Review of <i>Qing ru Guan qian bubing yanjiu 清入關前步兵研究 Ming-Qing Military Revolution: Study on the Infantry Perspective in Early Qing Period</i>, by Zhang Jian (Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 2023).

Was Qing military superiority built upon its Inner Asian military culture, or upon a military revolution that commenced in the mid-1620s?Zhang Jian believes that it was the latter.In Qing ru Guan qian bubing yanjiu, he argues that the introduction of the European-style heavy cannon, hongyipao , inaugurated a military revolution in the Qing army, transforming it into an infantry-and artillery-based early modern army.This not only led to the Qing's military success but also brought profound socialpolitical change in the Qing state.Zhang's book recounts the Qing military revolution chronologically.The first chapter examines the changing cavalry-infantry ratio of Nurhaci's army, followed by Chapter 2, which explains how the Qing infantry, known as oboi, came into being.Chapter 3 recounts how infantry became the Qing standing army during Hong Taiji's reign.The last chapter retraces the roundabout formation of the Qing artillery corps.Contrary to the conventional view, Zhang argues that Jurchen armored cavalry superiority, long regarded as a shining legacy of Inner Asian military culture, ended in 1626 when the Ming introduced hongyipao to defend its cities.The cannonballs shattered not only the charging Jurchen horsemen but Nurhaci's dream to conquer Liaodong.The story did not end here, however.Nurhaci's successor, Hong Taiji, found a means to regain strategic initiative: He learned from the enemy and introduced European-style artillery into his army.To better accommodate the new weapon into his "classic nomadic army," Hong Taiji reformed and built the infantry corps and artillery corps, respectively.The reform was a success, and by 1643, the Qing was able to defeat the Ming and capture all of its strongholds beyond Shanhai Pass, realizing Nurhaci's dream.The following year, Hong Taiji's successor conquered Beijing and inaugurated the conquest of China.