Another ancient cannon unearthed in Kinmen site

Chen Wei-chun, an associate researcher in Academia Sinica's Institute of History and Philology who is responsible for the excavation, which started July 1, said the cannons were a valuable cultural asset even if their age has yet to be determined.

“It is the largest number of ancient cannons ever discovered at a single site.” said Chen, referring to the construction site, located in Chincheng Township in the island county.

“The largest number of ancient cannons ever found at one site to date is 20, in Fujian province in southern China,” Chen said.

Huang Yi-nong, a historian and member of Academia Sinica, said after inspecting the cannons that they are similar to Western-style muzzle-loaded smoothbore cannons from the 17th century.

Ancient cannons normally bear inscriptions of who manufactured them and when they were produced, but the recently discovered cannons are so dilapidated that no inscriptions could be found, leaving scholars uncertain about their age. Chen said he was seeking assistance from German scientists who have developed a technology to date the age of metal.

“If we can determine how old these cannons are, it will help us understand their historical significance,” he said. The first cannon to be discovered was excavated by construction workers on May 5, which led to the discovery of the other 28.

The developer has turned these cannons, which vary in length from 0.9 meters to 1.2 meters and have calibers ranging from 10 centimeters to 15 centimeters, to local authorities.

A local cultural official said the cannons are similar to weapons that have been found in other places on the island that date back to the mid-17th century.

Kinmen was occupied at the time by a warlord loyal to the dethroned Ming dynasty.

He used the island as a base to fight unsuccessfully against the new Qing dynasty from 1644 to 1670.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email