Ancient cannons found on Kinmen

At least 25 ancient cannons have been found at Chincheng, the largest township on the island of Quemoy, also known as Kinmen (Gold Gate). ...

Military historians of the Ministry of National Defense will be asked to certify if the newly found cannons were the weapons of the Koxinga army, which fought against the Manchu hordes to restore Ming rule over China.

Koxinga, a loyal Ming general, drove the Dutch out of Taiwan to claim the island for China in 1672. He and his son Zheng Jing fought the Manchu army that founded the Qing Dynasty.

That dynasty ruled China for more than 260 years until 1911. The Kuomintang, founded by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, toppled the Qing in the Chinese Revolution of 1911.

All cannons were discovered by a land developer, Chen Chang-chiang.

He chanced to find a 12,000-pounder while his workers dug deep atÿ20the site of construction he had contracted at Chincheng early last month.

Chen then urged the workers to look for more. And his collection of Ming cannons rose to 25 pieces, some of them smaller than the first one discovered. “Those smaller ones are exactly like those Koxinga's army used,” Chen said.

via Discoveryon: Ancient cannons found on Kinmen.