Item number: M442

Year: AD 1895-1911 presumed

Material: Brass

Size: 62.3 x 47.3 x 16.8 mm

Weight: 61.2 g

Provenance: Private Collector, Germany, 2025

This object may be a German-made box-type military belt buckle, possibly acquired as part of the procurement of equipment for the late Qing Newly Organised Army. Another interpretation suggests that it was a souvenir associated with the German contingent of the China Expeditionary Force, while a further view holds that it may have originated from police forces operating within the treaty ports.

In frontal view, the military belt buckle is rectangular in form. It consists of a brass body with a soldered central roundel of nickel, although in some cases the roundel is also of brass. The roundel bears a Chinese tuanlong (imperial dragon) motif, the dragon being depicted with stag antlers, chicken claws, a fish tail, a lion’s mane, and fish scales, while the dragon’s head is rendered in a comparatively abstract manner.

On the reverse, two vertical recesses in the centre correspond to the solder points fixing the front roundel. In general, before AD 1895 three solder points were employed, whereas thereafter the construction gradually shifted to two solder points. On the right-hand side is a brass roller tube intended to facilitate the movement of the belt. This roller tube is formed from thin sheet brass rolled into a tube and therefore exhibits a longitudinal seam; it is secured to the main buckle body by a steel rivet at each end. Above the roller tube, the buckle body extends into semicircular ears that are folded inward; by approximately AD 1914 these ears had gradually increased in size to about one third of the long side of the buckle. The pair of prongs used to engage the belt holes are made from bent brass wire and brazed to the roller tube. The distance between the prongs is usually around 16 mm, though examples with slightly wider or narrower spacing are also encountered. Occasionally, flattened prongs with long tapering points are found, rather than the more common roughly cut points. On the left-hand side is the catch, formed from bent brass wire and brazed to the buckle body.

In profile, the side on which the roller tube is riveted is the highest, from which the height gradually decreases before dropping sharply at the end. Designs dating to before AD 1895 exhibit an additional abrupt drop in height at the midpoint of this downward slope.

German box-type military belt buckles (kastenkoppelschlösser) are characterised by relatively simple manufacture and uncomplicated construction, while fulfilling both functional and decorative requirements. The stamping techniques used for the buckle body were in use by at least AD 1845, and such belt buckles had entered military service from at least AD 1847, remaining in use until AD 1945. During the period of the German Empire, the central roundel of the buckle primarily served to distinguish the armies of the various constituent states. Within each state, designs were internally consistent and generally followed patterns officially issued by the respective governments. Accordingly, the use of a dragon motif as a commemorative design would be unlikely and is not recorded in contemporary documentation. Nevertheless, owing to the large number of workshops involved and their varying scales of operation, minor differences in detail between products from different workshops are indeed observable. German military and police units stationed in the treaty ports did not employ box-type belt buckles.

Dong Fuxiang was originally a military commander from north-western China. The Gansu Army under his command was formed in Xinjiang and Gansu, drawing its manpower from a mixture of Han, Hui, and Salar soldiers, and was long engaged in frontier defence and the suppression of internal unrest, thereby accumulating considerable combat experience. After the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War in AD 1894, Dong Fuxiang was ordered to lead his Gansu troops, recruited in Xinjiang, to defend Beijing, where they were stationed in the Jizhou area and where he received an audience with, and the favour of, the Empress Dowager Cixi. In AD 1897, following the failure of the Hundred Days’ Reform, Dong’s forces were incorporated into the Beiyang military system under the command of Ronglu, and he was appointed commander of the Rear Division of the Wuwei Army. After the outbreak of the Boxer Uprising, in AD 1900 the Empress Dowager urgently summoned Dong Fuxiang to Beijing in order to strengthen the defence of the court and the capital; his troops entered the city on 9 June and were stationed at Yongdingmen. Dong Fuxiang was among the commanders of the New Army who displayed the most overtly anti-foreign stance at the time. On 11 June, when Dong’s troops were ordered to enter Yongdingmen, they mistakenly interpreted the movements of Sugiyama Akira, secretary of the Japanese legation, as an attempt to welcome the Allied forces into the capital, and killed and mutilated him, triggering a serious diplomatic incident. On 20 June, the Qing court ordered an attack on the legation quarter. Ronglu, seeking to avoid responsibility, delegated the siege to Dong Fuxiang’s forces. From 20 to 23 June, the Rear Division of the Wuwei Army fired more than 300 artillery rounds per day over four consecutive days, but failed to inflict decisive damage on the legations. Thereafter, the attacks continued intermittently for more than fifty days. During this period, the strategically important positions along the Tartar Wall defended by American and German troops were lost, yet the Qing forces and Boxer fighters were still unable to capture the legation quarter. On 14 August, the Eight-Nation Alliance advanced on Beijing from Tongzhou. Yuan Shikai avoided engagement in order to preserve his forces, leaving only the troops of Dong Fuxiang and Nie Shicheng to undertake the defence. Dong led his men in fierce fighting against British forces at Guangqumen; after its fall, he withdrew to continue resistance around Dongbianmen, Chaoyangmen, and Zhengyangmen, personally supervising the defence at Zhengyangmen. His troops, comprising Hui, Han, and Salar soldiers, suffered heavy casualties, including the deaths of Ma Fulu and several members of his extended family. Foreign accounts likewise acknowledged Dong Fuxiang’s forces as among the most resolute defenders of the capital. After the Allied forces breached the city defences, however, Dong’s troops ultimately withdrew via Zhangyimen and engaged in looting along their route.

Both Dong Fuxiang’s Gansu Army and his Rear Division of the Wuwei Army were primarily equipped with German-pattern weapons, some manufactured in Qing government arsenals and others procured directly from German factories. Although memorials submitted to the throne contain reimbursement claims for items such as belts, ammunition pouches, and slings, they do not describe their specific forms in detail. It can therefore only be conjectured that these items closely resembled contemporary German Army patterns, and that the dragon-motif box-type military belt buckle may have been among the equipment procured for these forces. During the campaign of the Eight-Nation Alliance, a large quantity of military equipment was taken as war booty and subsequently dispersed overseas.

物件編號: M442

年代: 推測為公元 1895-1911 年

材質: 黃銅

尺寸: 62.3 x 47.3 x 16.8 mm

重量: 61.2 g

來源: 德國私人收藏 2025

這是一枚德製的盒式軍用皮帶扣，可能來自清末新編陸軍的採購裝備；另有一說是來自德國派遣的中國遠征軍的紀念品；還有一說是來自租界的警察。

軍用皮帶扣的正視形狀為長方形，該扣環由黃銅本體與鎳質的中央圓章焊接而成，有時中央圓章為黃銅質。圓章上為中國團龍圖，龍身具備鹿角、雞爪、魚尾、獅鬃、魚鱗，唯有龍首略顯抽象。

背面中央豎列兩凹槽為焊接正面圓章的焊點，一般而言，公元1895年前為三個焊點，之後逐漸轉為兩個焊點。右側為方便皮帶滑動的黃銅滾軸管，黃銅滾軸管為薄黃銅片捲製而成，因此有接縫，兩端各以一枚鋼釘鉚接固定於皮帶扣主體上。黃銅滾軸管上方，扣體延伸出半圓形的耳片內折，在接近公元1914年時，耳片逐漸加大至扣體長邊的三分之一。用以插合皮帶孔的一對插針，由黃銅線材彎折製成，並以銅焊方式固定於滾軸管上。插針之間的間距通常約為 16 毫米，但亦可見間距較寬或較窄的若干變異例。偶爾也可見被壓扁、且尖端細長的插針，而非較為常見的粗略剪切成形尖端。左側為扣鉤，由黃銅線材彎製而成，並以銅焊方式固定於扣體上。

側面以鉚接滾軸管的一側最高，後逐漸降低，在末尾陡降。公元1895年前的設計在高度降低至中段時，會額外有一層陡降。

德製盒式軍用皮帶扣(kastenkoppelschlösser)有加工簡單、結構單純，兼具實用與裝飾需求等優點。扣體所使用的沖壓技術至少於公元1845年開始使用，而該皮帶扣至少於公元1847年起便開始於軍中列裝，使用直至公元1945年。於德意志第二帝國時期，皮帶扣的圓章主要用以區分各邦國的軍隊。各邦國軍隊的設計對內相對一致，基本按照各邦國政府頒用的設計圖，因此以龍紋作為紀念圖樣暨不太可能亦不見於記載。但由於加工工坊眾多且規模不一，各工坊產品在細節上的確略有差異。德國租界軍警單位則並未使用盒式皮帶扣。

董福祥原為西北軍事將領，其所統率之甘軍成軍於新疆與甘肅一帶，兵源融合漢族、回族與撒拉族士兵，長期參與邊疆與內亂平定，戰鬥經驗豐富。光緒二十年(公元1894年)甲午戰爭爆發後，董福祥奉命率其在新疆招募之甘軍入衛北京，屯駐薊州，並受到慈禧太后接見與賞識。光緒二十三年(公元1897年)，戊戌變法失敗後，董福祥所部編入榮祿節制之北洋軍系，擔任武衛軍後軍統領。庚子事變爆發後，光緒二十六年(公元1900年)，慈禧太后為加強宮廷與京師防衛，急召董福祥入京，其部於6月9日進入北京，駐守永定門。董福祥為當時新軍排外之意最顯著者。6月11日，董軍奉命開入永定門時，因誤判日本使館書記杉山彬外出行動為迎接聯軍，將其刺殺並肢解，引發嚴重外交事件。6月20日，清廷下令攻擊使館區，榮祿為避免承擔後果，將圍攻任務交由董福祥部執行，武衛後軍自6月20日至23日連續四日每日發炮三百餘發，對使館區未造成致命破壞。其後攻勢時斷時續，持續五十餘日，期間美軍、德軍駐守之重要據點「韃靼牆」失守，清軍與拳民卻始終未能攻下使館區。8月14日，八國聯軍自通州進攻北京，袁世凱為保存實力避戰，實際投入防禦者僅餘董福祥與聶士成兩軍。董福祥率部於廣渠門與英軍激戰，失守後轉往東便門、朝陽門、正陽門一帶繼續抵抗，並在正陽門親自督戰，其所部回、漢、撒拉兵勇傷亡慘重，包括馬福祿及其宗族多人戰死。外國記錄亦承認董福祥部為京師防禦中最為頑強者之一。然而在聯軍突破城防後，董軍最終自彰儀門撤離，沿途劫掠。

董福祥之甘軍與其武衛後軍皆主採用德式軍械，部分為清廷軍工廠造，不足則向德廠採購。於奏疏中雖有關於皮帶、彈袋、鎗帶的報銷，但未細述形制，只能猜測與同時期德國陸軍形制接近，龍紋盒式軍用皮帶扣或為該軍採購。在八國聯軍一役中，許多裝備作為戰利品，重新流往海外。