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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;springfld.arsenal, post: 9441691, member: 54&quot;]Draft article for publication tbd</p><p><br /></p><p>(First Draft)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Story of a Gigantic Chinese Musket</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>by John L. Morris</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>An acquaintance in Danville, VA asked for help to translate a long Chinese inscription engraved into the steel barrel of an eight-foot-long matchlock musket he’d inherited.&nbsp; The story handed down with it involves his great-grandfather returning from fighting in Peking, China in 1901 with the captured weapon.&nbsp; I sent photos of the markings to a friend who has done Chinese translations for me before.&nbsp; He responded quickly:&nbsp; “It comes from Jiang Su (Suzhou), bears the name of the local governor Lu 陆, dates to Daoguang 20 (1840). and shows the recipe for firing” (gunpowder charge is 43 grams.) </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>A little web-searching revealed some interesting information about Viceroy Lu:&nbsp; “Lu Jianying (<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_characters" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_characters" rel="nofollow">Chinese</a>: 陸建瀛; 1776 – 19 March 1853) was the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viceroy_of_Liangjiang" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viceroy_of_Liangjiang" rel="nofollow">Viceroy of Liangjiang</a> from early 1849 until early 1853. When the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion" rel="nofollow">Taiping Rebellion</a> army occupied <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanjing" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanjing" rel="nofollow">Nanjing</a> on 19 March, Lu Jianying was killed by the Taiping. Lu was the second to be killed (the first was the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viceroy_of_Huguang" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viceroy_of_Huguang" rel="nofollow">Viceroy of Huguang</a> in early 1853) and a few of the highest rank governors killed in action in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qing_dynasty" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qing_dynasty" rel="nofollow">Qing dynasty</a>. When Beijing knew of Lu&#039;s death and the loss of Nanjing, they chose to impeach Lu in order to place the blame on him, saying he was incapable of commanding the battle.”</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>One source describes the Battle of Nanjing, 1853, thus:&nbsp; “The Taipings reached Nanjing on March 6, with a force that had grown to almost 750,000. The Taiping besieged the city for thirteen days, until three tunnels had been dug beneath city walls in order to plant explosives. Two of them exploded on time but the third one detonated late, killing many Taiping troops in <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendly_fire" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendly_fire" rel="nofollow">friendly fire</a>. On March 20, Taiping forces reached the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_City,_Beijing" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_City,_Beijing" rel="nofollow">Imperial City</a>, the home of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manchu_Garrison&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manchu_Garrison&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" rel="nofollow">Manchu Garrison</a> and defended by more than 30,000 Manchu <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Banners" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Banners" rel="nofollow">bannermen families</a>. Qing forces were unable to contain a Taiping <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_wave_attack" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_wave_attack" rel="nofollow">human wave attack</a> and the Inner City fell quickly. The Taipings murdered about 30,000 manchu families of the defeated manchu soldiers after capturing the city.”</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Dimensions:&nbsp; Overall length:&nbsp; 91 in., barrel Length:&nbsp; 72 in., Bore:&nbsp; 7/8 in.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>{Footnotes TBS}</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Image links:&nbsp; <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/189102681@N07/shares/549D53r7WJ" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/189102681@N07/shares/549D53r7WJ" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/photos/189102681@N07/shares/549D53r7WJ</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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