晚清官员对气动炸药炮的认识与议购——以李鸿章、张之洞为中心

Officials’ Understanding and Negotiation of Pneumatic Dynamite Guns in the Late Qing Dynasty: In the Example of Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong

气动炸药炮是19世纪晚期美国特有的武器,因具有威力巨大、制造简便等特点而名噪一时。但是,由于其技术升级潜力不足且存在安全隐患,在20世纪初即被淘汰。中法战争期间,经原驻美副公使容闳的介绍与推动,李鸿章、张之洞对这种武器产生了浓厚的兴趣,准备批量采购。甲午战争中,张之洞又拟通过容闳购买安装有气动炸药炮的巴西军舰。这些购炮活动最后虽然都以失败告终,但促进了晚清封疆大吏对近代科技的了解。经历过购炮失败后,张之洞认识到了先进武器国产化的重要性。戊戌变法期间,清政府颁布的专利法规还以气动炸药炮为例,鼓励发展民间技术和工业发明。

The pneumatic dynamite gun was a unique weapon of the United States in the late 19 th century,which was famous for its enormous power and simple manufacture technique.Due to the technical upgrading insufficiency and potential safety hazard,this weapon was eliminated in the early 20 th century.During the Sino-French War(1883-1885),Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong had a strong interest in such weapons through the introduction and promotion of Yung Wing,the former Deputy Minister to the United States,and prepared for bulk purchase.In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894,Zhang Zhidong planned to purchase a Brazilian auxiliary cruiser equipped with dynamite guns through Yung Wing.Although ended in failure,those attempts promoted the senior officials’understanding toward modern technology.After the failure of gun purchase,Zhang Zhidong recognized the importance of localization of advanced weapons.During the Reform Movement of 1898,the patent regulations promulgated by the Qing government also used the pneumatic dynamite gun as an example to encourage folk technology and industrial inventions.