New Army

China's first modern military was organized at the end of the Qing Dynasty. It began in 1894 as the Dingwu Army, which consisted of 5,000 men and 10 garrisons. After the defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, Yuan Shikai took over and renamed it the New Army, and began full-scale construction at a small station near Tianjin, modeled on the German army. After the Boxer Rebellion, the Qing Dynasty, as the key to the "new government," decided to organize 36 "chins" (equivalent to divisions) across the country, each consisting of 12,512 men, with various military types such as cavalry, infantry, engineers, and baggage. Military academies (military academies) were established throughout the country, and graduates and students studying abroad were made officers, and certain standards were set for literacy, physical build, morality, and other aspects for the soldiers to be recruited. By the time of the Xinhai Revolution, 13 to 14 towns had been built, of which Yuan Shikai controlled the Beiyang New Army as the central army and the others as local armies to support the Qing dynasty. However, revolutionary ideas permeated the soldiers, and the uprising of the new army in Wuchang became the beginning of the Xinhai Revolution.

[Shinji Kojima]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、清(しん)末に編成された中国最初の近代的軍隊。1894年、5000人、10営で編成した定武軍に始まり、日清戦争敗戦後、袁世凱(えんせいがい)が受け継ぎ、新建陸軍と改称して、天津(てんしん／ティエンチン)近郊の小站(しょうたん)で、ドイツの軍隊をモデルに本格的な建設を開始した。義和団事件後の清朝は、「新政」の要(かなめ)として騎兵、歩兵、工兵、輜重(しちょう)などの各兵種をもち、1万2512人からなる「鎮(ちん)」（師団相当）を全国で36編成することとした。国内各地に武備学堂（士官学校）を設立して、その卒業生ならびに留学生を士官とし、徴募する兵士にも、識字能力、体格、道徳その他一定の基準を設けた。辛亥(しんがい)革命当時までに13ないし14鎮建設され、そのうち袁世凱が掌握していた北洋新軍を中央軍、他を地方軍として清朝の支柱にしようとした。しかし、将兵に革命思想が浸透し、武昌(ぶしょう／ウーチャン)の新軍の蜂起(ほうき)が辛亥革命の発端となった。

［小島晋治］

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