Pistols in the land of ten thousand guns: China was awash in firearms of all kinds in the 1920s and '30s, but these six pistols were coveted above all others as Communists, Nationalists and warlords squared off.

American gun collectors may not have noticed that Chinese buyers have entered the U.S. market. Most of these, of course, are newly minted Chinese-American citizens, who naturally are interested in collecting firearms familiar from their own study and cultural background.

So, while the generation of Chinese Communists who "liberated" the mainland and sent the Guomindang (KMT) and its leader Chaing Kai-Shek (Jiang Jieshi) packing off to Taiwan is long gone, younger Chinese still have a great interest in Chinese military history.

A few years after Mao Zedong (Tse-Tung) died, China began its "open door" policy for the purpose of earning foreign currency. At the time, two major government-owned companies Polytech and Norinco, along perhaps with others, selected the best military surplus or older foreign imported guns from China's army bases to sell to American buyers.

It is not unusual to find that some of the old light firearms we see on the market today had once been used in China. Other firearms that entered the USA from China are World War II or even earlier "bring backs" from soldiers who once served overseas.

As it is forbidden for Chinese civilians to own firearms, China has never been a country of gun collectors. In fact, very little respect at all was shown to old firearms. For example, during Mao's Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) all around the country millions of "backyard furnaces" tried to produce steel from scrap metal. Besides denuding the countryside of trees, thousands of old guns were melted down in those wasted efforts that never produced more than lumps of pig iron.

It is only now that China regrets the destruction of so many guns that witnessed its history. As many medium and small-sized cities in today's China attempt to build local history museums, they find there simply are no guns available for exhibition.

In terms of the firearms that traveled from China to the USA, some do and some do not have import marks. Some do and some do not carry identifying Chinese marks and characters. Some are and some are not knockoff copies of Western brands (e.g., Mauser, FN). Without significant research into the history of these guns, it may be difficult for a Western collector unfamiliar with Chinese history or culture to understand what values a Chinese collector might put on these firearms or their marks.

For Chinese collectors, the popular military heroes who carried certain firearms and the classic movies in which some guns were featured play significant roles in determining the desirability of these sidearms.

Understanding the underlying Chinese history and culture may bring deserved attention to items that are now lying dusty and misunderstood on American shelves. It may also help in upgrading valuations when considering selling certain guns.

The Red Legend of "Luzi"

After the fall of the Qing Dynasty (1911), China entered a period of confusion and inner turmoil as it transitioned from an imperial nation to a republic. In the haze of battle smoke, warlords competed against each other for land and power to the degree that the Republican Period, founded by Sun Yat-Sen (Sun Zhongshan), found China known as the Land of Ten Thousand Guns. It was often said at that time, "Just own a gun and you are the king" (of a rural area).

Almost from their invention and first appearance, semi-auto pistols were imported into China and immediately gained great popularity.

Under the influence of the Soviet Union, the Chinese Communist Party was established in Shanghai in 1921. The Communist military wing, however, was established six years later in 1927 after the Nanchang Uprising, led by Zhou Enlai and Zhu De. Mao Zedong, who was in Hunan at the time, organized a peasant uprising known as the Qiushou Uprising (Fall Harvest Uprising). These troops remaining from these two battles joined together and went on to Jiangxi's Jingang Mountain. History remembers them as the Zhu-Mao Red Army.

These two armies, both of which the KMT called "bandits," were ignored as insignificant by Chaing Kai-Shek. But after 38 years of Sun Yat-Sen's Republic, Chaing was sent packing to Taiwan in 1949. The legend of the final Communist success is replete with stories of victory and bravery, but Mao Zedong wrapped up the Chinese Communist superiority in one sentence: "Power comes from the barrel of a gun."

Although it is hard to believe, in its early stages, more than 90% of the Red Army's functioning weaponry came from war capture. Before they joined the anti-Japanese conflict in 1937 (and often afterward), the Communists' main enemy was the republic's army, called in this country the Nationalists.

At that time, Chiang's military machine busied itself importing weapons from all over the world. While the Nationalists had worldwide access to weapons, the Communists had no channels to obtain weapons other than to pick them up off battlefields. They had no import channels before the anti-Japanese war.

In fact, while fighting Chiang's army, the Chicoms were running back and forth across south central China desperately trying to dodge the KMT's encirclement campaign of Communist- controlled territory known as the Five Sieges. Just in order to survive, the Red Army retreated at such a rapid pace that they were forced into the death journey later known as the Long March.

Still, despite brutal conditions, the Red Army stayed intact, fighting under the "Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention." The important third rule was "every weapon captured must be turned over to authorities." The meaning of this was: from the lowest soldier on up, anything captured in battle, from loot to weaponry, had to be submitted to the Red Army leadership.

All guns went to the troop leaders. The best guns worked their way up to the top commanders and the political commissars. Some political leaders like Zhou Enlai liked American revolvers. But most military generals preferred pistols like the Broomhandle Mauser, considering them more reliable fighting weapons. However, to use as daily sidearms, to show off as captured booty or to impress others with their rank or style, many Red Army generals liked the beautiful, pocket-sized, top quality foreign semi-auto pistols.

To truly understand why Red Army generals were wild about semi-autos, one must realize these military men had a particular love for guns, aside from their usefulness in battle. In the early Red Army period, among regimental commanders or above, there were some military academy graduates from the Whampoa (Huangpu) Military Academy. There were also some who had been trained in the USSR.

These well-educated officers had a professional knowledge of weapons. They had used, compared and practiced with many different types of guns. Based on their wide experience, they learned to select the best semi-auto pistols.

Even more interestingly, these semi-autos served the purpose of fulfilling the theories Red Army generals had about the "fast draw," which is far different from a Western idea of the fast draw revolver.

They believed a very experienced gun user could charge a semi-auto pistol as he drew it out from his pocket by rubbing the pistol hard against his trousers or against the holster housing the pistol. As such, in Chinese, these pistols became known as "luzi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]."

In Chinese, the character "lu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.]" smoothly and imaginatively describes quickly charging a pistol by pulling the slide backward in one swift motion. "Luzi," a colorful descriptive term, came from the Army's grassroots soldiers. To call these pistols "luzi" was a very colloquial way of referring to them by taking a verb and making it into a noun.

And, it made perfect sense since most of early Red Army soldiers were uneducated peasants who needed to grasp the essence of things rather than listen to long explanations. Even the cart drivers, the lowest members of the Army and most unlikely to be in possession of a gun of any type, understood quickly the meaning of "luzi."

To further popularize these "luzi", Red Army generals promoted the term. The infantry collecting battlefield weapons, knew the fast draw "luzi" were the most sought-after firearms. Instead of trying to educate soldiers about the differences in weapons, the upper ranks encouraged the use of common terms to describe the complex actions or look of guns. This also helped enormously in the quick identification of these guns.

The top six "luzi" or semi-automatic pistols, the ones most certain to make it to the hands of the top leaders were the: FN Model 1900, Colt Model 1903/1908, FN Model 1910, J.P. Sauer Model 1913/1930/1938H, Spanish Express and the Mauser 1914/1934

In the military and Communist-controlled territory during the Red Army period, soldiers and civilians used a popular jingle to remember this ranking of highly desired weapons that went:

"Yi qiang, er ma, san hua kou, si she, wu gou, zhang zui deng."

This roughly translates into

"One gun, two horse, three flower mouth, four snake, five dog, open mouth kick,"

As may be expected, these were the colloquial names, as described below, of each of the top six guns in their order of desirability.

No. 1: FN Model 1900 The Gun Brand Luzi ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.])

The very first position was given to the Belgian Fabrique Nationale Model 1900, known to Chinese as the Qiangpai Luzi (Gun Brand luzi). This name came about because the logo on the pistol grips contained the picture of a handgun. As such, there was nothing an uneducated soldier needed to know to identify the most sought after weapon except that there was the image of a pistol on the grips.

Soviet influence on the Chinese Communists made this pistol, from beginning to end, the absolute top of the line. Fabrique Nationale (FN) produced many M1900s for Imperial Russian forces. Those pistols carried grip logos with crossed Mosin-Nagant rifles, and were widely used by all sides in the Russian Civil War

A mainstream Soviet movie from the 1940s, once famous in China, called Lenin in 1918 shows Lenin's bodyguard Wassily using an FN 1900. Also interestingly, in the same movie, the female agent from the Kerensky government named Fanny Kaplan tried to kill Lenin using the same pistol.

Beyond the Soviet influence, top Communists liked the Ml900 because it was very thin. When stuffed in the small of the back, it's almost impossible to detect. Only limited quantities of Model 1900s were available during the Republican period, so the real market demand for the pistol was never met. Its fame was so intense that everyone wanted one.

So, in the Red Army, getting hold of an original Belgian-made FN 1900 was a very big deal. The limited number of these pistols "found or captured" on the battlefield always went to the highest leaders.

Even Mao had one, much to his chagrin. The story goes that on the Long March, Mao was given a Gun Brand luzi. Mao was a peasant, poet, and strategist. He respected war and the armies that waged battles. However, it was well-known he was disgusted by weapons.

He could write accomplished poetry, but was a complete novice when it came to guns. No one believes that Mao would or could ever use a pistol to defend himself. Still, the Red Army Central Security Bureau,

which was much like the Cheka (early KGB), issued Mao an FN 1900.

It is a longstanding mystery in China as to exactly what they thought Chairman Mao would ever do with it. However, it was well-protected and was first exhibited in the summer of 1994 during a special exhibit at the Beijing Military Museum during a special exhibit called "Spirit of Yan'an: Shining Forever."

Eventually, most senior Communist leaders obtained a Gun Brand luzi. The Beijing Military Museum displays one of these guns that belonged to Liu Zhidan, a legendary hero from the Yan'an Guerillas who accepted the exhausted Red Army into his territory after the Long March, but died by a gunshot soon after that. Rumor says he was murdered by Mao Zedong loyalists.

In 1960, a biographical novel about Liu made Mao very angry. As a result, a thousand people, including the novel's writer, were arrested. Oddly, Xi Zhongxun, the father of China's current leader, was the main victim of this purge.

As the fame of the FN 1900 multiplied, the numbers manufactured within China increased exponentially. The Republican Army's own armories and civilian armories, even small family owned gunsmith shops, all started copying this pistol. There was a vast difference from good to bad in the quality of the copies. Communists were dismissive of the copies made by the Republican Army armories and sought to own only real Belgian-made weapons.

In the Beijing Military Museum's exhibition of famous Communist leaders' guns, almost none of the exhibited items are civilian armory copies: they didn't carry them. Copied guns or clones were not welcomed, so the small workshops began to put western logos on the copies. Most commonly seen marks were German Mauser logos.

These small gunsmiths' education in Western letters and characters was literally non-existent. They thought they could just pass off the mistakenly used marks, thus tricking people into buying fake ones as real. In China, this is known as passing fish eyes off as pearls.

They thought the addition of western logos, no matter how anomalous, might attract famous people to use their products. And, there was some success in these ventures. New money among uneducated people in the countryside found its way into the hands of these gunsmiths as the buyers were taken in completely by the fake marks. This may help explain why today's North American market has so many of these mismarked cloned guns around.

I personally bought a beautiful clone as an example of the type being made in China. You almost can't tell it's a fake. Even the original collector of this firearm, a Belgian man, who had many authentic FN 1900s, was taken in by the marks. He even took the gun to the Belgian manufacturer FN and asked if they had ever marked FN 1900s with Mauser logos.

The vogue for the FN 1900 continued until the 1960s. At that time, Chinese government armories tried to produce a fine quality pocket model sidearm for high level officials in the military. Prior to completing their design, they asked for an old general's opinion. Finally, they locked in on the FN 1900 as their model for anything new.

However, after producing samples, they found that nothing they could produce ever achieved the original Belgian quality. And, because times had changed, semiauto pistols had already made rapid progress outside China in the intervening 50 years. Young officers had many more choices. As a result, the official clone of the FN 1900 never became popular.

No. 2: Colt Model 1903/1908 Hammerless--The Horse Brand Luzi ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.])

If you say early Communist military leaders greatly admired some foreigners, you think first of Marx, Lenin or Stalin. However, among those foreigners you also would have to include the American John M. Browning. On the preferred list of "luzi" we find the Horse Brand (Mapai luzi) at No. 2.

Obviously, the Horse Brand luzi is called that because of the Rampant Colt on the grips. This gun entered China very early. The first Colt officially adopted into China was the Model 1908 .380 cal. The Shanghai Municipal Police acquired about 3,000 pieces in the 1930s.

Because this gun was produced in the USA, it was known by every Chinese peasant, who may have known nothing else about America except that it was bigger than Belgium. But for those pro handgunners in the Red Army, the Colt 1903/1908 was far and away superior to FN Brownings, both in accuracy and reliability. It is possible that the only reason the Horse Brand luzi never took first place in Communist minds was that the Soviet political influence was so strong.

The Horse Brand luzi was the favorite of Nationalist officers, who idolized and were influenced by the United States. Several famous American military generals like Patton, Eisenhower, and Bradley, all carried military type Colts. In one of China's military museums we can see the engraved and specially marked Horse Brand luzi carried by KMT Lt. Gen. Wang Yaowu.

In the 1960s the Chicoms produced a movie called "Red Sun" that included a character based on Zhang Lingfu, a real KMT general who once ran the Elite 74 command. In the movie, he is depicted as pulling out a Horse Brand luzi to kill someone.

Although highly popular in the Republican period, the Horse Brand luzi was never cloned, possibly because it was too easy to get real ones. In China most Horse Brand luzi were .32 cal. To find a .380 is rare.

No. 3: Belgian FN Model 1910--The Flower Mouth Luzi ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.])

In Chinese military history, the Flower Mouth pistol (Huakou Luzi) has a very glamorous name. The barrel has a crenelated end for the purpose of easy field disassembly. However, to uneducated soldiers it called up a far different image. In Chinese, the end of any gun barrel is called the "qiang kou" (gun mouth), but in this pistol the extra piece conjured up a blooming flower in the imagination, thus turning it into the Flower Mouth luzi.

The Flower Mouth and Gun Brand pistols have the same heritage. Both come from Browning and FN Belgium, with only 10 years difference between them. So, it's not surprising that as soon as the Flower Mouth luzi came out, it was imported and became equally famous in China. Most of the Flower Mouth luzi in China were .32 (7.65mm) cal.

This pocket-sized pistol, perfect for small hands, and sporting its attractive colloquial name, also found a particular following among female officers.

Today in China people all know the FN 1910 was the gun that lit the fuse of World War I. Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Black Hand Society, assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria with an FN 1910. In the same vein, the Flower Mouth luzi has a strong underground connection to the Communists.

Shanghai's Police Museum displays several Flower Mouth luzi to prove this connection. One of the most interesting was carried by one of the colorful clandestine underground spy leaders from Shanghai, Pan Han Nina. In China people from Shanghai are known to devote great attention to their outward personal appearance.

Shanghai's underground Communists were meticulous about the guns they used. Yang Fan, another underground leader, later became the Bureau Chief of Shanghai's Police. Yang's Flower Mouth luzi is a beauty, with original factory engraving. Also, Liu Shao qi, the overall underground leader, later became China's National Chairman, serving from 28 April 1959 to 31 October 1968. He used a Flower Mouth luzi.

The FN 1910 pistol chosen for the theme photo of this article was made in 1965, when the Belgians produced factory-engraved commemorative Renaissance .380 cal. pistols. I'm sure the Belgians weren't commemorating it, but it is worth noting that 1965 was the beginning of China's descent

into the Cultural Revolution, promoted by Chairman Mao. Many of the underground leaders who had helped to make the Huakou luzi famous were all killed during this tragic period.

No. 4: German J.P. Sauer Model 1913/1930/1938H --The Snake Luzi ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.])

The Chinese zodiac has 12 animals, one of which is a snake. The grips on semi-automatic pistols made by J.P. Sauer & Shon, Suhl, carry the company logos either of S&S or two intertwined S figures encased in an oval at the top or lower portions of the grips. The English alphabet character "S" looks like a snake.

To the Chinese farmer, not much imagination was required to see the two intertwined S letters on the grips as an image of mating snakes. The Sauer 1930 Behorden or 1938 H model, in particular, gives this impression.

Sauer's Models 1913, 1930, and 1938 H were all available in China. The civilian market for the 1913 type was strongest in the Republican period. In China, there is a classic Communist novel, called Liuzhou Jing gang, which translates as Steel Meets Fire.

This is a classic anti-Japanese narrative, in which one paragraph describes a Communist scout who captures a Type 2 Snake luzi from a Chinese who is known to be collaborating with the Japanese. A Type 2 Snake Luzi, could mean a small caliber Sauer pistol, perhaps a 6.35 mm Model 1913.

No. 5: Spanish Express--The Dog Luzi ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.])

The fifth most popular semi-auto pistol was called the Dog Luzi (Gopal luzi), a type of pistol sold by the Spanish maker Garate, Anitua, produced from 1920-1930s in 6.35mm. The name, of course, came from the grip logo, which has a dog on it. The other possible identification is a mark on the slide reading THE BEST AUT PISTOL "EXPRESS" FOR 25 CAL.

All these pistols have been called "Spanish Express." The Dog Brand luzi today does not command high prices at auction, despite it being the most rare or scarce of all the popular guns. Through research we find it, however, to be the most interesting.

First, the logo on the grip is a tiger, not a dog. It's unclear how the tiger was mistaken for a dog originally, but it may be that the logo seen on the first one was too faint to make out. However, ever since that first mistaken call, the name has passed down through the generations.

Garate, Anitua copied many famous guns. One of the most famous was the Winchester Model 92: the Spanish named it El Tigre. From that rifle, the logo of a tiger with a long large tail was big and clear on the rifle

The Dog Luzi, on one hand, means a Garate, Anitua pistol. But it could also be talking in general about any Spanish-made 6.35 mm type of Spanish copied pocket pistols, but not a specific gun. Please note that these pocket pistols do not include the "Ruby" type long grip 7.65mm caliber guns, but more of the real palm-sized Browning action pistols.

I was able to find another spanish palm size pistol (see photo). The grip has a real running hunting dog on it. Unfortunately, this gun doesn't have nay maker's mark or manufacturer mark. But it may even be that it is from this type of logo that the Dog Brand luzi originally got its moniker.

In China's Republican period. Spain was a major resource for cheap handguns. The quality of some, like the Astra or Royal, was good. But there were many of very poor quality. So far, there is no documented evidence that indicates a high ranking Communist leader ever used a Dog luzi, but it is part of the jingle used to identify guns; so we have to assume it was widely used.

After 1949, many of these Spanish palm size Dog luzi were used by police in the Security Bureau. In the early days of the new government, police, both uniformed and plainclothes, liked to wrap red silk material around their Dog luzi before holstering them. They purposely left a bit of red material hanging out of the holster to show their political power. This red material was meant to intimidate anyone who may have been less than sympathetic to the new regime.

Despite securing a place as No. 5 in the "most desired pistol" lineup, you would think there would be a lot of Dog Brand luzi, but you see almost none in Chinese museums. Even in the North American market, Garate, Anitua palm-size pistols, especially with a clear dog logo on the original grips, are super rare. In fact, in 20 years of searching and observation, I have seen them only twice.

Number 6: German Mauser 1914/1934--Open Mouth Kick Luzi ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.])

Open Mouth Kick luzi (Zhang Zuideng) is another imaginative name created by Chinese peasant soldiers. The top of the frame has a long opening, sometimes oval shaped, sometimes wide open, and when it finishes shooting a round, with the magazine empty, the slide kicks back. To Chinese farmers the open front seems like a man's open mouth. Add to that the kick when the gun fires, and you have this unusual name.

The Mauser Type 14 is this type of gun. But the name Open Mouth Kick luzi mostly applies to the Mauser 1934 .32 cal. The Italian made Beretta M1915/19 or M1934/ M1935 also could meet the required look, but since it was rare in that period of China, it never made the list. There are a lot of these German semi-autos still to be seen on display in China. Deng Xiaoping, China's most important modern leader, is known to have used this type of pistol, as well. His pistol is on display at the Beijing Military Museum.

In one of China's classic 1950s movies called Yingxiong Hudan (A Hero with Tiger Guts), a female KMT spy named Ailan (played by one of China's most famous actresses, Wang Xiaotang) uses an Open Mouth Kick luzi to kill another character.

Mauser was the manufacturer that had the most contact with the KMT during the Republican period. The Republic of China exported to Germany the necessary precious metals such as wolfram, antimony, tin and manganese for use in making guns and cannon. In return, the Germans supplied the KMT military with guns and military experts.

Kruger's Cannon and nearly a half-million Mauser Broomhandles got to China via this route. In fact, China had more of them than other countries. No other military ever used Broomhandles as a primary sidearm.

The Mauser logo soon became the most familiar pattern in the Republic of China. But after 1937, Nazi Germany gradually stopped cooperating with the KMT in the armory business after protests by the Axis Japanese government. The future of the Mauser M 1934 type pistol was affected by those politically driven import obstacles. So, while the Chinese highly admired this fine pocket pistol, the reason the name made the preferred list really reflects both the gun's popularity and the need to round out the rhyme in the jingle.

Conclusion

From 1911 to 1949, many other guns that entered China were also described by their grip, pattern logo or by the physical character of the pistol. There is the Shipai luzi (Lion Brand) used to describe the French Unique. The Yingpai luzi (Eagle Brand) indicates a Spanish Gabilondo. The Dayan Luzi (Big Eye Brand) means a Colt or Ithaca M1911 or M1911 A1. The Jianada luzi (Canadian Brand) means a Browning Hi-Power. There are many other examples.

However, the top six mentioned in this article were the most famous. Not only did notable Chinese leaders use them, but, most importantly, they represent the authentic taste of the Mainland Chinese people toward guns. Stories about these particular six guns have passed from generation to generation in China through oral history and popular culture. Whether you're interested in history or future market valuation, the relationship of these firearms to China deserves close study.

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Author:	Vlander, John
Publication:	Shotgun News
Geographic Code:	9CHIN
Date:	Mar 20, 2015
Words:	4534
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