Naval history of China

The naval history of China dates back thousands of years, with archives existing since the late Spring and Autumn period regarding the Chinese navy and the various ship types employed in wars.

[3] At its height by the late 12th century there were 20 squadrons of some 52,000 marines, with the admiral's headquarters at Dinghai, while the main base remained closer to modern Shanghai.

[3] The establishment of the first permanent Chinese navy by the Southern Song dynasty[4] came out of the need to defend against the Jin dynasty, who had overrun the northern China, and to escort merchant fleets entering the Southeast Pacific and Indian Ocean on long trade missions abroad to the Hindu, Islamic, and East African spheres of the world.

However, considering various Central Plain polities were for a long time menaced by land-based nomadic tribes such as the Xiongnu, Göktürks, Khitans and Mongols, the navy was 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 a policy of introspection.

[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 the Grand Canal.

[11] Additionally, shipwrecks have been excavated in the South China Sea, including wrecks of Chinese trade and war ships that sank around 1377 and 1645.

River and coastal naval defence was the responsibility of the waterborne units of the Green Standard Army, which were based at Jingkou (now Zhenjiang) and Hangzhou.

In the 1860s, an attempt to establish a modern navy via the British-built Osborn or "Vampire" Fleet to combat the Taiping rebels' US-built gunboats.

This battle allowed the Imperial Japanese Army to invade China, occupy the Shandong Peninsula, and use the fortress at Weihaiwei to shell the Chinese fleet.

[5][15] Although the modern battleships Zhenyuan and Dingyuan were impervious to Japanese fire, they were unable to sink a single ship and all eight cruisers were lost.

Due to corruption much of the funds needed by the navy was taken by the Dowager Empress Cixi to renovate the Summer Palace and build her Marble Boat.

One of the new ships delivered after the war with Japan, the cruiser Hai Chi, in 1911 became the first vessel flying the Yellow Dragon Flag to arrive in American waters, visiting New York City as part of a tour.

[5] Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union provided assistance to the PLAN in the form of naval advisers and export of equipment and technology.

However, by the 1990s, following the fall 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.

[23] 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.

[1] Many passages of Yuan Kang's book were rewritten and published in Li Fang's Imperial Reader of the Taiping Era, compiled in AD 983.

[24] 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.

[1] Ramming vessels were also attested to in other Chinese documents, including the Shi Ming dictionary of c. 100 AD written by Liu Xi.

[26] 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.

[25] Gongsun sent a naval force of some twenty to thirty thousand soldiers down the Yangtze River to attack the position of the Han commander Cen Peng.

[30] 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.

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 during the Jin–Song wars.

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.

Serrated pennants are flown from staffs fixed at many places on board, and there are gongs and drums; thus these (combat junks) are (real) fighting ships (in the ordinary sense).

Due to rebellions in the late 18th century the navy was neglected and declined, ultimately suffering defeat in the Opium Wars.