, along with the ability of pinning them down.
Tang era
During the Chinese
Tang Dynasty (
618–
907 AD) there were some famous naval engagements, such as the Tang-
Silla victory over the Korean kingdom of
Baekje and
Yamato Japanese forces in the
Battle of Baekgang in 663. Tang Dynasty literature on naval warfare and ship design became more nuanced and complex. In his
Taipai 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).
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 685-687.] Not represented here, of course, is the
paddle-wheel crafts innovated by the Tang Prince Li Gao more than a decade later in 784 AD.
Paddle-wheel craft would continue to hold an important place in the Chinese navy. Along with
gunpowder bombs, paddle-wheel craft were a significant reason for the success in the later Song Dynasty naval victory of the
Battle of Caishi in the year 1161 AD.
[Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 421–422.]Tower ships
Covered swoopers
Combat junks
Flying barques
Patrol boats
Sea hawks
Naval endeavours by era
Chinese naval warfare gallery
See also
