Gunpowder

__**Pre - Gunpowder**__


 * Thesis:** The conditions that China was in at that time led to the creation of gunpowder


 * Before settlement:**

Before any type of settlement started in China, the people there mainly survived on hunting wild deer and pig. This continued for another 4000 years before they began cultivating wild millet (rice) along the Yellow River. What set off a decision for this switch, there isn’t one reason that’s unanimously agreed upon. But, as hunter gatherers, tribes and considerable large groups of people have to travel together, going around searching for food to sustain themselves. And when they travel in groups, everyone has to be able to keep up with the rest of the group - even the old, and the mothers who have to be in a constant look out for their small children. A settled lifestyle would have been a whole lot more appealing to these people, rather than having to spend hours hunting or gathering. Also, their steadily growing population contributed to this switch that they made. With a larger civilization, they realized that due to the unpredictability of the circumstances, they were better off not risking starvation if they climate changed or if the animals migrated to warmer places and therefore leading to a lack or lower supply of food for the group. If they could find a way to be able to rely on nearby stores of food they needed, it would be more convenient and allow them more time to think about other issues. Without this transition from a hunter gatherer group to a settled community, there was no chance for the existence of gunpowder.

www.bartleby.com/67/ http://www.thamesandhudsonusa.com/web/humanpast/summaries/ch07.htm http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/images/neolithic_agriculture.htm




 * How the circumstances in the North Plain led to the the distribution of labour:**

This yellow river flowed through the North China Plain, making the flat, yellow soil in this region fertile. Thus, this plain was one of the most densely populated areas around the world, especially at that time. It became known for producing crops such as sorghum, millet, maize, cotton, wheat, sesame seed, peanuts, and tobacco. Although this area seemed like the perfect area for growing and cultivating crops, it had problems of its own. The weather was unpredictable. Droughts and floods often occurred because of its susceptibility to the humid drafts from the Pacific and the dry winds from the interior. When there were heavy floods, not only the crops were harmed, but the river boundaries were also damaged. This encouraged people to form central granaries to managing their food and set up forts to protect themselves against any potential enemies. They also were motivated to stabilize their hydraulic works so that the river boundaries were less in a risk of any further damage. They created drainage canals, reservoirs, aqueducts to store drinking water, and dikes for irrigation as well as flood control.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_China_Plain http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/afs/pdf/a741.pdf




 * How the conditions of the Yellow River led to systems of organization:**

Since the yellow river was the 2nd longest river after the Yangtze river and ran through 9 provinces, settlement was preferred around this river. Also, because the yellow river flooded more often than in the Yangtze in the North, people had to work harder at flood control, newer and better irrigation methods so all their hard work would not be destroyed when a disaster came their way. This probably encouraged the organization of institutions. This way, people could specialize in their different areas of expertise, so that not everyone has to think about doing everything for their own survival. It became more of a collaborative work, that people had to do a specific job for benefit of the rest of the community.

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/yellow-river/ http://www.travelchinaguide.com/yellow-river/civilization.htm




 * The Silk Road:**

Gansu, a province that the yellow river ran through, was a narrow strip that caravans used to pass from the West to China, originally used to gain political and military allies. This started the infamous trade route, the Silk Road, which gave China prosperity in their politics, economy, and culture through trade. This path was used as early as before 200 B.C. and continued on for another millennium. The Chinese brought over goods like silk, porcelain, fresh produce, paper, pottery and in return they received items that weren’t native to their land. (Gold, silver, gems, horses, pearls, and medicine.) Once the Chinese found out about this valuable material, gold, they searched for ways they could obtain more of it to gain wealth.

http://english.cri.cn/1702/2005-5-5/19@233028.htm http://www.cctv.com/program/RediscoveringChina/20030325/100249.shtm




 * Gold:**

Since gold was a rare metal and couldn’t be found on the shore like cowrie shells could be, or printed like paper money, it was used as a form of currency. If anything, the value of gold only increases, because as people extract it from the earth, the limited supply of it decreases. And the less the world has of something, they more expensive it’s going to get. (Take the continuously inflating price on crude oil in our present time for example.)Also, consider the amount of labour it takes to obtain gold. Gold isn’t life other metals or substances. If you wanted to make jewelry, gold was perfect for the job. It looked great, shined, was malleable, and did not decay or tarnish. Persia and rome were such places in the West that had an abundance of gold, but they were in need of silk. The chinese specialized in cultivated silk from their silk worms and so trade routes between the two regions opened. At one point in history, silk was even worth as much as gold. (One pound of silk was equal to a pound of gold.)

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t3862.htm




 * Alchemists and their finding:**

Many Chinese leaders, like Qin Shi Huang, had assassination paranoia after several repeated failed attempts, and so during his rule, he sought after immortality. Alchemists tried to create gold from other invaluable substances and from that gold substance that was derived, concoct an elixir of immortality or any other presumed “magical” substances that could extend one’s lifetime. On their task, they discovered nitrates that deflagrated when throw on a fire. (Saltpeter, charcoal, potassium nitrate). This find most likely shocked them because they weren’t looking for explosives. They might have used small portions of saltpeter and carbon together to purify arsenic, but rarely were the two substances usually combined.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder#China http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2430/gporigins.html http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/cannon.htm# Site is credible is because writer is an Associate Professor Emeritus of Engineering, University of Denver Registered Professional Engineer, State of Colorado No.12317.




 * Saltpeter &amp; Arsenic poisoning**:

Saltpeter was only able to be produced in warm and tropical climates. South China’s climate were more than suitable for this, and also supported the presence of arsenic in groundwater. Then, the traces of arsenic in the water was absorbed through irrigation into the food crops that the people ate on a daily basis, such as rice. Also, in the past European women ate mixtures of chalk, vinegar, and arsenic to make their complexion paler, to give off an appearance that they did not work in the fields. Chinese women may have done the same maybe? As a result, there probably were many cases of arsenic poisoning and the alchemists were attempting to find a solution to this problem. But what they got, in fact, was a new weapon that would eventually be used to their advantage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenic http://www.monkeytree.org/silkroad/gunpowder/china2.htm http://pubs.acs.org/cen/80th/print/arsenic.html This site is credible because its author is a professor of civil/environmental engineering at Bangladesh university of Engineering &amp; Technology, Dhaka. He also received the Dr. Rashid Gold Medal in 2001.



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__**Gunpowder in Chinese Military:**__


 * Thesis: What were some military advances that the Chinese had with the development of gunpowder and what were some battles they were used in?**


 * First signs of gunpowder:**

Gunpowder was a magnificent Chinese invention. In the 6th century AD first signs of uses of gunpowder were shown. The chinese used gunpowder in firecrackers for the first time, and it first appeared in manuscripts. The 11th century was when the ingredients for gunpowder were mentioned and available to people. It was first discovered when Chinese alchemists were trying to find an elixir for immortality.


 * Gunpowder damage:**

Gunpowder is known to be a low explosive because it has a slow decomposition. The gases that were released from the explosion was what really did the damage. The explosion from it’s casing.


 * Gunpowder weapons in Chinese military:**

Gunpowder was used in several weapons that were used in the Chinese military, such as fire lances, cast iron grenades, incendiary bombs, and fire arrows. These weapons were mostly either explosive, or they were designed to cause fires. The fire lance was a long bamboo stick with a fire on the end of it. It was used to defend Chinese forts. These weapons were designed to be held in hand during battle. The cast iron grenades were grenades that were filled with gunpowder which would blow up and blast away their metal containers. The incendiary bombs were bombs that would cause fires where they were thrown. These bombs were mainly thrown from siege cannons. The fire arrows basically explains itself as to why they were used. They were first used at the end of the Tang dynasty. picture of fire arrow (left) picture of grenade (middle) picture of smoke bomb (right)


 * The Fire Lance:**

Fire lances were originally Chinese spears that would have an flaming poison dart. These Chinese spears were hollow bamboo sticks where you could shoot a flaming poison dart out of. The range of this weapon was really short, it was only a few feet in fact. Therefore, the Chinese used this in closer combat, rather than long distance. After this, inventors saw the advantage they could get by just having the burning flame at the end of this bamboo stick, so the fire lance and the spear were separated. The first signs of fire lances being used in battle, was way back in the 10th century. These were extremely convenient. They were similar to fire arrows in some aspect, because the Chinese used these to shoot at enemies approaching city walls. These were one-shot weapons, meaning you get rid of it after this one shot. Picture of fire lance...


 * Battles of Caishi and Tangdao:**

Gunpowder was used in many battles, but in the battles of Caishi and Tangdao, gunpowder was used a lot. Weapons such as grenades and soft cased bombs that were packed with sulfur was thrown at enemies. In 1221, cast iron bombs were thrown by hand or catapult in this battle. 1161, Chinese really started to used gunpowder against each other a lot. The Song dynasty naval ships used gunpowder bombs against the Jin dynasty. The Song dynasty were able to defend themselves from the Tanguts, Khitans, Jurchens, and the Mongols during the 10th century to 13th century.


 * Chinese Falling behind:**

The Chinese eventually started to fall back during the 13th century because gunpowder began to spread across the Silk Road during this time. Once this great invention spread to Europe, Chinese fell back on their technology. Europe had more advanced technology, which was one of the reasons Great Britain won the First Opium War. The Chinese lost control and power over Hong Kong because they had lost the First Opium War. Before this, Chinese were really advanced and were already these weapons against each other. In the year 1259, Mongols were being attacked by Qingzhou, who was said to be manufacturing 1-2 thousand iron-cased bombs a month and spreading ten to twenty thousand of these to XiangYang and Yingzhou. The Mongols looked into this and decided to employ the northern Chinese soldiers, who had these weapons as well, and use them against the Qinzhou.


 * The Song dynasty trying to protect gunpowder from spreading:**

The Song dynasty in the 11th century began to grow a fear of the other countries and other people taking away their monopoly with these gunpowder weapons. Therefore, in 1067, the Song government had banned selling sulfur or saltpetre to foreigners. The Mongols still were able to conquer the Chinese and with that, their technology in gunpowder. The Mongols were just like the Song dynasty, meaning that they wanted to keep all the gunpowder weapons to themselves and not let it spread to other countries or into the hands of foreigners. Because of this strong development, the Chinese were building their was to be specially designed to endure gunpowder weaponry attacks. For example, the Beijing wall was a low and thick wall specifically designed to protect themselves from the gunpowder weapons.

A specific example of the fire lance being used was a battle in 1233. This was a battle between the Jin dynasty and the Mongols. Pucha Guannu, who was the commander in chief under the Jin emperor at the time, had took 450 Han troops with him to guard the city. Guannu had led his soldiers out on the river where the Mongols were. The Mongols planned to attack from the north, from entering in the river. The Jin troops had attacked these Mongols from 2 directions at once. Even though the Mongols had more than 3500 troops and the Jin only had 450, they still won. The reason why they wont was because they had used the fire lances. It was like when the Spanish had attacked the Mayans (i think). They attacked them on horseback, which drove them into panic, which led to complete chaos. It completely destroyed their plan for attacking.
 * Example of fire lance being used**

[] - Six stages of Agriculture.

[|What gunpowder exactly is.] Credible because they have listed all their sources, such as people from Cambridge University which is quite prominent.

[] - origins of gunpowder, and gunpowder uses

[|http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2430/gporigins.html] - gunpowder weapons, and origins of gunpowder [| fire arrows and bombs] It was supported by the Education Division of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which according to wikipedia is “The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 (Pub.L. 89-209) dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.”

[] - spread of gunpowder and uses in other countries.

[] - fire lance in battle between jin and mongols