摘要
天啟年間共有出自三艘歐洲沉船的四十二門西方大砲被分批解運至北京，而西洋火砲的操作與鑄造技術，因此成為近代東方大陸文明向西方海洋文明學習的第一課。此事雖只是當時歐洲海權擴張在世界各地所引發的一則小插曲，但卻在之後明清鼎革的戰爭中扮演著重要角色。然而，在相關的史學專著中，不僅對西洋火砲早期傳華的過程和影響未給予適當的比重，甚至常出現錯誤的陳述，也未見學者對這些船砲打撈的歷程有所著墨。
筆者因此嘗試重新疏理中國方面的文獻，並整合西方原始材料，再對照中國現存歐洲古砲的實物，希望能較細緻且正確地還原此一西方火砲東傳的事件。文中嘗試說明當十七世紀初葉歐洲國家在亞洲海域進行武力對抗的時代裏，親天主教人士如何促使明廷自南方引進沿海的歐洲沉船大砲，以應付長城以北新興滿族的威脅，而此事的實踐又如何與晚明士人的社會網絡以及政局演變息息相關。筆者並將透過此一課題對中國史學界所面臨的挑戰與目前的學風有所反省與建議。
During 1621-1627, 42 great ordnance from three European shipwrecks at the southern China coast were transported to Beijing. The casting and firing techniques became the first lesson China, as an Oriental continental country, had to learn from Occidental maritime countries. Although this is just a small episode in the contemporary European maritime expansion history, such new weapons played an important role at the battlefields during the Ming-Qing cataclysm. However, many researches in the related field did not give a proper weight to the process and the effect of the import of European guns, and incorrect statements are not difficult to find in them. Especially, no detailed study has been made on the salvage process of the guns.
The author tried in this article to re-comb the Chinese and the Western literature to look for related materials. Efforts have also been made to study the extant 17th-century European guns in China. This article attempts to restore these historic events and to clarify how Christian literati and their friends push the Ming court to import European guns from the wrecks in order to deal with the menace of emerging Manchu regime. The article also reveals how the realization of this effort is strongly influenced by the social network and the political struggles of literati during the late Ming. The author further tries to discuss the situation our community of China history is facing in the new era through the experience of this study.
關鍵詞
明末清初史 歐洲擴張史 軍事史 大砲 沉船
history of late Ming and early Qing, history of European expansion, military history, great ordnance, shipwreck