DING, Gongchen 丁拱辰.

K. Yŏnp’o tosŏl chibyo 演礮圖說輯要; Ch. Yan pao tu shuo ji yao [Edited Essentials of Illustrated Explanations of Gunnery].

37 woodcut illus., some spanning several pages, all full-page. 74; 71 folding leaves. Two vols. Large 4to (334 x 202 mm.), orig. semi-stiff wrappers (a little worn) with orig. title slips on upper wrappers, new stitching. [Korea]: [after 1843].

A rare Korean, movable-type edition of this pioneering Chinese work on Western technology, ballistics, and artillery. The author Ding Gongchen, one of the leading gunnery and gunpowder experts of China, was also the first Chinese to correctly describe the steam mechanism in writing (in juan 4) and to construct a steam engine, illustrated here.

Scholars have remarked that the most valuable contribution of Ding’s book is its discussion of calculating the aim of the gun. “Edited Essentials of Illustrated Explanations of Gunnery totals 4 juan and 49 sections, to which are added 110 illustrations. Juan 1 contains illustrations and explanations of height differences [caused by the narrowing of the gun barrel], scales, gun carriages, racks for hanging guns, etc. This juan is the first part that Ding Gongchen wrote. The contents of juan 2 can be divided into two categories. The first is a presentation of American, French, and British style guns, with illustrations. The second is an explication of how to use guns, especially with regards to the use of mathematics and the quadrant in gunnery. This category takes up a very considerable portion of the entire work, and it is also the section with the greatest scientific value. In addition, Ding also introduces gunpowder-filled munitions and methods for measuring guns, establishing a target, achieving optimal accuracy, etc. Juan 3 primarily discusses the construction and installation of fortresses, the casting of cannon balls and gun stands, various Western fire munitions, Western fortresses, and Western ways of producing guns. Moreover, Ding clears up confusion regarding Western military drilling...”-Guo Jinbin (see below). Juan 4 contains illustrations and explanations of warships, including steamships. It is apparently the earliest description of the steam engine in Chinese publications.

Ding Gongchen (1800-75) was from Jinjiang 晉江 in southeastern China’s coastal Fujian province and came from a prominent Muslim merchant family, resident in China since the 13th century. When he was 17 sui, he accompanied his father and uncle on a business trip to Zhejiang, Taiwan, and Guangdong. He took an interest in astronomy, which he studied by himself, and carried out astronomical calculations. At age 30 sui, he travelled on a merchant ship with an at least partially foreign crew, visiting the Philippines and the western Indian Ocean, most notably Persia and Arabia. His measurements caught the attention of a non-Chinese officer who was familiar with European artillery. This interaction made Ding interested in gunnery, and he collected European writings on this subject, as well as interviewed knowledgeable individuals.

When Ding returned to China, he wrote Yanpao tushuo 演礮圖說 [Illustrated Explanations of Gunnery], which he published in 1841 at his own expense in Quanzhou, Fujian. As far as we have been able to ascertain, this edition has not survived (no copies in WorldCat). His purpose of writing the book was to strengthen the Chinese military vis-à-vis the foreign powers. In 1841, during the Opium War, he presented his book to the military authorities in Guangdong. After the general-in-chief and the governor-general had inspected gunnery exercises in the province, they agreed that changes were necessary, and they submitted Ding’s manuscript to the Grand Council, the emperor’s privy council in Beijing. They recognized its value, and Ding was given an official position. This did not interest him, however, and he withdrew to Quanzhou. He revised his book and gave it the title Edited Essentials of Illustrated Explanations of Gunnery. Our Korean edition is from this revision. Ding was subsequently given an appointment at the gun foundry in Guilin, Guangxi.

Our book carries an inscription saying that it was printed at Huiwen Tang 會文堂 in Quanzhou. However, our copy appears identical to the one held at Jangseogak in Seoul, which has been digitized. This copy carries the same inscription on printing, but it was in reality printed in Korea using the chŏnsa metal movable type, supplemented with extra characters and woodcut illustrations, a woodcut cover page, and woodcut calligraphic Prefaces and colophons. This set of type was cast by Pak Chong-kyŏng 朴宗慶, the older brother of the birth mother of King Sunjo, in 1816. The basis for Pak’s font was the edition of the complete Chinese dynastic histories published in movable type at the Qing palace in Beijing (chŏnsa means “complete histories”). A number of books, including Daoist and Buddhist texts, were published using the font. The exact date of the printing of our book is not clear; the only date given is the one for the original Chinese edition. We are certain our copy belongs to the Korean edition, as the wrappers and binding are unmistakenly Korean. In addition, the printing has the appearance of movable type.

Our book contains Prefaces by Ding (two) and Meng Hongguang 孟鴻光 and colophons by Chen Qingyong 陳慶鏞, Shu Sizeng 叔嗣曾, and Pan Shicheng 潘仕成. There is also additional prefatory material, including a letter and an imperial edict.

Fine copy, some very minor dampstaining in the corners, preserved in a new hantao.

❧ Guo Jinbin 郭金彬, “Ding Gongchen ji qi Yanpao tushuo jilüe” 丁拱辰及其《演礮圖說輯要》, Ziran bianzhengfa tongxun No. 3 (2003): pp. 79-83. Sau-yi Fong, “War and Technology: Ding Gongchen and His Cannon Practice Manuals” in Late Imperial China, Vol. 43, No. 2 (December 2022), pp. 89–137. Needham & Ling, Science and Civilisation in China, Vol. 4. Physics and Physical Technology. Part II: Mechanical Engineering (Cambridge: 1965), p. 429n–Of the Chinese naval engineers interested in modern techniques of the West, “the most many-sided was Ding Gongchen, who studied all aspects of gunnery from the making of cannon and projectiles to the positioning of defence batteries and mounting of artillery within them; he also constructed a model steamboat and a model locomotive.”.