Intro

Honestly when I started digging into the story behind this cannon, I actually hit a bit of a wall. There just aren't many articles about these specific cannons online. To really get to the bottom of it, I ended up diving into CNKI, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure. And luckily, I found it! So in this video, I'm super excited to share what I uncovered and explain why this cannon ended up right here.

Beihai Park

"On June 1st, I visited Beihai Park in Beijing. When we talk about Beihai Park, I'm sure many people immediately think of the famous the White Stupa Temple or White Pagoda. In Chinese, it's called 'Baita' (白塔), and I also found its Manchu name on a stele in Beihai Park, 'xanyan subarhan'.

This iconic structure is almost 800 years old, and has truly become one of Beijing's symbols today.

Before this visit, I always pictured Beihai Park as just an old imperial garden filled with palaces. But honestly, I now think it's more accurate to call it a museum rather than just a park. Why? Because not only can you enjoy the beautiful lake and scenery,

but you can also explore ancient, traditional buildings. Many rooms still feature original traditional furniture, allowing you to truly feel the atmosphere and imagine how old emperors lived. And, of course, there's the very famous White Stupa Temple itself.

But the most surprising thing for me was that I discovered three small cannons there! This unexpected find is exactly why I'm including this short trip in my firearms story. Alright, let's move on to the next part and talk about what these cannons actually are!

What Are the Cannons?

First of all, where exactly are these cannons? If you're a firearms enthusiast planning a trip to Beihai Park someday, you might want to know their location. It's actually very easy to find them, as they're right at the foot of the White Pagoda. There's an information board there that provides a brief history of the White Pagoda, and luckily, in the last paragraph and its latter half, it finally mentions the cannons. To be honest, it wasn't until this very moment, while I was preparing the content at home, that I finally found this crucial information. According to the Chinese text on the board, they are bronze and iron signal cannons. The English section simply refers to them as "bronze and iron cannons."

Actually, when I first saw them, my immediate thought was that they must be signal cannons. I based this on two factors: First, during China's imperial era, the current location of the White Pagoda was a symbol of imperial power, and in both the Ming and Qing dynasties, this area was part of the Imperial Palace. Second, the cannons themselves aren't very large. So, I figured they weren't designed for battle, at least. If they weren't battle cannons, then they were most likely signal cannons. Ultimately, the information provided by the park confirmed my suspicion.

The Details

When I saw the cannons, I noticed there were three in total: two smaller ones and one that was comparatively larger. It was also very obvious that they had been filled with cement and sealed off. The touch holes of the two smaller cannons were even plugged, while the touch hole of the larger one was still intact. What's more, these cannons had no inscriptions and no casting dates. This made me wonder if they were perhaps modern replicas or simply weren't considered historically significant in ancient times.

In addition, I also recalled that the book, Illustrated Standards of Ritual Objects of Our August Dynasty, known as Huangchao liqi tushi, 《皇朝禮器圖式》, mentioned a signal cannon. However, this is likely not the same as the cannons I found at the foot of the White Stupa Temple. The signal cannon described in the book is smaller, measuring about 51.2 to 57.6 centimeters long, and seems more like the kind used on a battlefield. Still, their similarly small size and lack of a carriage suggest they might indeed fall into the signal cannon category.

Why Are Cannons Here?

So, that brings us to the question: Why are these cannons even here? After digging through some papers on CNKI, I learned that they're connected to the Qing dynasty's signal cannon early warning system.

The White Pagoda was built on a hill, making it a prime strategic high point. While today we can enjoy the beautiful views and snap great photos from here, in ancient times, this location had important strategic functions due to its proximity to the Forbidden City. During the Qing dynasty, there was even a specific regulation called the "Regulations for the White Pagoda Signal Cannons," or Baita Xin Pao Zhangcheng (《白塔信炮章程》).

This regulation was initially proposed, primarily between 1711 and 1725, by Yinghe (英和) and Longkodo (隆科多). Later, in 1813, Yinghe finalized and formally named it the "Regulations for the White Pagoda Signal Cannons." This regulation is so significant, it could honestly be its own separate show if we were to go into all the details – it'd be a very long story!

So, today, let's just keep it simple. Briefly, this was essentially a programmed path, from issuing a signal to assembling soldiers. Initially, there were five signal cannons on the hill of the White Pagoda. As we know, Old Beijing had very long and large walls, which divided the city into an inner and outer section. The White Pagoda hill is practically at the center point of the inner city. This signal cannon system also included the nine gates of the inner city, with each gate having five signal cannons as well. When an emergency arose, the cannons at all ten locations could cooperate to send signals to each other. If needed, the emperor could also use tally to dispatch these ten locations' signal cannons to fire.

Lastly, I’m thinking, if we could stage a firearm drill to reenact the signal cannon firing, would that be a good project? So this is today’s video and thank you for watching. Hope you can like this video. Have a good day. See you next time. Bye!

reference:

https://www.qaronline.org/conservation/artifacts/arms-and-armament/signal-gun

https://www.mayerantiques.com/product/british-navy-signal-cannon/?srsltid=AfmBOopI378z0_cz27GpdKdUC6RNoAtvdgnVEm7AFV4JjLBb2nyhtjxe&v=0f177369a3b7

https://www.nrafamily.org/content/throwback-thursday-through-today-winchester-model-98-signal-cannon/

https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=VQ0ntgfwFMS5MAfJfiEpWW7XgfWLe7dMVITDDIUzbwxvmC5Qeo-0lPfDls_s7oDHvX7BRlp3f-H2r047mo_sIO_zfT_3BzH-_1L25dSRHdyzJnMB2MahYBWhFcY9hvBQRFh55qMXGKQV8ljqWSS9cg2sKqm-n896p9Ui7QvJ0kfvVyhOXEnRlQ==&uniplatform=NZKPT&language=CHS

https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=VQ0ntgfwFMR3QM0VVlMes5ALFuUyNRF1G_ISvsrst2gU-mvd6YsPaoKSSPKFD-Tk4dLMMPp1jYX15mhbweRkPcnZQWLEdkTimC0CAhtRTCTEEN_C_mQqV4omF1iK5rNichU3OkTSrySIFb960Y2WQCVT_yz_SaUzslZ_eRhGm1mhXf60K9Yudg==&uniplatform=NZKPT&language=CHS

https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=VQ0ntgfwFMS-iRyEPjrbZjNCDhr9VK3ryLodbxc3YVMdIHo4AX_A3MdCjFsh-FyQA8R139LyrmIIcF1r5cYtNlf6iZ9lwSbN18WkUT4Qp1VQ_J7T_PyaY6a7cRNOmdTfX68By27IcHQuYhYrgAoLc81urZoNWIbtIPNusEYjdF28ohpuKA_zSg==&uniplatform=NZKPT&language=CHS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beihai_Park

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miaoying_Temple#:~:text=The%20White%20Pagoda%20built%20in,key%20cultural%20relics%20protection%20units.

https://www.dpm.org.cn/ancient/hall/149080.html

https://www.visitbeijing.com.cn/article/4DmmNiji6QP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBBxJQrLbNY