1. The first steam-powered gunboats in war were used by the British in the First Opium War against China in 1840, led by the ironclad Nemesis. The British, however, were surprised to see the Chinese use paddlewheel vessels of their own. They chalked it up to Oriental imitation.
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2. In reality, not only had the Chinese been using (hand-crank-powered) paddlewheel boats since the twelfth century, the first British prototype steamers in the 1780s used paddlewheels in deliberate imitation of the Chinese.
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3. Of course, the Chinese paddlewheels of 1840 were still wooden boats hand-cranked by conscripts, so they were no match for the steam-powered British ironclad. British innovation was as foreign to the Chinese as the Chinese origins of that innovation were foreign to the British.
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Replying to @baseballcrank
The wheel? In water or on land is a pretty common thing in the 1800's.
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You'd think its ubiquity in milling would have tipped them off.
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