
Jianruiying, the Special Forces of the Qing Dynasty - vanderburgt
https://www.mandarinmansion.com/article/jianruiying-introduction
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hangonhn
BTW the portraits near the end were painted by a Jesuit priest in the court of
Qianlong named Giuseppe Castiglione.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Castiglione_(Jesuit_p...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Castiglione_\(Jesuit_painter\))

His works is a blending of both European and Chinese techniques.

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ilamont
_What was expected to become a quick and decisive victory for the otherwise
highly effective Qing army, ended in a stalemate._

This was a constant theme throughout Chinese dynastic history -- leaders at
the provincial or national level underestimating the military capabilities of
tribal peoples/"barbarians," rebels, and smaller tributary states. The
preceding Ming dynasty is littered with similar examples involving Japanese-
led pirate bands on the coast and tribal groups to the north and west. The
15th-century Zhengtong Emperor decided to take part in crushing one border
flare-up with the Mongols, and was even captured. The dynasty itself was ended
by Manchu invaders in the mid-1600s.

I don't believe the Ming ever trained a distinct/elite group of special forces
as described in TFA, but innovative and effective generals were sometimes
given special commands and employed new modes of training and tactics but
using regular conscripted forces. The aforementioned Japanese-led pirates
raiding the coast were vanquished in this way.

I recommend _1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline_ by
Ray Huang (a historian and former military officer) for anyone who is
interested in this topic.

~~~
hangonhn
But that's not a problem unique to China. Historically people from
stronger/wealthier nations have underestimated others in poorer nations,
especially when the poorer country is on the defense. Mongols vs. Vietnam, UK
vs. Maori, Japan vs. China (China took a beating but Japan thought they can
win the war in 4 months and China's strategy did win out in the end at great
cost.), Chinese nationalist vs. Chinese communists, France vs. Vietnam, US vs.
Vietnam, China vs. Vietnam, USSR vs. Afghanistan, etc.

~~~
swampthing
Japan versus China? Do people really consider China to have won that one? I
always thought they mostly made it out due to the US defeating Japan.

~~~
yorwba
China was not yet defeated and was slowly retaking territory, but of course
Japan's unconditional surrender made everything much easier. HistoryLapse has
a pretty good article on that last stage of the Second Sino-Japanese War:
[https://en.historylapse.org/japan%27s-defeat-in-the-
second-s...](https://en.historylapse.org/japan%27s-defeat-in-the-second-sino-
japanese-war)

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7thaccount
I always find certain weapons like the hook sword shown at the bottom to be
interesting as they don't show up in other cultures, although the straight
sword is pretty much available across the globe. Did it excel in some manner
for the threats in China that were less relevant elsewhere? Maybe better armor
in the west would have made it less relevant?

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saagarjha
Curved swords are quite common in Persian, Indian, Chinese, and Japanese
cultures. They're not exclusively Chinese.

~~~
credit_guy
I guess the OP meant this hook sword

[https://www.mandarinmansion.com/item/chinese-hook-
sword](https://www.mandarinmansion.com/item/chinese-hook-sword)

It does have a strange shape, and indeed I don't think I saw anything similar
in other cultures.

~~~
saagarjha
Ah, that makes more sense. I was looking for a sword "near the bottom" of the
article itself and saw just the curved sword; the hook sword was past the end.

~~~
7thaccount
Ah, I shouldn't been more descriptive lol

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g8oz
The article says the emperor compared his soldiers to the Solon cavalry. Does
anyone know who/what that refers to? A quick Google search did not turn up
anything.

~~~
boudewijnrempt
From internal evidence from the article, they were also a people inside the
Chinese empire. Nothing to do with the Greek Solon :-)

~~~
depeterdekker
Yes, the Solon were a subtribe of what were later called "Manchu". It is quite
notable that while most tribes started to fall under the Manchu identity at
some point, the Solon were often mentioned separately.

They first resisted Qing empire-building fiercely, but once subjugated made
some of the best warriors of the Qing. They were even feared still in the
1860s by the Taipings, in a time when most of the Qing army had become a
caricature of itself.

By the time the Qing fell, all Solon, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Mongolian, Hui
and Manchu Bannermen were classified as "Manchu" and by now they are probably
truly sinicized.

