China's first steam engine is made in when

Anqing Nei Ordnance Institute was red hot, Zeng Guofan every two or three days to go around the ordnance institute. Anqing Nei Ordnance Institute soon carried out the manufacture of steam engines. Steam engine must rely on knowledge of mathematics, mechanics and physics, but also must have the actual process of manufacturing machinery experience. Xu, Hua for the former already have the necessary conditions, for the latter is the lack of foundation, coupled with the ordnance institute equipment is simple, all by hand, difficult. But after months of hard work, they succeeded in August 1862 to produce China's first steam engine.

The Qing Dynasty entered the 19th century with political corruption, stagnant production, and a weakening of the country. 1840, the British, with their powerful ships and cannons, opened the door to the Qing government's closed-door policy. Following the first Opium War, France, Russia, the United States and other powers came one after another, further deepening the original contradictions in Chinese feudal society, in the situation of internal and external problems, the "teacher of the barbarians to control the barbarians" idea gradually accepted by the world, a group of insightful people have to do foreign affairs, the introduction of advanced Western science and technology, trying to make with the "foreigners", "the foreigners". "foreigners" to compete with foreign guns and foreign artillery. Anqing armory is in such a background came into being.