Dai Zi

Dai Zi

Dai Zi (1649-1726), a native of Renhe (now Hangzhou), Zhejiang Province, was a man of Han nationality. Firearm manufacturer in the early Qing Dynasty.

He knows the art of war, astronomy and arithmetic, and is good at poetry, calligraphy and painting. He is a rare man of erudition and talent. In 1674, Geng Jingzhong in Fujian responded to Wu Sangui's rebellion and invaded Zhejiang. Wang Jieshu, a Kangqin general, was sent to Fujian and Zhejiang by the court. He led the Qing army to enlist Geng Jingzhong. Dai Zi applied for the position in cloth clothes. In the 15th year of Kangxi (1676), in order to recover Jiangshan City, he was awarded Taoist. After Geng Jingzhong's rebellion was settled, Dai Zi followed Jieshu to Beijing and was summoned by Kangxi. Kangxi knew that he was good at poetry and prose, so he appointed him as the Imperial Academy's assistant speaker, and Gao Shiqi went to the South study at the same time. Soon, he changed to Yangxin hall.

In the 26th year of Kangxi (1687), it successfully produced "chongtianpao" (also known as "Zi Mu Pao"), which was powerful and indescribable. It was named "Weiyuan general" by Kangxi. Later, it played an important role in the battle of zhaomoduo to pacify gardan rebellion. Later, Dai Zi inadvertently offended Nan Huairen, and Nan Huairen waited for an opportunity to retaliate and framed him for "having an affair with Japan.". Emperor Kangxi believed in slander and sent Dai Zi to Shenyang. He died in poverty in his later years.

Life of the characters

Dai Zi was born in an official's family. He was very intelligent since he was a child. "I like books and read everything, especially the words of strategists," and "I am not familiar with the study of Xiang Wei, Ju Gu, Zhan Zhen and he Qu". When he was 11 years old, he wrote a poem "if you can help the country, you can't help it.". He is versatile and has expertise in many fields. Under the influence of his father Dai Cang, Dai Zi fell in love with mechanical manufacturing when he was a teenager. He once made many kinds of firearms, one of which could hit targets beyond a hundred paces.

In 1674, Geng Jingzhong invaded Zhejiang Province from Fujian Province in response to Wu Sangui's rebellion. Emperor Kangxi sent Kangqin Wang Jieshu to Fujian and Zhejiang Province as the general. Dai Zi gladly abandoned his pen and joined the army. Because of his detailed analysis of the military situation, Dai Zi was deeply in agreement with Prince Kang and was highly respected. According to the draft of Qing Dynasty history, Dai Zi once offered "fire blunderbuss with continuous beads" to Prince Kang.

In 1680, Emperor Kangxi summoned Dai Zi to attend the Imperial Academy and appointed him to the South study.

In 1686, the Dutch government sent envoys to China and paid tribute to the "Panchang shotgun". Dai Zi was ordered to copy 10 guns, and Kangxi gave them back to the Dutch envoys. Soon after, he was ordered to imitate the "Franco machine" (guns made in Spain and Portugal), which took only five days to complete.

In 1687, Emperor Kangxi ordered Dai Zi to supervise the manufacture of "chongtianpao" (i.e. "Zi Mu Pao"), which was produced in eight days. The gun is two feet one inch long (about 0.672 meters) and weighs about 300 Jin (about 180 kg), which is easy to carry. The shape of the casting shell is like a melon. Each shell weighs 20-30 Jin and is loaded with "bullets". When the gun is fired, "the son is in the mother's belly, and the mother sends the son out. It falls down from the sky, fragments, and can't be used.

Because Dai Zi was upright and courageous, he was dismissed from office and exiled to Liaodong. He died of poverty and illness.

Character achievement

Research achievements

Dai Zi's most important achievement was in the development of firearms. He successfully developed a variety of firearms and became a famous firearm expert in the early Qing Dynasty. According to the records in the general textual research of Qing Dynasty documents, after Dai Zi invented the "continuous fire blunderbuss", Emperor Kangxi Longyan Dayue ordered Dai Zi to develop the son and mother cannon, also known as the "skygun". After a period of research, Dai Zi soon succeeded in developing the gun. Emperor Kangxi himself led his ministers to test the cannons. After the cannonballs were fired, they broke into pieces and were irresistible. Emperor Kangxi was so happy that he named the gun "Weiyuan general" and engraved the name of Dai Zi on the gun. It is also recorded that when Emperor Kangxi led his army to the second personal expedition to gardan, he brought his son's and mother's cannons with him. In the battle of zhaomoduo, the son's and mother's cannons showed great power and only fired three cannons at the gardan camp, and the enemy was scared to flee.

Artistic achievements

Dai Zi is also accomplished in literature. At the age of 12, he wrote a poem that "he can save the country, but he has no plan to get rid of hunger and cold". Most of his poems are based on grief and indignation, mainly on the record of facts and feelings. He once wrote the poem notes of the tilling tobacco hall. He also summed up the experience of predecessors in water control and wrote ten strategies for river control. Dai Zi wrote a poem on his 70th birthday and commented: "it's amazing that he has spent half his life grinding his sword and selling the world in vain, and has written books for thousands of years."

Anecdotes of characters

Continuous fire Blunderbuss

Dai Zi invented a weapon called "Lianzhu Huoqiang", also known as 28 Lianzhu Huoqiang. Blunderbuss back is a magazine, which can store 28 rounds of gunpowder and lead pellets. There are two blunderbuss, which are connected with each other. When one blunderbuss, the ammunition will fall into the barrel and release from the other. It's shaped like a Pipa and can shoot 28 rounds in a row.

However, Dai Zi did not dedicate the "Lianzhu blunderbuss" to the barracks, but "hid the weapons at home". The reason is said to be scared by a dream. One night when he was sleeping, Dai Zi had a strange dream. The man in the dream scolded him, saying that heaven has the virtue of living well. If you present this instrument to make it spread to the world, there will be no living people for your descendants.

The end of tragedy

Nan Huairen, a Belgian missionary, once showed off to Kangxi that his country invented the "skygun" (also known as the "son and mother gun"), and boasted that only the Belgians could build the "skygun", but it took one year to build it, while Dai Zi only took eight days to build it. After the "skygun" was built, Kangxi led his officials to the scene to watch the test firing. The firepower of the "skygun" was powerful and the bullets were all in vain. Kangxi was very happy and greatly appreciated it. He immediately named the gun "Weiyuan general" and ordered that the name of the manufacturer be engraved on the gun to commemorate it. The "skygun" played an important role in the fight to pacify the kardan rebellion in the future. In the 25th year of Kangxi reign, the Dutch government sent envoys to China. Among the gifts brought by the Dutch envoys was the "Panchang shotgun". At Kangxi's command, Dai Zi soon imitated 10 and sent them back to the Dutch envoy, which surprised the latter.

Later, Dai Zi's talent was envied by his colleagues. In addition, he was upright and outspoken. He also offended many people in the court, and he made Nan Huairen lose face in front of Kangxi and buried the root of the disaster.

"Chen Hongxun's son, Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son, defected to be an official, demanded fraud from (DAI) Zi, and fought each other to form a lawsuit. Those who are not allowed to do so are slandered, removed from their posts, and moved to Kanto. "

Nan Huairen is jealous. He seizes the opportunity and, together with Zhang Xianzhong's adopted son, falsely accuses Dai Zi of having an affair with foreign countries. Then Kangxi exiles Dai Zi to Shengjing (now Shenyang). There, Dai Zi lived a hard life for more than 30 years and was forced to sell calligraphy and paintings for a living. "In winter, Dai Zi would lie on a cold Kang with catkins, and in the early morning, he would trample ice into the mountains to pick up hazelnuts to cure his hunger.". In 1704 (the 43rd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi), he finally returned to his hometown and stayed in Tieling (now Tieling, Liaoning). He died in the 4th year of Yongzheng. There are four sons, Dai Jing, Dai Liang, Dai Heng and Dai Gao. Dai Heng, Li Kai and Chen Jingyuan are known as the "three elders of Liaodong".

The unjust case of Dai Zi

Due to Dai Zi's success in manufacturing artillery and his being awarded by Emperor Kangxi, Nan Huairen, a Belgian who was also engaged in firearms research and served in the imperial court, was very unhappy. As a result, Nan Huairen, from jealousy to hatred, colluded with Chen Tongyan, a rebel, and wrote a memorial to Emperor Kangxi, falsely accusing Dai Zi of secretly communicating with Japan, thus making Dai Zi guilty. At the beginning of the thirties of Kangxi, his family was exiled to Shengjing.

During his exile in Shengjing, Dai Zi's life was extremely difficult. In the winter night, Dai Zi was surrounded by catkins and lying on the cold Kang. In the early morning, Dai Zi had to step on the ice to collect hazelnuts in the mountains to satisfy his hunger. Fortunately, his paintings were still popular, so he made a living by selling paintings and calligraphy.

During his stay in Shengjing, Dai Zi wrote many poems about the scenery and scenic spots of Shengjing, such as "early journey", "boating in spring", "South pagoda Liuyin Kou Zhan", "South pagoda Liuyin". In his poem "morning trip", he chanted: "driving people out of the cold night, the idea of service is like a maze. The wild fire burns the remnant Xu, the frost drapes the Wugeng chicken. Cold stove blowing embers, open the door to the West. He describes the desolation he saw when he served in xusuo and got up early and night, expressing his sad feelings.

From a high official to a sinner, Dai Zi is closer to the common people emotionally. During this period, he also wrote many poems about the working people, such as Jian Huo: he worked hard all the year round. Fortunately, he was invited to get married in chahaotian. The chickens peck at the grain and gather again, and the mountain dogs wake up with the barking. White hair on the back, green skirt on the back. However, the surplus of official grain was not enough.

Dai Zishi describes the happy scene of the peasants after the autumn harvest. However, with a change of writing style, he writes that the peasants have just handed in the "official grain" and the "social drum" urges them to send money, which reveals the situation of the exploitation of the peasants.

"Liaohai series" also records a poem "late crossing of Hunhe River" written by Dai Zi for one of the eight old scenic spots in Shenyang, which says: sunset in the dusk, wild color in the high autumn. When birds enter the empty forest, people come to gudutou. Breeze floating short hair, fiber on the boat. Outside the south of the ten mile City, the bells are ringing.

Through the description of natural scenery and human activities, this poem outlines the beautiful landscape of Hunhe River. It is like a fresh and elegant ink painting, showing the scene of Hunhe ferry in the dusk in front of the world. At the same time, it also records that when the poet came to the ferry, he was faced with the red sun falling, the new moon rising, the silver waves breaking, and the light boats rippling. Suddenly I heard the low and gentle bell in Shengjing City, which affected his sad feelings and expressed his infinite emotion.

Dai Zi was exiled in Shengjing and Tieling successively

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