水压机自工业革命后成为一种重要的压力加工机器。《博物新编》是最早介绍相关的原理、结构及功用的中文读物。李鸿章等人意识到水压机的重要用途，江南制造局等洋务企业引进数台水压机，主要用于兵工。民国时期水压机的数量和性能落后于兵工发展的实际需要，大型水压机的缺乏已成为制造重型武器或大型机器设备的技术瓶颈之一。晚清、民国时期，装备制造业等基础工业部门相对薄弱，制约了兵器工业的发展。

Abstract: The principle, structure and use of the hydraulic press were first introduced in China in the Bowu Xinbian, edited by Benjamin Hobson. During the Late Qing Dynasty, as Li Hongzhang and others recognized their importance, hydraulic presses were imported for arms manufacture in arsenals, such as the Jiangnan Arsenal. During the Republic of China, the quantity and performance of the presses were barely adequate for the development of the ordnance industry, the lack of big presses becoming one of stumbling-blocks for the production of heavy weapons and machines. The weakness of such basic industries was a major factor constraining the technological development of China’s ordnance industry at that time.