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M1 carbine

The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was issued to the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced in several variants and was widely used by paramilitary and police forces around the world after World War II.

The M2 carbine is the selective-fire version of the M1 carbine, capable of firing in both semi-automatic and full-automatic. The M3 carbine was an M2 carbine with an active infrared scope system.

Despite having a similar name and physical outward appearance, the M1 carbine is not a carbine version of the M1 Garand rifle. On July 1, 1925, the U.S. Army began using the current naming convention where the "M" is the designation for "Model" and the number represents the sequential development of equipment and weapons. Therefore, the "M1 carbine" was the first carbine developed under this system. The "M2 carbine" was the second carbine developed under the system, etc.

Limitations of weapons in the U.S. arsenal

Prior to World War II, the U.S. Army Ordnance Department received reports that the full-size M1 rifle was too heavy and cumbersome for most support troops (staff, artillerymen, radiomen, etc.) to carry. During pre-war and early war field exercises, it was found that the M1 Garand impeded these soldiers' mobility, as a slung rifle would frequently catch on brush or hit the back of the helmet and tilt it over the eyes. Many soldiers found the rifle slid off the shoulder unless slung diagonally across the back, where it prevented the wearing of standard field packs and haversacks.

Additionally, Germany's use of glider-borne and paratrooper forces to launch surprise blitzkrieg attacks behind the front lines generated a request for a new compact infantry weapon to equip support troops. This request called for a compact, lightweight defensive weapon with greater range, accuracy and firepower than a handgun, while weighing half as much as the Thompson submachine gun or the M1 rifle. The U.S. Army decided that a carbine-type weapon would adequately fulfill all of these requirements, and specified that the new arm should weigh no more than 5 lb and have an effective range of 300 yd. Paratroopers were also added to the list of intended users and a folding-stock version would also be developed.

Design
In 1938, the chief of infantry requested that the ordnance department develop a "light rifle" or carbine, though the formal requirement for the weapon type was not approved until 1940.

Winchester developed the .30 Carbine cartridge for the ordnance department. Winchester at first did not submit a carbine design, as it was occupied in developing the Winchester G30 rifle. The G30 rifle originated as a design by Jonathan "Ed" Browning, half-brother of the famous firearm designer John Moses Browning. A couple of months after Ed Browning's death in May 1939, Winchester hired David Marshall "Carbine" Williams who had begun work on a short-stroke gas piston design while serving a prison sentence at a North Carolina minimum-security work farm. Winchester, after Williams' release, had hired Williams on the strength of recommendations of firearms industry leaders and hoped Williams would be able to complete various designs left unfinished by Ed Browning, including the Winchester G30 rifle. Williams incorporated his short-stroke piston in the existing design as the G30M. After the Marine Corps' semi-automatic rifle trials in 1940, Browning's rear-locking tilting bolt design proved unreliable in sandy conditions. As a result, Williams redesigned the G30M to incorporate a Garand-style rotating bolt and operating slide, retaining the short-stroke piston as the .30 M2 Winchester Military Rifle. By May 1941, Williams had shaved the M2 rifle prototype from about 9.5 lb to a 7.5 lb.

Ordnance found unsatisfactory the first series of prototype carbines submitted by several firearms companies and some independent designers. Winchester had contacted the ordnance department to examine their rifle M2 design. Major René Studler of ordnance believed the rifle design could be scaled down to a carbine which would weigh 4.5 to 4.75 lb and demanded a prototype as soon as possible. The first model was developed at Winchester in 13 days by William C. Roemer, Fred Humeston and three other Winchester engineers under the supervision of Edwin Pugsley and was essentially Williams' last version of the .30-06 M2 scaled down to the .30 SL cartridge. This patchwork prototype was cobbled together using the trigger housing and lockwork of a Winchester M1905 rifle and a modified Garand operating rod. The prototype was an immediate hit with army observers.

After the initial Army testing in August 1941, the Winchester design team set out to develop a more refined version. Williams participated in the finishing of this prototype. The second prototype competed successfully against all remaining carbine candidates in September 1941, and Winchester was notified of their success the next month. Standardization as the M1 carbine was approved on October 22, 1941. This story was the loose basis for the 1952 movie Carbine Williams starring James Stewart. Contrary to the movie, Williams had little to do with the carbine's development, with the exception of his short-stroke gas piston design. Williams worked on his own design apart from the other Winchester staff, but it was not ready for testing until December 1941, two months after the Winchester M1 carbine had been adopted and type-classified. Winchester supervisor Edwin Pugsley conceded that Williams' final design was "an advance on the one that was accepted" but noted that Williams' decision to go it alone was a distinct impediment to the project, and Williams' additional design features were not incorporated into M1 production. In a 1951 memo written in fear of a patent infringement lawsuit by Williams, Winchester noted his patent for the short-stroke piston may have been improperly granted as a previous patent covering the same principle of operation was overlooked by the patent office.

In 1973, the senior technical editor at the NRA contacted Edwin Pugsley for "a technical last testament" on M1 carbine history shortly before his death on November 19, 1975. According to Pugsley, "The carbine was invented by no single man," but was the result of a team effort including: William C. Roemer, David Marshall Williams, Fred Humeston, Cliff Warner, at least three other Winchester engineers, and Pugsley himself. Ideas were taken and modified from the Winchester M2 Browning rifle (Williams' gas system), the Winchester Model 1905 rifle (fire control group and magazine), M1 Garand (buttstock dimensions, and bolt and operating slide principles), and a percussion shotgun in Pugsley's collection (hook breech and barrel band assembly/disassembly).

Ammunition
The .30 Carbine cartridge is essentially a rimless version of the obsolete .32 Winchester Self-Loading cartridge introduced for the Winchester Model 1905 rifle. The propellant was much newer, though, taking advantage of chemistry advances. As a result, the .30 Carbine cartridge is approximately 27% more powerful than its parent cartridge. A standard .30 Carbine ball bullet weighs 110 grains (7.1 g), a complete loaded round weighs 195 grains (12.6 g) and has a muzzle velocity of 1,990 ft/s (610 m/s) giving it 967 ft·lbf (1,311 joules) of energy, when fired from the M1 carbine's 17.75 in barrel.

In comparison, the .30-06 Springfield ball round used by the M1 Garand is almost three times as powerful as the .30 Carbine, while the carbine round is twice as powerful as the .45 ACP-caliber Thompson submachine gun in common use at the time. As a result, the carbine offers much better range, accuracy and penetration than those submachine guns. The M1 is also half the weight of the Thompson and fires a lighter cartridge. Therefore, soldiers armed with the carbine can carry much more ammunition than those armed with a Thompson.

Categorizing the M1 carbine series has been the subject of much debate. Although commonly compared to the later German StG 44 and Russian AK-47, the M1 and M2 carbines are under-powered and outclassed. Instead, the carbine falls somewhere between the submachine gun and assault rifle and could be called a precursor of the personal defense weapon since it fulfilled a similar role.

One characteristic of .30 caliber Carbine ammunition is that from the beginning of production, non-corrosive primers were specified. This was the first major use of this type of primer in a military firearm. Because the rifle had a closed gas system, not normally disassembled in the field, corrosive primers would have led to a rapid deterioration of the function of the gas system. The use of non-corrosive primers was a novelty in service ammunition at this time. Some failures to fire were reported in early lots of .30 caliber Carbine ammunition, attributed to moisture ingress of the non-corrosive primer compound.

Sights, range and accuracy
The M1 carbine entered service with a simple flip sight, which had two settings: 150 and 300 yd. However, field reports indicated that this sight was inadequate, and in 1944, it was replaced by a sliding ramp-type adjustable sight with four settings: 100 yd, 200 yd, 250 yd, and 300 yd. This new rear sight was also adjustable for windage.

At 100 yd, the M1 carbine can deliver groups between 3 and 5 in, sufficient for its intended purpose as a close-range defensive weapon. The M1 carbine has a maximum effective range of 300 yd. However, bullet drop is significant past 200 yd. Therefore, the M1 has a practical effective range of about 200 yd.

Magazines
The M1 carbine entered service with a standard straight 15-round box magazine. The introduction of the select-fire M2 carbine in October 1944 also brought into service the curved 30-round box magazine or "Banana Clip". After WWII, the 30-round magazine quickly became the standard magazine for both the M1 and M2 carbines, although the 15-round magazine remained in service until the end of the Vietnam War.

Perhaps the most common accessory used on the M1 carbine was a standard magazine belt pouch that was slid over the stock and held two extra 15-round magazines. This field adaptation was never officially approved but proved an efficient method to supply extra ammunition in combat. After the introduction of the 30-round magazine, it was common for troops to tape two 30-round magazines together, a practice that became known as "jungle style". This led the military to introduce the "Holder, Magazine T3-A1" also called the "jungle clip", a metal clamp that held two magazines together without the need for tape.

The 30-round magazines introduced for use with the selective-fire M2 carbine would not be reliably retained by the magazine catch made for the original M1 carbine which was designed to retain a 15-round magazine, so the much heavier 30-round magazine would not be properly seated in the M1 carbine magazine well. The loaded 30-round magazine would typically slant (impairing feed reliability) or even fall out, which contributed to the poor reliability record of the 30-round magazines. Because of their thin steel construction, they were also more prone to damage due to their added length and weight when loaded. In response to these issues, early production M1 carbines had to be fitted with the type IV magazine catch used on the M2 carbine (and late production M1 carbines) if they were to be used with 30-round magazines in order to ensure reliable loading and feeding. The type IV magazine catch has a leg on the left side to correspond with the additional nub on the 30-round magazines.

Initial combat reports noted that the M1 carbine's magazine release button was often mistaken for the safety button while under fire. When this occurred, pressing the magazine release caused the loaded magazine to drop, while the safety remained in the off position. As a result, the push-button safety was redesigned using a rotating lever.

Accessories
Originally the M1 carbine did not have a bayonet lug, but personnel equipped with it were often issued with an M3 fighting knife. Due to requests from the field, the carbine was modified to incorporate a bayonet lug attached to the barrel band starting in 1945. However, very few carbines with bayonet lugs reached the front lines before the end of World War II. After the war, the bayonet lug was added to many M1 carbines during the arsenal refurbishing process. By the start of the Korean War, the bayonet lug-equipped M1 was standard issue. It is now rare to find an original M1 carbine without the bayonet lug. The M1 carbine mounts the M4 bayonet, which was based on the earlier M3 fighting knife and formed the basis for the later M5, M6 and M7 bayonet-knives.

A folding-stock version of the carbine, the M1A1, was also developed after a request for a compact and light infantry arm for airborne troops. The Inland Division of General Motors manufactured 140,000 of them in two product runs in late 1942. They were originally issued to the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions but were later issued to all U.S. Army Airborne units and the U.S. Marine Corps. The folding-stock M1A1 is an unusual design in that the stock is not locked in the open or closed position, but is instead held in place by a spring-loaded cam.

As carbines were reconditioned, parts such as the magazine catch, rear sight, barrel band without bayonet lug, and stock were upgraded with current standard-issue parts. Also, both during and after World War II, many semi-automatic M1 carbines were converted to select-fire M2 carbines by using the T17 and T18 conversion kits. The conversion included a modified sear, slide, and trigger housing, and added a disconnector, disconnector lever, and selector switch that could be set for semi-auto or full-automatic fire.

During World War II, the T23 (M3) flash hider was designed to reduce the muzzle flash from the carbine, but was not introduced into service until the advent of the M3 carbine. With the exception of T23 hiders mounted on M3 carbines, few if any T23 flash-hider attachments saw service during the war, though unit armorers occasionally hand-built improvised compensator-flash-hiders of their own design.

Combat tests of the M2 carbine resulted in an Army Ground Forces request that led to development of the T13 recoil check adopted September 1945.

The M1 carbine was used with the M8 grenade launcher (see M7 grenade launcher), which was developed in early 1944. It was fired with the .30 caliber Carbine M6 grenade blank cartridge to launch 22 mm rifle grenades. However, the stress from firing rifle grenades could eventually crack the carbine's stock, and it also could not use the launcher with the M7 auxiliary "booster" charge to extend its range without breaking the stock. This made the M1 carbine with M8 grenade launcher a type of emergency-use weapon.

Production

A total of over 6.1 million M1 carbines of various models were manufactured, making it the most produced small arm for the American military during World War II (compared with about 5.4 million M1 rifles and about 1.3 million Thompson submachine guns). Despite being designed by Winchester, the great majority of these were made by other companies (see § Military contractors below). The largest producer was the Inland division of General Motors, but many others were made by contractors as diverse as IBM, the Underwood Typewriter Company, and Rock-Ola Manufacturing Corporation. Few contractors made all the parts for carbines bearing their names: some makers bought parts from other major contractors or sub-contracted minor parts to companies like Marlin Firearms or Auto-Ordnance. Parts by all makers were required to be interchangeable. Often one company would get ahead or behind in production and parts would be shipped from one company to the other to help them catch up on their quota. When receivers were shipped for this purpose, the manufacturers would often mark them for both companies. Some of the strangest combinations were the M1s made by the combined efforts of Underwood and Quality Hardware, resulting in the manufacturer mark "Un-quality". The receiver was subcontracted from Union Switch and Signal, not Underwood. Many carbines were refurbished at several arsenals after the war, with many parts interchanged from original maker carbines. True untouched war production carbines, therefore, are the most desirable for collectors.

The M1 carbine was also one of the most cost-effective weapons used by the United States military during World War II. At the beginning of World War II, the average production cost for an M1 carbine was approximately $45, about half the cost of an M1 rifle at approximately $85 and about a fifth of the cost of a Thompson submachine gun at approximately $225. The .30 caliber Carbine ammunition was also far cheaper to produce than the standard .30-06 ammunition; used fewer resources, was smaller, lighter and easier to make. These were major factors in the United States military decision to adopt the M1 carbine, especially when considering the vast numbers of weapons and ammunition manufactured and transported by the United States during World War II.

World War II

The M1 carbine with its reduced-power .30 cartridge was not originally intended to serve as a primary weapon for combat infantrymen, nor was it comparable to more powerful assault rifles developed late in the war. However, it was markedly superior to the .45 caliber submachine guns in use at the time in both accuracy and penetration, and its lighter .30 caliber cartridge allowed soldiers to carry more ammunition. As a result, the carbine was soon widely issued to infantry officers, American paratroopers, non-commissioned officers, ammunition bearers, forward artillery observers, and other frontline troops. The first M1 carbines were delivered in mid-1942, with initial priority given to troops in the European Theater of Operations (ETO).

During World War II a standard U.S. Army infantry company was issued a total of 28 M1 carbines. The company headquarters was issued nine carbines (for the company commander, executive officer, first sergeant, mess sergeant, supply sergeant, bugler, and three messengers), the weapons platoon was issued sixteen carbines (for the platoon leader, platoon sergeant, two platoon messengers in the platoon headquarters, one messenger in each of the two mortar and machine gun section headquarters, and ten for the mortar and machine gun ammunition bearers), and the three rifle platoons were issued one each (for the platoon leader).

The M1 carbine gained generally high praise for its small size, light weight and firepower, especially by those troops who were unable to use a full-size rifle as their primary weapon. However, its reputation in front-line combat was mixed and negative reports began to surface with airborne operations in Sicily in 1943, and increased during the fall and winter of 1944.

In the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, soldiers and guerrilla forces operating in heavy jungle with only occasional enemy contact praised the carbine for its small size, light weight, and firepower. However, soldiers and marines engaged in frequent daily firefights (particularly those serving in the Philippines) found the weapon to have insufficient penetration and stopping power. While carbine bullets would easily penetrate the front and back of steel helmets, as well as the body armor used by Japanese forces of the era, reports of the carbine's failure to stop enemy soldiers, sometimes after multiple hits, appeared in individual after-action reports, postwar evaluations, and service histories of both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps.

The carbine's exclusive use of non-corrosive-primer ammunition was found to be ideal by troops and ordnance personnel serving in the Pacific, where barrel corrosion was a significant issue with the corrosive primers used in .30-06 caliber weapons. However, in the European theatre, some soldiers reported misfires attributed to moisture ingress of the non-corrosive primer compound.

Selective-fire version
Initially, the M1 carbine was intended to have a select-fire capability, but the requirement for rapid production of the new carbine resulted in the omission of this feature from the Light Rifle Program. On 26 October 1944, in response to the Germans' widespread use of automatic weapons, especially the Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle, the select-fire M2 carbine was introduced, along with a new 30-round magazine. The M2 had a fully automatic rate-of-fire of 750-775 rounds-per-minute. Although actual M2 production began late in the war (April 1945), U.S. Ordnance issued conversion-part kits to allow field conversion of semi-auto M1 carbines to the selective-fire M2 configuration. These converted M1/M2 select-fire carbines saw limited combat service in Europe, primarily during the final Allied advance into Germany. In the Pacific, both converted and original M2 carbines saw limited use in the last days of the fighting in the Philippines.

Infrared sight versions
The M3 carbine was an M2 carbine with the M2 infrared night sight or sniperscope. The M3 did not have iron sights. It was first used in combat by Army units during the invasion of Okinawa, where about 150 M3 carbines were used. For the first time, U.S. soldiers had a weapon that allowed them to visually detect Japanese infiltrating into American lines at night, even during complete darkness. A team of two or three soldiers was used to operate the weapon and provide support. At night, the scope would be used to detect Japanese patrols and assault units moving forward. At that point, the operator would fire a burst of automatic fire at the greenish images of enemy soldiers. The M3 carbine had an effective range of about 70 yards (64 meters), limited by the visual capabilities of the sight. Fog and rain further reduced the weapon's effective range. However, it is estimated that 30% of Japanese casualties inflicted by rifle and carbine fire during the Okinawan campaign were caused by the M3 carbine.

The system was refined over time, and by the Korean War the improved M3 infrared night sight was in service. The M3 sight has a longer effective range than its predecessor, about 125 yards (114 meters). However, it still required the user to carry a heavy backpack-mounted battery pack to power the scope and infrared light. They were used primarily in static defensive positions in Korea to locate troops attempting to infiltrate in darkness. M3 operators would not only use their carbines to dispatch individual targets, but also used tracer ammo to identify troop concentrations for machine gunners to decimate. In total, about 20,000 sets were made before they became obsolete, and were given to the public as surplus.

Korean War

By the Korean War, the select fire M2 carbine had largely replaced the submachine-gun in U.S. service and was the most widely used carbine variant. However, the semi-auto M1 carbine was also widely used- especially by support troops. However, in Korea, all versions of the carbine soon acquired a widespread reputation for jamming in extremely cold weather, this being eventually traced to weak return springs, freezing of parts due to overly viscous lubricants and inadequate cartridge recoil impulse as the result of subzero temperatures.

There were also many complaints from individual soldiers that the carbine bullets failed to stop heavily clothed  or gear-laden North Korean and Chinese (PVA) troops even at close range and after multiple hits. Marines of the 1st Marine Division also reported instances of carbine bullets failing to stop enemy soldiers, and some units issued standing orders for carbine users to aim for the head. PVA infantry forces who had been issued captured U.S. small arms disliked the carbine for the same reason.

A 1951 official U.S. Army evaluation reported that ..."There are practically no data bearing on the accuracy of the carbine at ranges in excess of 50 yd. The record contains a few examples of carbine-aimed fire felling an enemy soldier at this distance or perhaps a little more. But they are so few in number that no general conclusion can be drawn from them. Where carbine fire had proved killing effect, approximately 95 percent of the time the target was dropped at less than 50 yd." The evaluation also reported that ..."Commanders noted that it took two to three engagements at least to settle their men to the automatic feature of the carbine so that they would not greatly waste ammunition under the first impulse of engagement. By experience, they would come to handle it semi-automatically, but it took prolonged battle hardening to bring about this adjustment in the human equation."

Despite its mixed reputation, the M2 carbine's firepower often made it the weapon of choice, when it came to night patrols in Korea. The M3 carbine with its infrared sniper scope was also used against night infiltrators, especially during the static stages of the conflict.

Vietnam War

The M1 and M2 carbines issued to U.S. forces were first given to American military advisors in Vietnam beginning in 1956, and later, the United States Air Force Security Police and United States Army Special Forces. These weapons began to be replaced by the M16 in 1964, and they were generally out of service by the 1970s. By the war's end, it was estimated that a total of 1.5 million M1 and M2 carbines were left in Vietnam.

At least 793,994 M1 and M2 carbines were given to the South Vietnamese and were widely used throughout the Vietnam War. A number were captured during the war by Viet Cong, with some made compact by shortening the barrel and/or stock. "While the carbine's lighter weight and high rate of fire made it an excellent weapon for small-statured Asians, these guns lacked sufficient hitting power and penetration, and they were eventually outclassed by the AK-47 assault rifle." The M1/M2/M3 carbines were the most heavily produced family of U.S. military weapons for several decades. They were used by every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Foreign usage

After World War II, the M1 and M2 carbines were widely exported to U.S. allies and client states (1,015,568 to South Korea, 793,994 to South Vietnam, 269,644 to France, etc.), they were used as a frontline weapon well into the Vietnam War era, and they continue to be used by military, police, and security forces around the world to this day.

British Army
During World War II, the British SAS used the M1 and M1A1 carbines after 1943. The weapon was taken into use simply because a decision had been taken by Allied authorities to supply .30 caliber weapons from U.S. stocks in the weapons containers dropped to Resistance groups sponsored by an SOE, or later also Office of Strategic Services (OSS), organizer, on the assumption the groups so supplied would be operating in areas within the operational boundaries of U.S. forces committed to Operation Overlord. They were found to be suited to the kind of operation the two British, two French, and one Belgian Regiment carried out. It was handy enough to parachute with, and, in addition, could be easily stowed in an operational Jeep. Other specialist intelligence collection units, such as 30 Assault Unit sponsored by the Naval Intelligence Division of the British Admiralty, which operated across the entire Allied area of operations, also made use of this weapon.. The carbine continued to be utilized as late as the Malayan Emergency, by the Police Field Force of the Royal Malaysian Police, along with other units of the British Army, were issued the M2 carbine for both jungle patrols and outpost defense. The Royal Ulster Constabulary also used the M1 carbine.

German Army
Small numbers of captured M1 carbines were used by German forces in World War II, particularly after D-Day. The German designation for captured carbines was Selbstladekarabiner 455(a). The "a" came from the country name in German; in this case, Amerika. It was also used by German police and border guards in Bavaria after World War II and into the 1950s. The carbines were stamped according to the branch they were in service with; for instance, those used by the border guard were stamped "Bundesgrenzschutz". Some of these weapons were modified with different sights, finishes, and sometimes new barrels.

Japanese GSDF
A variant was produced shortly after World War II by Japanese manufacturer Howa Machinery, under U.S. supervision. These were issued to all branches of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, and large numbers of them found their way to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Howa also made replacement parts for US-made M1 carbines issued to Japanese police and military.

Israel Defense Forces
The M1 carbine was also used by the Israeli Palmach-based special forces in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. And, because of their compact size and semi-automatic capabilities, they continued to be used by Israeli Defence Forces after the creation of Israel. The Israeli police still use the M1 carbine as a standard long gun for non-combat elements and Mash'az volunteers.

French Army
The U.S. provided France with 269,644 M1 and M2 carbines from World War II to 1963. The carbines were used by the French Paratroopers and Legionnaires, as well as specialists (e.g., drivers, radio operators, engineers), during the First Indochina War, the Algerian War and the Suez Crisis.

South Vietnam
The U.S. provided the Army of the Republic of Vietnam with 793,994 M1 and M2 carbines from 1963 to 1973. Along with tens of thousands of carbines left behind by the French after the First Indochina War, the M1 and M2 carbines were the most widely issued small arm during the early stages in the Vietnam War and remained in service in large numbers until the fall of Saigon. The South Vietnamese would also receive 220,300 M1 Garands and 520 M1C/M1D rifles, and 640,000 M16 rifles.

The Viet Minh and the Viet Cong also used large numbers of M1 and M2 carbines, captured from the French, ARVN and local militia forces of South Vietnam, as well as receiving many thousands of carbines from the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), China and North Korea. Over time, the SKS and eventually the AK-47 would replace the carbine to become the dominant weapons used by the Viet Cong.

South Korea
The Republic of Korea Armed Forces received 1,015,568 M1 and M2 carbines from 1963 to 1972. Along with hundreds of thousands of Carbines and M1 Garands provided by the United States Army before, during and shortly after the Korean War, South Korea would become the largest single recipient of American M1 and M2 carbines.

The Republic of Korea Armed Forces in Vietnam used M1 and M2 carbines in the early years of participation of the Vietnam War until the forces received the M16 rifle from the United States.

Philippines
The government of the Philippines still issues M1 carbines to the infantrymen of the Philippine Army's 2nd Infantry Division assigned in Luzon Island (some units are issued just M14 automatic rifles and M1 carbines) and the Civilian Auxiliary Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) and Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVO) spread throughout the Philippines. Certain provincial police units of the Philippine National Police (PNP) still use government-issued M1 carbines as well as some operating units of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). In many provinces in the Philippines, M1 carbines are still a highly valued light small arm. Elements of the New People's Army and Islamic secessionist movements value the carbine as a lightweight weapon and preferred choice for mountain and ambush operations.

The M1 carbine has become one of the most recognized firearms in Philippine society, with the Marikina-based company ARMSCOR Philippines still continues to manufacture .30 caliber ammunition for the Philippine market.

Latin America
The M1 and M2 carbines were widely used by military, police, and security forces and their opponents during the many guerrilla and civil wars throughout Latin America until the 1990s, when they were mostly replaced by more modern designs. A notable user was Che Guevara who used them during the Cuban Revolution and in Bolivia where he was executed by a Bolivian soldier armed with an M2 carbine. Guevara's fellow revolutionary Camilo Cienfuegos also used an M2 carbine that he modified with the pistol grip and foregrip from a Thompson submachine gun. Cienfuegos' carbine is on display in the Museum of the Revolution (Cuba).

In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a police battalion named Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (BOPE, or "Special Police Operations Battalion") still uses the M1 carbine.

Users
The unit data provided below refers to original U.S. Ordnance contract carbines the United States provided these countries. Many countries sold, traded, destroyed, and/or donated these carbines to other countries and/or private gun brokers.

Current users

 * 🇧🇷 Brazil: In service with BOPE.
 * 🇮🇩 Indonesia: Used by Indonesian Armed Forces in 1950s and 1960s (received from the United States). Fielded during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Still in service in the Indonesian National Police

Former users

 * Afghan Mujahideen
 * 🇩🇿 Algeria: Captured in large numbers from French military personnel during the Algerian Independence War.
 * 🇦🇴 Angola: 12,215 units
 * FNLA: Unknown number captured/illegally acquired for use during the Angolan Civil War.
 * 🇦🇷 Argentina: 12,621 units
 * 🇦🇹 Austria: 39,005 units (1950s–70s, Austrian Army and police)
 * 🇧🇴 Bolivia: 13,438 units.
 * 🇰🇭 Cambodia: 115,568 units (Khmer Republic, 1967–1975)
 * 🇨🇦 Canada: 230 units
 * 🇨🇱 Chile: 2,877 units
 * Republic of China: 361 units during World War II.
 * 🇹🇼 Taiwan: 115,948 units from 1963 to 1968
 * Chetniks (OSS-supplied during WWII)
 * 🇨🇴 Colombia: 7,037 units
 * 🇨🇷 Costa Rica: 6,000 units
 * 🇨🇺 Cuba: 118 units in 1963. M1 carbines were used by Batista forces, by Castrist militias and by Brigade 2506.
 * Democratic Republic of Congo
 * 🇪🇨 Ecuador: 576 units
 * 🇸🇻 El Salvador: 5,000 M1s and ~156 M2s until 1965, more delivered during the 1960s and 1970s.
 * 🇪🇹 Ethiopia: 16,417 units
 * 🇫🇷 France: 269,644 units
 * French Indochina: 35,429 units
 * 🇩🇪 Germany:
 * Nazi Germany: No recorded issue. Captured M1 carbines were classified as the Selbstladekarabiner 455(a) ("Self-loading carbine No. 455 (American)"). There are staged pictures of late-war Fallschirmjäger troops and SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler ("Adolf Hitler's SS Bodyguard Regiment") soldiers armed with them.
 * West Germany: 34,192 units
 * Bavaria: 14,647 units (1945–early 1950s, border guard)
 * 🇬🇷 Greece: 38,264 units from 1963 to 1973
 * 🇬🇹 Guatemala: 6,063 units
 * 🇭🇳 Honduras: 5,581 units
 * 🇮🇸 Iceland: 30 M1 carbine and 20 M2 carbine lent to the Reykjavík Police from Icelandic Coast Guard in 1986.
 * 🇮🇷 Iran: 10,000 units
 * 🇮🇪 Ireland: 1969–1980s, Used by the Provisional IRA, Official IRA, INLA and IPLO during the early years of their campaign and beyond.
 * 🇮🇱 Israel: 10,000 units
 * 🇮🇹 Italy: 146,863 units. First used by Italian partisans. Later classified by the Italian Army as the Carabina «Winchester» M1 cal. 7,62 and Carabina «Winchester» M2 cal. 7,62. In service until the 1990s with the Carabinieri.
 * 🇯🇵 Japan: 3,974 units from 1950 to 1989
 * 🇯🇴 Jordan: 1912 units. Fielded during the Six-Day War
 * Kingdom of Laos: Received 74,587 units during Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War, 1955–1975.
 * 🇱🇧 Lebanon: 900 units
 * 🇱🇷 Liberia: 80 units
 * 🇱🇾 Libya: 106 units
 * 🇲🇾 Malaysia
 * 🇲🇽 Mexico: 48,946 units
 * 🇲🇦 Morocco: 945 units
 * 🇲🇲 Myanmar: 28,792 units
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands: 84,523 units (1940s–1980s, Army, Korps Mariniers and Police)
 * 🇳🇮 Nicaragua: 121 units
 * 🇳🇬 Nigeria: 100 units
 * 🇳🇴 Norway: 98,267 units (Norwegian Army 1951–1970, with some Norwegian police units until the 1990s)
 * 🇵🇰 Pakistan: 45 units
 * 🇵🇦 Panama: 917 units
 * 🇵🇪 Peru: 821 units
 * 🇵🇭 Philippines: 8,831 units
 * 🇰🇷 South Korea: The Armed Forces was equipped with 19,402 M1/M2 carbines before the Korean War, and received 219,700 more carbines throughout the war. By the end of the war, 159,393 carbines were in service with the Army. 1,015,558 additional M1/M2 carbines also received from the U.S. between 1963 and 1972., and these guns were provided to the Reserve Forces in 1968. Carbines were used in the early years of the Vietnam War until XM16E1 (1966) or M16A1 (1968) became available to Korean troops. The carbines were replaced by license produced M16A1 rifles, and were removed from active service in 1978. Some of these M1 carbines were sold back to the United States: 100,000 carbines in 1986 to 1989 via Blue Sky, and 100,000 carbines in 1991 to 1993 via Century Arms.  In 2005, the Reserve Forces began replacing carbines with 850,000 M16A1s that are decommissioning from active service.  Since 2006, South Korea attempted to sell 770,160 M1 carbines back to the United States, but was rejected by the Obama Administration in 2013.   The replacement for carbine was completed in 2016.
 * 🇹🇭 Thailand: 73,012 units from 1963 to 1976
 * 🇹🇳 Tunisia: 771 units
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey: 450 units.
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: 200,766 units
 * 🇺🇸 United States: 6,110,730 units (1940s–1960s/1970s, Armed Forces and 1940s-present, various law enforcement agencies, and the Tennessee Valley Authority)
 * 🇺🇾 Uruguay: 32,346 units
 * USSR: 7 units
 * Vietnam: Largely captured and/or inherited from now-defunct Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Some used by the Viet Cong and the Viet Minh, taken from American, French and South Vietnamese forces/armories with a few modified to make them compact.
 * South Vietnam: 793,994 units (1960s–70s)

Variants
The standard-issue versions of the carbine officially listed and supported were the M1, M1A1, M2 and M3.

Carbine, Cal .30, M1A1

 * Side-folding stock, 15-round box magazine
 * Paratrooper model
 * About 150,000 produced

The M1A1 was designed in May 1942 for paratrooper units, and came with a folding stock, but was otherwise identical to a standard M1. M1A1 carbines were made by Inland, a division of General Motors and originally came with the early "L" nonadjustable sight and barrel band without bayonet lug. Inland production of M1A1 carbines was interspersed with Inland production of M1 carbines with the standard stock. Stocks were often swapped out as carbines were refurbished at arsenals.

Carbine, Cal .30, M1A2

 * Proposed variant with improved sight adjustable for windage and elevation
 * Produced only as an "overstamped" model (an arsenal-refurbished M1 with new rear sight and other late M1 improvements)

Carbine, Cal .30, M1A3

 * Underside-folding pantograph stock, 15-round magazine
 * Type standardized to replace the M1A1 but may not have been issued
 * Pantograph stock was more rigid than the M1A1's folding stock and folded flush under the fore end. A more common name for this type of stock is an "underfolder".

Carbine, Cal .30, M2

 * Mid to Late 1944
 * Selective fire (capable of semi-automatic or fully automatic fire)
 * 15-round magazine or 30-round magazine
 * About 600,000 produced

Initially, the M1 carbine was intended to have a selective-fire capability, but the decision was made to put the M1 into production without this feature. Fully automatic capability was incorporated into the design of the M2 (an improved, selective-fire version of the M1), introduced in 1944. The M2 featured the late M1 improvements to the rear sight, addition of a bayonet lug, and other minor changes.

Research into a conversion kit for selective fire began May 1944; the first kit was developed by Inland engineers, and known as the T4. Inland was awarded a contract for 500 T4 carbines in September 1944. Although the conversion was seen as satisfactory, the heavier 30-round magazine put greater strain on the magazine catch, necessitating the development of a sturdier catch. The slide, sear, and stock design also had to be modified. On fully automatic fire, the T4 model could fire about 750 rounds per minute, and generated a manageable recoil.

Although some carbines were marked at the factory as M2, the only significant difference between an M1 and M2 carbine is in the fire control group. The military issued field conversion kits (T17 and T18) to convert an M1 to an M2. Legally a carbine marked M2 is always a machine gun for national firearms registry purposes.

These M2 parts including the heavier M2 stock were standardized for arsenal rebuild of M1 and M1A1 carbines.

A modified round bolt replaced the original flat top bolt to save machining steps in manufacture. Many sources erroneously refer to this round bolt as an "M2 bolt" but it was developed as a standard part for new manufacture M1 and later M2 carbines and as a replacement part, with priority given to use on M1A1 and M2 carbines. The slightly heavier round bolt did moderate the cyclic rate of the M2 on full automatic.

Despite being in demand, very few M2 carbines saw use during World War II, and then mostly in the closing days against Japan. The M2 carbine was logistically compatible with the millions of M1 carbines in U.S. service, and offered longer range, better accuracy and better penetration than (pistol caliber) submachine guns like the M1 Thompsons and M3 Grease Guns. Therefore, after World War II, the M2 carbine largely replaced the submachine-guns in U.S. service, until it was itself replaced by the M16 rifle.

The M2 model was the most widely used carbine variant during the Korean War. A detailed study of the effectiveness of the M2 in the war was assembled by S. L. A. Marshall. He found that many troops complained on the lack of effective range of the gun, which allowed the enemy to get close enough to throw hand grenades. A more detailed analysis showed however that most troops who complained actually tended to run low on ammo, because they fired their M2 on fully automatic too soon. Troops who fired their guns on semi-automatic at distance generally complained less about the M2's effectiveness. Generally, the more seasoned troops used the latter approach. The carbine was usually given to second line troops (administrative, support, etc.), who had little combat experience and also did not have much training in small-unit tactics, but who usually had to engage the enemy at some critical moment, like a breakthrough or ambush. Marshall noted that almost all killing shots with carbines in Korea were at ranges of 50 yd or less. The M2 was a preferred weapon for night patrols. The M2 was also used in the early stages of the Vietnam War by special forces, ARVN advisers, and air crews.

Contemporary authors have struggled to categorize the M2 carbine. While it did introduce select-fire capability and an intermediate cartridge, its stopping power and weight was far below that of the StG 44. As such, it is considered by some to be an early predecessor to the assault rifle or personal defense weapon.

Carbine, Cal .30, M2A1

 * M2 with an M1A1 folding stock. Like the M1A1, it was made for paratroopers.

Carbine, Cal .30, M2A2

 * Arsenal-refurbished (over stamped M2) model

Carbine, Cal .30, M3

 * M2 with mounting (T3 mount) for an early active (infrared) night vision sight
 * About 3,000 produced
 * Three versions of night sight (M1, M2, M3)

The M3 carbine was an M2 carbine fitted with a mount designed to accept an infrared sight for use at night. It was initially used with the M1 sniperscope, and an active infrared sight, and saw action in 1945 with the Army during the invasion of Okinawa. Before the M3 carbine and M1 sniperscope were type-classified, they were known as the T3 and T120, respectively. The system continued to be developed, and by the time of the Korean War, the M3 carbine was used with the M3 sniperscope.

The M2 sniper scope extended the effective nighttime range of the M3 carbine to 100 yd. In the later stages of the Korean War, an improved version of the M3 carbine, with a revised mount, a forward pistol grip, and a new M3 sniperscope design was used in the latter stages of Korea and briefly in Vietnam. The M3 sniperscope had a large active infrared spotlight mounted on top of the scope body itself, allowing use in the prone position. The revised M3/M3 had an effective range of around 125 yd. Eventually, the M3 carbine and its M3 sniperscope would be superseded by passive-design night vision scopes with extended visible ranges; the improved scopes in turn required the use of rifle-caliber weapons with flatter trajectories and increased hit probability.

Military contractors

 * Inland Division, General Motors (production: 2,632,097). Receiver marked "Inland Div." Sole producer of the M1A1 carbine.
 * Winchester Repeating Arms (production: 828,059). Receiver marked "Winchester"
 * Underwood Elliot Fisher (production: 545,616). Receiver marked "Underwood"
 * Saginaw Steering Gear Division, General Motors (production: 517,213 ). Receivers marked "Saginaw S.G." (370,490), "Saginaw S'G'" (for weapons manufactured in Grand Rapids) and "Irwin-Pedersen" (146,723 )
 * Irwin-Pedersen (operated by Saginaw Steering Gear and production included with Saginaw total)
 * National Postal Meter (production: 413,017). Receiver marked "National Postal Meter"
 * Quality Hardware Manufacturing Corp. (production: 359,666). Receiver marked "Quality H.M.C." or "Un-quality" (receivers subcontracted to Union Switch & Signal).
 * International Business Machines (production: 346,500). Receiver marked "I.B.M. Corp." Also barrel marked "IBM Corp"
 * Standard Products (production: 247,100). Receiver marked "Std. Pro."
 * Rock-Ola Manufacturing Corporation (production: 228,500). Receiver marked "Rock-Ola"
 * Commercial Controls Corporation (production: 239). Receiver marked "Commercial Controls". Formerly National Postal Meter.

Derivatives, conversions, and commercial copies
Several companies manufactured copies of the M1 carbine after World War II, which varied in quality. Some companies used a combination of original USGI and new commercial parts, while others manufactured entire firearms from new parts, which may or may not be of the same quality as the originals. These copies were marketed to the general public and police agencies but were not made for or used by the U.S. military.

In 1963, firearms designer Col. Melvin M. Johnson developer of the M1941 Johnson rifle offered the US Military a conversion of original US Military M1 carbines to his new 5.7mm MMJ cartridge, while also introducing a newly manufactured version of the M1 carbine called the "Spitfire" made by his Johnson Arms, Inc. business that was designed and built specifically for this new 5.7 mm (.22 in) wildcat cartridge (also known as the 5.7 mm MMJ or .22 Spitfire). The Spitfire was advertised firing a 40-grain (2.6 g) bullet with a muzzle velocity of 3050 ft/s (930 m/s), though handloaders with careful selection of modern powders and appropriate bullets consistently safely exceed those numbers while remaining within the M1 carbine's maximum pressure rating of 38,500 psi (265 MPa). In comparison, the "standard" load for the .30 Carbine has a .30 Carbine ball bullet weighing 110 grains (7.1 g); a complete loaded round weighs 195 grains (12.6 g) and has a muzzle velocity of 1,990 ft/s (610 m/s), giving it 967 ft⋅lbf (1,311 joules) of energy when fired from the M1 carbine's 17.75 in barrel.

Johnson advertised the smaller caliber and the modified carbine as a survival rifle for use in jungles or other remote areas. It provided for light, easily carried ammunition in a light, fast handling carbine with negligible recoil. While the concept had some military application when used for this role in the selective-fire M2 carbine, it was not pursued, and few Spitfire carbines were made.

More recently, the Auto-Ordnance division of Kahr Arms began production of an M1 carbine replica in 2005 based on the typical M1 carbine as issued in 1944, without the later adjustable sight or barrel band with bayonet lug. The original Auto-Ordnance had produced various parts for IBM carbine production during World War II but did not manufacture complete carbines until the introduction of this replica. The AOM110 and AOM120 models (no longer produced) featured birch stocks and handguards, Parkerized receivers, flip-style rear sights and barrel bands without bayonet lugs. The current AOM130 and AOM140 models are identical except for American walnut stocks and handguards.

In 2014, Inland Manufacturing, LLC in Dayton, Ohio introduced the reproduction of the "Inland M1 carbine". Inland Manufacturing, LLC is a private entity that is producing reproductions of the M1 carbine and M1A1 paratrooper models that were built by the original Inland Division of General Motors from 1941 to 1945. The new Inland M1 carbines feature many of the same characteristics of the original Inland carbines and are manufactured in the US. The M1 carbine is modeled after the last production model that Inland manufactured in 1945 and features a Type 3 bayonet lug and barrel band, adjustable rear sights, push button safety, round bolt, and "low wood" walnut stock, and a 15-round magazine. A 30-round mag catch was utilized to allow high-capacity magazines. A "1944" M1 carbine is also available that has the same features as the 1945 only with a Type 2 barrel Band and 10-round magazine and is available for sale in most states with magazine capacity and bayonet lug restrictions. The M1A1 is modeled after a late production 1944 M1A1 paratrooper model with a folding "low wood" walnut stock, Type two barrel band, and includes the same adjustable sights which were actually introduced in 1944.

An Israeli arms company (Advanced Combat Systems) offers a modernized bullpup variant called the Hezi SM-1. The company claims accuracy of 1.5 MOA at 100 yd.

Commercial manufacturers

 * Alpine of Azusa, Calif.
 * AMAC of Jacksonville, Ark. (acquired Iver Johnson Arms)
 * AMPCO of Miami, Fla.
 * Auto-Ordnance
 * Bullseye Gun Works of Miami, Fla.
 * ERMA's Firearms Manufacturing of Steelville, MO.
 * Erma Werke of Dachau, Bavaria serviced carbines used by the West German police post World War II. Manufactured replacement parts for the same carbines. Manufactured .22 replica carbines for use as training rifles for police in West Germany and Austria and for commercial export worldwide.
 * Federal Ordnance of South El Monte, Calif.
 * Fulton Armory of Savage, MD
 * Global Arms
 * H&S of Plainfield, NJ (Haas & Storck, predecessor of Plainfield Machine)
 * Howa of Nagoya, Japan, made carbines and parts for the post-World War II Japanese and Thai militaries, and limited numbers of a hunting rifle version
 * Inland Manufacturing of Dayton, Ohio
 * Israel Arms International (IAI) of Houston, Texas assembled carbines from parts from other sources
 * The Iver Johnson Arms of Plainfield, NJ and later Jacksonville, Ark., (acquired M1 carbine operations of Plainfield Machine) and followed the lead of Universal in producing a pistol version called the "Enforcer".
 * Johnston-Tucker of St. Louis, Mo.
 * Millvile Ordnance (MOCO) of Union, N.J. (predecessor of H&S)
 * National Ordnance of Azusa, Calif. and later South El Monte, Calif.
 * NATO of Atlanta, GA
 * Plainfield Machine Company of Plainfield, N.J. and later Middlesex, N.J. (P.O. Box in Dunellen, N.J.), M1 Carbine manufacture later purchased and operated by Iver Johnson
 * Rock Island Armory of Geneseo, Ill.
 * Rowen, Becker Company of Waterville, Ohio
 * Springfield Armory of Geneseo, Ill.
 * Texas Armament Co. of Brownwood, Tex.
 * Tiroler Sportwaffenfabrik und Apparatenbau GmbH of Kugstein, Austria manufactured an air rifle that looked and operated like the M1 carbine for use in training by Austria and West Germany.
 * Universal Firearms of Hialeah, Fla. – Early Universal guns were, like other manufacturers, assembled from USGI parts. However, beginning in 1968, the company began producing the "new carbine", which externally resembled the M1 but was in fact a completely new firearm internally, using a different receiver, bolt carrier, bolt, recoil spring assembly, etc. with almost no interchangeability with GI-issue carbines.

Universal was acquired by Iver Johnson in 1983 and moved to Jacksonville, Ark. in 1985.
 * Williams Gun Sight of Davison, Mich. produced a series of 50 sporterized M1 carbines

Derivatives
The Ingram SAM rifles are M1 carbine derivatives in 5.56×45mm NATO (SAM-1), 7.62×39mm (SAM-2) and 7.62×51mm NATO (SAM-3). The 5.56×45mm versions accept M16 magazines, the 7.62×39mm accept AK magazines and the 7.62×51mm versions use FN FAL magazines. They did not catch on in competition against the Ruger Mini-14 in both the police and civilian markets. The Ingram SAM rifles are occasionally found on auction sites for collectors.
 * Ingram SAM

Iver Johnson's 9×19mm Parabellum carbine was introduced in 1985 until 1986 using modified Browning High Power 20-round magazines.
 * 9×19mm Parabellum

Chiappa Firearms produces a 9mm M1 carbine derivative called the M1-9 which uses Beretta M9/92FS magazines. The Chiappa is not gas operated and instead relies on blowback operation.

Hunting and civilian use

Some U.S. states prohibit use of the .30 Carbine cartridge for hunting deer and larger animals due to a lessened chance of killing an animal in a single shot, even with expanding bullets. The M1 carbine is also prohibited for hunting in several states such as Pennsylvania because of the semi-automatic function, and Illinois which prohibits all non-muzzleloading rifles for big game hunting. Five-round magazines are commercially made for use in states that limit the capacity of semi-automatic hunting rifles.

After World War II, the USA decommissioned surplus M1 carbines for sale to the general public. The last batch came from Blue Sky and Arlington Ordinance in 1963 and was sold to NRA members for $20 each. Inland Mfg continues to make new M1 carbine replicas.

The M1 carbine was also used by various law enforcement agencies and prison guards and was prominently carried by riot police during the civil unrest of the late 1960s and early 1970s; until it was replaced in those roles by more modern .223 caliber semi-automatic rifles such as the Ruger Mini-14 and the Colt AR-15-type rifles in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The ease of use and great adaptability of the weapon led to it being used by Malcolm X and Patty Hearst. Both were featured in famous news photographs carrying a version the carbine. One of these firearms was also the weapon used in the 1947 assassination of notorious American mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.

title: M1 carbine


text:
Simon Says

Simon Says is a children's game for three or more players. One player takes the role of "Simon" and issues instructions (usually physical actions such as "jump in the air" or "stick out your tongue") to the other players, which should be followed only when succeeding the phrase "Simon says". Players are eliminated from the game by either following instructions that are not immediately preceded by the phrase, or by failing to follow an instruction which does include the phrase "Simon says". It is the ability to distinguish between genuine and fake commands, rather than physical ability, that usually matters in the game; in most cases, the action just needs to be attempted.

The object for the player acting as Simon is to get all the other players out as quickly as possible; the winner of the game is usually the last player who has successfully followed all of the given commands. Occasionally, however, two or more of the last players may all be eliminated at the same time, thus resulting in Simon winning the game.

The game is embedded in popular culture, with numerous references in films, music, and literature.

Other languages
This game has translated across multiple cultures from seemingly common routes and some international versions also use the name Simon such as:
 * Afrikaans: "Kolonel Bevel" ("Colonel commands")
 * Arabic: for example :"نبيلة قالت هاكا" "(Algeria) Nabila said like so or "قال المعلّم" ("The teacher says", Lebanon) and "سلمان يقول" ("Salman says", Iraq)
 * Basque: "Buruak dio" or "Buruzagiak dio" (The leader says), or "Unaik dio" (Unai says)
 * Bengali: "নেতা বলেছেন" ("The leader says")
 * Cantonese Chinese: "老師話" ("The teacher says")
 * Czech: "Simon říká" (or with similar rules "Všechno lítá, co peří má")
 * Danish: "Simon siger", "Kongen befaler"
 * Dutch: "Simon zegt", "Commando" (the Dutch noun for "command"), or "Jantje zegt" ("Johnny says") in Flemish parts of Belgium
 * Esperanto: "Zamenhof diris" (Zamenhof said)
 * Finnish: "Kapteeni käskee" ("The captain commands")
 * French: "Jacques a dit" ("Jack said") in France, or "Jean dit" ("John says") in Quebec
 * Filipino: "Sabi ni Simon"
 * German: "Kommando Pimperle" (or with similar rules "Alle Vögel fliegen hoch")
 * Greek: "Ο Σιμών λέει" ('O Simón léi')
 * Hausa: "Malam Kiri"
 * Hebrew: "הרצל אמר" ("Herzl said") or "המלך אמר" ("The King said")
 * Hungarian: "Simon mondja"
 * Icelandic: "Símon segir"
 * Indonesian: "Simon Bilang"
 * Irish: "Deir Síomón"
 * Italian: “Simone Dice”
 * Japanese: "船長さんの命令" ('Senchō-san no meirei', "Ship Captain's orders")
 * Korean: "시몬 가라사대" ("Simon says")
 * Kurdish: "مام سلێمان دەڵێت" ("Uncle Solomon(Sulayman) says")
 * Marathi: "शिवाजी महाराज म्हणाले" ("Shivaji Maharaj says")
 * Mandarin Chinese: "老师说" (Lǎoshīshuō, "The teacher says")
 * Norwegian: "Kongen befaler" ("The king commands")
 * Polish: "Szymon mówi" (the native counterpart is "Ojciec Wirgiliusz", Father Virgil)
 * Portuguese: "O rei manda" ("the king orders"), or "O mestre mandou" ("The master ordered") in Brazilian Portuguese
 * Russian: "Саймон говорит" (Saymon govorit) or "Саймон сказал" (Saymon skazal)
 * Spanish: "Mando, mando" ("I command, I command"), or "Simon dice" ("Simon says")
 * Swedish: "Simon säger"
 * Turkish: "Yakup der ki" ("Jacob says")
 * Vietnam: "Tôi bảo" ("I say")

Gameplay and variants
A command starting with "Simon says" means that the players must obey that command. A command without the beginning "Simon says" means do not do this action. Anyone who breaks one of these two rules is eliminated from the remainder of the game. Often, anyone who speaks is also eliminated.

There can be very complex and difficult command chains, such as "Simon says: Arms up. Simon says: Arms down. Arms up." Anyone ending with their arms up is eliminated, because a command that doesn't begin with "Simon says" cannot be obeyed.

It is considered cheating to give impossible commands ("Simon says, lift both of your legs up and keep them there!") or phrase the commands in such a way that the other player has no option but to 'go out' ("Simon says, jump up. Come down."). However, at least in some versions, it is allowed for Simon to eliminate players by asking them to do something seemingly unrelated to the game (example: "Anyone remaining join me up here.").

Simon says (electronic version)
The electronic game Simon is named for Simon Says. Instead of having to listen to the presence of the instruction phrase, the player has to repeat a short sequence of button presses after demonstration by the device. This gameplay has been repeated as minigame in many subsequent video games and is often confusingly referred to as "Simon Says" as well, despite the differences from the playground game

Do this do that
A variation on the instruction phrases is used in this variant. Instead of only actions beginning with "Simon says" having to be obeyed, an action along with the phrase "do this" must be obeyed while an action with the phrase "do that" must not be obeyed. Obeying a "do that" command or not obeying a "do this" command will eliminate a player. In Swedish, this variant is known as Gör si, gör så.

Bird Fly
This variant, found in India, Pakistan, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary, puts the focus on the specifics of the instruction phrase. The Simon announces the phrase "All X fly" or similar (i.e. "Chidiya ud" (Hindi) which translates to Bird fly or "Alle Vögel fliegen hoch" (German) which is "All birds fly up"), with the subject replaced by various creatures and objects. If the subject can fly, the other children have to perform an action, but have to stay still if it cannot fly. The action is usually fixed, involving raising the arms or jumping.

Following John
A similar Swedish child's game is "Följa John" meaning "following John", where physical actions are conducted by "John" (usually involving movement in a line), and where remaining participants are replicating the activities shown by John. However, the commands are silent, and based on the remaining participants observation of John's actions. Especially when performed in a line, this can become a physical action equivalent of the game Telephone.

Other references

 * Arnold, Arnold, The World Book of Children's Games, World Publishing Co., 1972, ISBN 0-529-00778-9.
 * Bancroft, Jessie H., Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium, The Macmillan Co., 1914.
 * Forster, Sally, Simon Says... Let's Play, Dutton Children's Books, 1990, ISBN 0-525-65019-9.
 * Grunfeld, Frederic V., Games of the World: How to Make Them, How to Play Them, How They Came to Be, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975, ISBN 0-03-015261-5.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Simon Says


text:
Fin de siècle

Fin de siècle is a French term meaning "end of century", a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom "turn of the century" and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without context, the term is typically used to refer to the end of the 19th century. This period was widely thought to be a period of social degeneracy, but at the same time a period of hope for a new beginning. The "spirit" of fin de siècle often refers to the cultural hallmarks that were recognized as prominent in the 1880s and 1890s, including ennui, cynicism, pessimism, and "a widespread belief that civilization leads to decadence."

The term fin de siècle is commonly applied to French art and artists, as the traits of the culture first appeared there, but the movement affected many European countries. The term becomes applicable to the sentiments and traits associated with the culture, as opposed to focusing solely on the movement's initial recognition in France. The ideas and concerns developed by fin de siècle artists provided the impetus for movements such as symbolism and modernism.

The themes of fin de siècle political culture were very controversial and have been cited as a major influence on fascism and as a generator of the science of geopolitics, including the theory of Lebensraum. Professor of Historical Geography at the University of Nottingham, Michael Heffernan, and Mackubin Thomas Owens wrote about the origins of geopolitics:

"The idea that this project required a new name in 1899 reflected a widespread belief that the changes taking place in the global economic and political system were seismically important."

The "new world of the Twentieth century would need to be understood in its entirety, as an integrated global whole". Technology and global communication made the world "smaller" and turned it into a single system; the time was characterized by pan-ideas and a utopian "one-worldism," proceeding further than pan-ideas.

"What we now think of geopolitics had its origins in fin de siècle Europe in response to technological change... and the creation of a "closed political system" as European imperialist competition extinguished the world's "frontiers"."

The major political theme of the era was that of revolt against materialism, rationalism, positivism, bourgeois society, and liberal democracy. The fin-de-siècle generation supported emotionalism, irrationalism, subjectivism, and vitalism, while the mindset of the age saw civilization as being in a crisis that required a massive and total solution.

Fin-de-siècle syndrome
Michael Heffernan in his article "Fin de Siècle, Fin du Monde?" [End of the century, end of the world?] (2000) finds in the Christian world what he calls "the syndrome of fin de siècle". In 2000, this took the form of the Year 2000 problem. Fins de siècle are accompanied by future expectations:

"Changes which are actually taking place at these junctures tend to acquire extra (sometimes mystical) layers of meaning. This was certainly the case in the 1890s, a decade of "semiotic arousal" when everything, it seemed, was a sign, a harbinger of some future radical disjuncture or cataclysmic upheaval ... The original French expression, meaning simply "end of century", became a catch all phrase to describe everything from the architectural and artistic styles ... to the wider, often impassioned debates about the past, the present and the future on the eve of a new century. ... Much fin-de-siècle writing ... tended to assume that the passing of the nineteenth century would represent a fundamental historical discontinuity, a clear break with the past."

Degeneration theory
B. A. Morel's degeneration theory was a theory that held that although societies can progress, they can also remain static or even regress if influenced by a flawed environment, such as national conditions or outside cultural influences. This degeneration was described as being passed from generation to generation, resulting in imbecility and senility due to hereditary influence. Max Nordau's Degeneration held that the two dominant traits of those degenerated in a society involve ego mania and mysticism. The former term was understood to mean a pathological degree of self-absorption and unreasonable attention to one's own sentiments and activities, as can be seen in the extremely descriptive nature of minute details; the latter referred to the impaired ability to translate primary perceptions into fully developed ideas, largely noted in symbolist works. Nordau's treatment of these traits as degenerative qualities lends to the perception of a world falling into decay through fin de siècle corruptions of thought, and influencing the pessimism growing in Europe's philosophical consciousness. As fin de siècle citizens, attitudes tended toward science in an attempt to decipher the world in which they lived. The focus on psycho-physiology, now psychology, was a large part of fin de siècle society in that it studied a topic that could not be depicted through Romanticism, but relied on traits exhibited to suggest how the mind works, as does symbolism. The concept of genius returned to popular consciousness around this period through Max Nordau's work with degeneration, prompting study of artists supposedly affected by social degeneration and what separates imbecility from genius. The genius and the imbecile were determined to have largely similar character traits, including les delires des grandeurs and la folie du doute. The first, which means delusions of grandeur, begins with a disproportionate sense of importance in one's own activities and results in a sense of alienation, as Nordau describes in Baudelaire, as well as the second characteristic of madness of doubt, which involves intense indecision and extreme preoccupation with minute detail. The difference between degenerate genius and degenerate madman become the extensive knowledge held by the genius in a few areas paired with a belief in one's own superiority as a result. Together, these psychological traits lend to originality, eccentricity, and a sense of alienation, all symptoms of le mal du siècle (the evil of the century) that impacted French youth at the beginning of the 19th century until expanding outward and eventually influencing the rest of Europe approaching the turn of the century.

Pessimism
England's ideological space was affected by the philosophical waves of pessimism sweeping Europe, starting with philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's work from before 1860 and gradually influencing artists internationally. R. H. Goodale identified 235 essays by British and American authors concerning pessimism, ranging from 1871 to 1900, showing the prominence of pessimism in conjunction with English ideology. Further, Oscar Wilde's references to pessimism in his works demonstrate the relevance of the ideology on the English. In An Ideal Husband, Wilde's protagonist asks another character whether "at heart, [she is] an optimist or a pessimist? Those seem to be the only two fashionable religions left to us nowadays." Wilde's reflection on personal philosophy as more culturally significant than religion lends credence to degeneration theory, as applied to Baudelaire's influence on other nations. However, the optimistic Romanticism popular earlier in the century would also have affected the shifting ideological landscape. The newly fashionable pessimism appears again in Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, written that same year: "Algernon: I hope tomorrow will be a fine day, Lane. Lane: It never is, sir. Algernon: Lane, you're a perfect pessimist. Lane: I do my best to give satisfaction, sir."

Lane is philosophically current as of 1895, reining in his master's optimism about the weather by reminding Algernon of how the world typically operates. His pessimism gives satisfaction to Algernon; the perfect servant of a gentleman is one who is philosophically aware. Charles Baudelaire's work demonstrates some of the pessimism expected of the time, and his work with modernity exemplified the decadence and decay with which turn-of-the-century French art is associated, while his work with symbolism promoted the mysticism Nordau associated with fin de siècle artists. Baudelaire's pioneering translations of Edgar Allan Poe's verse supports the aesthetic role of translation in fin de siècle culture, while his own works influenced French and English artists through the use of modernity and symbolism. Baudelaire, Rimbaud, and their contemporaries became known as French decadents, a group that influenced its English counterpart, the aesthetes like Oscar Wilde. Both groups believed the purpose of art was to evoke an emotional response and demonstrate the beauty inherent in the unnatural as opposed to trying to teach its audience an infallible sense of morality.

Literary conventions
In the Victorian fin de siècle, the themes of degeneration and anxiety are expressed not only through the physical landscape which provided a backdrop for Gothic Literature, but also through the human body itself. Works such as Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), Arthur Machen's The Great God Pan (1894), H. G. Wells' The Time Machine (1895), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) and Richard Marsh's The Beetle (1897) all explore themes of change, development, evolution, mutation, corruption and decay in relation to the human body and mind. These literary conventions were a direct reflection of many evolutionary, scientific, social and medical theories and advancements that emerged toward the end of the 19th century.

Artistic conventions
The works of the Decadents and the Aesthetes contain the hallmarks typical of fin de siècle art. Holbrook Jackson's The Eighteen Nineties describes the characteristics of English decadence, which are: perversity, artificiality, egoism, and curiosity. The first trait is the concern for the perverse, unclean, and unnatural. Romanticism encouraged audiences to view physical traits as indicative of one's inner self, whereas the fin de siècle artists accepted beauty as the basis of life, and so valued that which was not conventionally beautiful.

This belief in beauty in the abject leads to the obsession with artifice and symbolism, as artists rejected ineffable ideas of beauty in favour of the abstract. Through symbolism, aesthetes could evoke sentiments and ideas in their audience without relying on an infallible general understanding of the world.

The third trait of the culture is egoism, a term similar to that of "egomania", meaning disproportionate attention placed on one's own endeavours. This can result in a type of alienation and anguish, as in Baudelaire's case, and demonstrates how aesthetic artists chose cityscapes over country as a result of their aversion to the natural.

Finally, curiosity is identifiable through diabolism and the exploration of the evil or immoral, focusing on the morbid and macabre, but without imposing any moral lessons on the audience.

title: Fin de siècle


text:
Koxinga

Zheng Chenggong, Prince of Yanping (27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), better known internationally as Koxinga, was a Southern Ming general who resisted the Qing conquest of China in the 17th century, fighting them on China's southeastern coast.

In 1661, Koxinga defeated the Dutch outposts on Taiwan and established a dynasty, the House of Koxinga, which ruled part of the island as the Kingdom of Tungning from 1661 to 1683.

Early years
Zheng Chenggong was born in 1624 in Hirado, Hizen Province, Japan, to Zheng Zhilong, a Chinese merchant, and a Japanese woman known only by her surname "Tagawa," probably Tagawa Matsu. He was raised there until the age of seven with the Japanese name Fukumatsu (福松) and then moved to Fujian province of Ming dynasty China.

In 1638, Zheng became a Xiucai (秀才, lit. "successful candidate") in the imperial examination and became one of the twelve Linshansheng (廩膳生) of Nan'an. In 1641, Koxinga married the niece of Dong Yangxian, an official who was a Jinshi from Hui'an. In 1644, Koxinga studied at the Guozijian (Imperial University), where he met the scholar Qian Qianyi and became his student.

In 1644, following the fall of Beijing to rebels led by Li Zicheng, the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself on a tree in modern-day Jingshan Park in Beijing. Manchu armies aided by Wu Sangui's forces defeated the rebels and took the city. The Ming remnant forces retreated to Nanjing where they put Prince Fu on the throne as the Hongguang Emperor in an attempt to continue the Ming dynasty in the south. The next year, the Manchu armies led by Dodo advanced south and conquered Yangzhou and Nanjing while the Ming leader defending Yangzhou, Shi Kefa, was killed and the Hongguang emperor was captured and executed.

Under the Longwu Emperor
In 1645, the Prince of Tang was installed on the throne of the Southern Ming as the Longwu Emperor with support from Zheng Zhilong and his family. The Longwu Emperor established his court in Fuzhou, which was controlled by the Zhengs. In the later part of the year, Prince Lu proclaimed himself regent (監國) in Shaoxing and established his own court there. Although Prince Lu and Longwu's regimes stemmed from the same dynasty, each pursued different goals.

Owing to the natural defenses of Fujian and the military resources of the Zheng family, the emperor was able to remain safe for some time. The Longwu Emperor granted Zheng Zhilong's son, Zheng Sen, a new given name, Chenggong, and the title of Koxinga ("Lord of the Imperial Surname"). One of his cousins also had it.

In 1646, Koxinga first led the Ming armies to resist the Manchu invaders and won the favor of the Longwu Emperor. The Longwu Emperor's reign in Fuzhou was brief, as Zheng Zhilong refused to support his plans for a counteroffensive against the rapidly expanding forces of the newly established Qing dynasty by the Manchus. Zheng Zhilong ordered the defending general of Xianxia Pass (仙霞關), Shi Fu (a.k.a. Shi Tianfu, a relative of Shi Lang), to retreat to Fuzhou even when Qing armies approached Fujian. For this reason, the Qing army faced little resistance when it conquered the north of the pass. In September 1646, Qing armies broke through the inadequately defended mountain passes and entered Fujian. Zheng Zhilong retreated to his coastal fortress and the Longwu Emperor faced the Qing armies alone. Longwu's forces were destroyed; he was captured and was executed in October 1646.

Zheng Zhilong's surrender and the death of Tagawa
The Qing forces sent envoys to meet Zheng Zhilong secretly and offered to appoint him as the governor of both Fujian and Guangdong provinces if he would surrender to the Qing. Zheng Zhilong agreed and ignored the objections of his family, surrendering himself to the Qing forces in Fuzhou on 21 November 1646. Koxinga and his uncles were left as the successors to the leadership of Zheng Zhilong's military forces. Koxinga operated outside Xiamen and recruited many to join his cause in a few months. He used the superiority of his naval forces to launch amphibious raids on Manchu-occupied territory in Fujian and he managed to take Tong'an in Quanzhou prefecture in early 1647. However, Koxinga's forces lacked the ability to defend the newly occupied territory.

Following the fall of Tong'an to Zheng, the Manchus launched a counterattack in the spring of 1647, during which they stormed the Zheng family's hometown of Anping. Koxinga's mother, Lady Tagawa, had come from Japan in 1645 to join her family in Fujian (Koxinga's younger brother, Tagawa Shichizaemon, remained in Japan). She did not follow her husband to surrender to the Qing dynasty. She was caught by Manchu forces in Anping and committed suicide after refusal to submit to the enemy, according to traditional accounts.

Resistance to the Qing
By 1650, Koxinga was strong enough to establish himself as the head of the Zheng family. He pledged allegiance to the Yongli Emperor of Southern Ming, who created him Prince of Yanping (延平王). The Yongli Emperor was fleeing from the Manchus with a motley court and hastily assembled army. Despite one fruitless attempt, Koxinga was unable to do anything to aid the last Ming emperor. Instead, he decided to concentrate on securing his own position on the southeast coast.

Koxinga had a series of military successes in 1651 and 1652 that increased the Qing government's anxiety over the threat he posed. Zheng Zhilong wrote a letter to his son from Beijing, presumably at the request of the Shunzhi Emperor and the Qing government, urging his son to negotiate with the Manchurians. The long series of negotiations between Koxinga and the Qing dynasty lasted until November 1654. The negotiations ultimately failed. The Qing government then appointed Prince Jidu (son of Jirgalang) to lead an attack on Koxinga's territory after this failure.

On 9 May 1656, Jidu's armies attacked Kinmen (Quemoy), an island near Xiamen that Koxinga had been using to train his troops. Partly as a result of a major storm, the Manchus were defeated, and they lost most of their fleet in the battle. Koxinga had sent one of his naval commanders to capture Zhoushan island prior to Jidu's attack, and now that the Manchus were temporarily without an effective naval force in the Fujian area, Koxinga was free to send a huge army to Zhoushan, which he intended to use as a base to capture Nanjing.

Despite capturing many counties in his initial attack due to surprise and having the initiative, Koxinga announced the final battle in Nanjing ahead of time giving plenty of time for the Qing to prepare because he wanted a decisive, single grand showdown like his father successfully did against the Dutch at the Battle of Liaoluo Bay, throwing away the surprise and initiative which led to its failure. Koxinga's attack on Qing held Nanjing which would interrupt the supply route of the Grand Canal leading to possible starvation in Beijing caused such fear that the Manchus considered returning to Manchuria and abandoning China according to a 1671 account by a French missionary. The commoners and officials in Beijing and Nanjing were waiting to support whichever side won. An official from Qing Beijing sent letters to family and another official in Nanjing, telling them all communication and news from Nanjing to Beijing had been cut off, that the Qing were considering abandoning Beijing and moving their capital far away to a remote location for safety since Koxinga's iron troops were rumored to be invincible. The letter said it reflected the grim situation being felt in Qing Beijing. The official told his children in Nanjing to prepare to defect to Koxinga which he himself was preparing to do. Koxinga's forces intercepted these letters and after reading them Koxinga may have started to regret his deliberate delays allowing the Qing to prepare for a final massive battle instead of swiftly attacking Nanjing.

Koxinga's Ming loyalists fought against a majority Han Chinese Bannermen Qing army when attacking Nanjing. The siege lasted almost three weeks, beginning on 24 August. Koxinga's forces were unable to maintain a complete encirclement, which enabled the city to obtain supplies and even reinforcements — though cavalry attacks by the city's forces were successful even before reinforcements arrived. Koxinga's forces were defeated and slipped back to the ships which had brought them.

In Taiwan
In 1661, Koxinga led his troops on a landing at Lakjemuyse to attack the Dutch colonists in Dutch Formosa. Koxinga said to the Dutch "Hitherto this island had always belonged to China, and the Dutch had doubtless been permitted to live there, seeing that the Chinese did not require it for themselves; but requiring it now, it was only fair that Dutch strangers, who came from far regions, should give way to the masters of the island."

The Taiwanese Aboriginal tribes, who were previously allied with the Dutch against the Chinese during the Guo Huaiyi Rebellion in 1652, now turned against the Dutch during the Siege of Fort Zeelandia by defecting to Koxinga's Chinese forces. The Aboriginals (Formosans) of Sincan defected to Koxinga after he offered them amnesty and proceeded to work for the Chinese, beheading Dutch people. The frontier Aboriginals in the mountains and plains also surrendered and defected to the Chinese on 17 May 1661, celebrating their freedom from compulsory education under Dutch rule by hunting down Dutch people and beheading them and by destroying Dutch Protestant school textbooks.

On 1 February 1662, the Dutch Governor of Formosa, Frederick Coyett, surrendered Fort Zeelandia to Koxinga. According to Frederick Coyett's own self-justifying account written after the siege, Koxinga's life was saved at the end of the siege by a certain Hans Jurgen Radis of Stockaert, a Dutch defector who strongly advised him against visiting the ramparts of the fort after he had taken it, which Radis knew would be blown up by the retreating Dutch forces. This claim of a Dutch defector only appears in Coyett's account and Chinese records make no mention of any defector. In the peace treaty, Koxinga was styled "Lord Teibingh Tsiante Teysiancon Koxin". This effectively ended 38 years of Dutch rule on Taiwan. Koxinga then devoted himself to transforming Taiwan into a military base for loyalists who wanted to restore the Ming dynasty.

Koxinga formulated a plan to give oxen and farming tools and teach farming techniques to the Taiwanese Aboriginals, giving them Ming gowns and caps and gifting tobacco to Aboriginals who were gathering in crowds to meet and welcome him as he visited their villages after he defeated the Dutch.

In the Philippines
In 1662, Koxinga's forces raided several towns in the Philippines. Koxinga's chief advisor was an Italian friar named Vittorio Riccio, whom he sent to Manila to demand tribute from the colonial government of the Spanish East Indies, threatening to expel the Spaniards if his demands were not met. The Spanish refused to pay the tribute and reinforced the garrisons around Manila, but the planned attack never took place due to Koxinga's sudden death in that year after expelling the Dutch from Taiwan.

Koxinga's threat to invade the islands and expel the Spanish was an important factor in the Spanish failure to conquer the Muslim Moro people in Mindanao. The threat of Chinese invasion forced the Spanish to withdraw their forces to Manila. They immediately evacuated their fort on Zamboanga in Mindanao following Koxinga's threats. They left some troops in Jolo and by Lake Lanao to engage the Moro in protracted conflict. They permanently abandoned their colony in the Maluku Islands (Moluccas) and withdraw their soldiers from there to Manila.

Tonio Andrade judged that Koxinga would most likely have been able to defeat the Spanish if the threatened invasion had taken place.

Death
Koxinga died of malaria in June 1662, only a few months after defeating the Dutch in Taiwan, at the age of 37. There were speculations that he died in a sudden fit of madness when his officers refused to carry out his orders to execute his son Zheng Jing. Zheng Jing had had an affair with his wet nurse and conceived a child with her. Zheng Jing succeeded his father as the King of Tungning.

As he descended into death, Koxinga relented and agreed to let his son Zheng Jing succeed him. Koxinga died as he passed into delirium and madness and expressed his regrets to his family and father.

Family
Zheng Chenggong’s short but eventful career was characterized by family tension and conflicting loyalties. The title of Koxinga ("Lord of the Imperial Surname") was one that Zheng himself used during his lifetime to emphasize his status as an adopted son of the deposed imperial house, so it was also a declaration of ongoing support to the Ming dynasty. Despite his deliberate self-identification as the noble, loyal vassal of a vanquished master, Koxinga’s actual relationship with the Longwu Emperor lasted only twelve months or so, beginning in September 1645 and ending with the Emperor's death the following year. Although many secondary sources claim that the two men shared a "close bond of affection", there is an absence of any reliable contemporary evidence on Koxinga’s relationship with the Longwu Emperor.

In contrast, Koxinga's father Zheng Zhilong left his Japanese wife not long after the birth of his son; Koxinga was a boy of seven when he finally joined his father on the Fujianese coast. It seems that Zheng Zhilong recognized his son’s talent and encouraged him in his studies and the pursuit of a career as a scholar-official, which would legitimize the power the Zheng family had acquired, using sometimes questionable means. Zheng Zhilong’s defection to the Qing must have seemed opportunistic and in stark contrast to Koxinga’s continued loyalty to the Ming. But it is difficult to deny that in refusing to submit to the Qing, Koxinga was risking the life of his father, and that the subsequent death of Zheng Zhilong could only be justified by claiming loyalty to the Ming. It has even been suggested that Koxinga’s fury at the incestuous relationship between his son, Zheng Jing, and a younger son’s wet nurse was due to the fact that strict Confucian morality had played such a crucial role in justifying his lack of filial behaviour.

The one possible exception to this may have been his relationship with his mother, which has generally been described as being extremely affectionate, particularly in Chinese and Japanese sources. Their time together, however, was apparently very short – despite frequent entreaties from Zheng Zhilong for her to join him in China, Koxinga’s mother was only reunited with her son some time in 1645, and a year later she was killed when the Qing took Xiamen.

A portrait of Zheng was in the hands of Yuchun who was his descendant in the eight generation.

Koxinga's descendants live in both mainland China and Taiwan and descendants of his brother Shichizaemon live in Japan. His descendants through his grandson Zheng Keshuang served as Bannermen in Beijing until 1911 when the Xinhai revolution broke out and the Qing dynasty fell, after which they moved back to Anhai and Nan'an in southern Fujian. They still live there to this day. His descendants through one of his sons Zheng Kuan live in Taiwan.

One of Koxinga's descendants on mainland China, Zheng Xiaoxuan 鄭曉嵐, fought against the Japanese invaders in the Second Sino-Japanese War. His son Zheng Chouyu was born in Shandong in mainland China and called himself a "child of the resistance" against Japan and he became a refugee during the war, moving from place to place across China to avoid the Japanese. He moved to Taiwan in 1949 and focuses his poetry work on building stronger ties between Taiwan and mainland China. Zheng Chouyu identified as Chinese. He felt alienated after he was forced to move to Taiwan in 1949 which was previously under Japanese rule and felt strange and foreign to him. Chouyu is Koxinga's 11th generation descendant and his original name is Zheng Wenji.

"Koxinga: Chronicles of the Tei Family" was written by R. A. B. Posonby-Fane.

Consorts and issue

 * Dong You, Queen of Tungning (董友)
 * Zheng Jing ( 鄭經延平王; 25 October 1642 – 17 March 1681), Prince of Yanping, first son
 * Zheng Cong (輔政公 鄭聰), Duke Fu of Zheng, second son
 * Zheng Yu (鄭裕;1660–1737), seventh son
 * Lady Chuang (莊氏)
 * Zheng Ming (鄭明), third son
 * Zheng Rui (鄭睿), fourth son
 * Zheng Zhi (鄭智;1660–1695), fifth son
 * Lady Wen (溫氏)
 * Zheng Kuan (鄭寬), sixth son
 * Zheng Rou (鄭柔), ninth son
 * Lady Shi (史氏)
 * Zheng Wen (鄭溫;1662–1704), eight son
 * Lady Chai (蔡氏)
 * Zheng Fa (鄭發), tenth son
 * Unknown:
 * four daughters

Concubine
In 1661, during the Siege of Fort Zeelandia, Koxinga executed Dutch missionary Antonius Hambroek and took his teenage daughter as a concubine. Other Dutch women were sold to Chinese soldiers to become their "wives". In 1684 some of these Dutch wives were still captives of the Chinese.

Personality
Koxinga was reputed to be mentally unstable: to have a vicious temper and a tendency towards ordering executions. While this might be explained by the trauma of his family being killed by the Qing army and his mother's reported suicide (in order to prevent capture by the Qing), it was also speculated that he suffered from syphilis, a suspicion held by a Dutch doctor, Christian Beyer, who treated him.

Vittorio Riccio, a Dominican missionary who knew Koxinga, noted that Koxinga held samurai ideals on bravery, used "feigned and hearty laughter" to show anger,  and adhered to bushido because of his samurai training and his Japanese upbringing. One Spanish missionary proffered a personal opinion that his bad temper and reported propensity for violence was due to Japanese heritage; however, this same missionary's account of the number of executions attributed to Koxinga was greatly exaggerated.

Koxinga suffered from "depressive insanity" and mental illness according to Dr. Li Yengyue.

Worship
It is debated whether he was clean-shaven or wore a beard.

Koxinga's legacy is treated similarly on each side of the Taiwan Strait. Koxinga is worshiped as a god in coastal China, especially Fujian, by overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and in Taiwan. There is a temple dedicated to Koxinga and his mother in Tainan City, Taiwan. The National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, one of the most prestigious universities in Taiwan, is named after him.

Koxinga's army also brought the Qinxi fraternal brotherhood into Taiwan, of which some of his army were members of the organization. In the present day, the Qinxi currently exists in Taiwan. The Hongmen are associated with them.

Tokugawa Japan imported books from Qing China including works on the Zheng family. The Qing built a shrine to commemorate Koxinga to counteract the Japanese and French in Taiwan in the 19th century. Zheng Juzhong's books Zheng Chenggong zhuan was imported to Japan and reprinted in 1771.

In modern politics
Koxinga has received renewed attention since rumors began circulating that the People’s Liberation Army Navy were planning to name their newly acquired aircraft carrier, the ex-Soviet Varyag, the "Shi Lang". Admiral Shi Lang famously defeated Koxinga’s descendants in the 1683 Battle of Penghu, thus bringing Taiwan under Qing rule. However, the Chinese government denied all allegations that the vessel would be dedicated to the decorated Qing dynasty admiral.

Koxinga is regarded as a hero in the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, and Japan, but historical narratives regarding Koxinga frequently differ in explaining his motives and affiliation. Japan treats him as a native son and emphasized his maternal link to Japan in propaganda during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. The People's Republic of China considers Koxinga a national hero for driving the imperialist Dutch away from Taiwan and establishing ethnic Chinese rule over the island. On mainland China, Koxinga is honoured as the "Conqueror of Taiwan, Great Rebel-Quelling General" a military hero who brought Taiwan back within the Han Chinese sphere of influence through expanded economic, trade and cultural exchanges. In China, Koxinga is honoured without the religious overtones found in Taiwan.

The Republic of China, which withdrew to Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War, regards Koxinga as a patriot who also retreated to Taiwan and used it as a base to launch counterattacks against the Qing dynasty of mainland China (drawing parallels to the Republic of China's hypothetical reclamation of the mainland, comparing the ROC to the Ming dynasty and the PRC to the Qing dynasty). In Taiwan, Koxinga is honored as the island’s most respected saint for expelling the Dutch and seen as the original ancestor of a free Taiwan, and is known as Kaishan Shengwang, or "the Sage King who Opened up Taiwan" and as "The Yanping Prince", referring to the Kingdom of Tungning, which he established in modern-day Tainan.

In Taiwan, Koxinga is remembered and revered as a divine national hero with hundreds of temples, schools, tertiary educations, and other public centers named in his honor. Koxinga is accredited with replacing Dutch colonial rule with a more modern political system. Furthermore, Koxinga transformed Taiwan into an agrarian society through the introduction of new agricultural methods such as the proliferation of iron farming tools and new farming methods with cattle. For these reasons, Koxinga is often associated with "hints of [a] consciousness of Taiwanese independence," although Koxinga himself wanted Taiwan unified with the rest of China. Great care was taken to symbolize support for the Ming legitimacy, an example being the use of the term guan instead of bu to name departments, since the latter is reserved for central government, whereas Taiwan was to be a regional office of the rightful Ming rule of China.

In art
The play The Battles of Coxinga was written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon in Japan in the 18th century, first performed in Kyoto. A 2001 film titled The Sino-Dutch War 1661 starred Vincent Zhao as Koxinga. The film was renamed Kokusenya Kassen after the aforementioned play and released in Japan in 2002.

The historical novel Lord of Formosa by Dutch author Joyce Bergvelt uses Koxinga as the main character.

In video games

 * Zheng Chenggong appears as a Master in the 2023 Japanese video game Fate/Samurai Remnant, his Servant is the also Chinese general Zhou Yu.

title: Koxinga