1 May 2015

Fa Gong (發熕)

Ming Dynasty Cast Bronze Cannon
Drawing of a bronze Fa Gong on a European-style naval carriage, from 'Chou Hai Tu Bian (《籌海圖編》)'.
Fa Gong (發熕, can also be written as 發碽, 發貢, 法貢 or 法攻), also called Fa Gang (發槓) and Fa Kuang (發礦), is a type of European muzzle-loading cannon introduced to the Chinese in the sixteenth century. The term "Fa Gong" is almost certainly a loanword, although its origin is unclear. It is possibly the Chinese adoption of Portuguese word "falcão", or related to the middle English "gonne". In fact, the design of Fa Gong is most likely derived from European falconet, although its ovoid-shaped chamber (a prominent feature on Chinese bronze cannons) suggests that Chinese technologies may have played a part in the fabrication of this cannon.

A typical Fa Gong weighs five hundred to one thousand catties and shoots a four catties stone ball, lead ball, or lead-coated iron ball, but heavier version used in coastal defence can weigh up to five thousand catties. The six thousand catties Fa Gong is the most powerful cannon in the Ming arsenal after the Hong Yi Pao (紅夷砲), surpassing even Wu Di Da Jiang Jun (無敵大將軍) in power.

After the introduction of Hong Yi Pao, Fa Gong was used to designate a lighter variant of the new cannon.

14 comments:

  1. 春秋戰國, do we have a sense of when the Fa Gong was seeing service? Am I right to presume, given the western naval carriage, this was the 16th century? Or was it later?

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  2. I have seen claims that the Cossack Ivan Peltin saw cannons on the walls of Beijing that can shoot cannon balls over 30 kg perhaps those were the cannons he saw? (If this claim is accurate)

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    Replies
    1. Who was that Cossack and what time period did that happen?

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    2. It was Ivan Peltin and he had visted Beijing in 1619.

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    3. Possible, as that was still before large-scale adoption of Hongyi cannons.

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    4. Well if its possible I hope you can maybe write something on any sort of super heavy cannons of the Ming when you have the time.

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    5. @WAKAWAKWAKA
      Sorry for the delayed reply.

      If you mean heavyweight superguns like the kind used in India and Ottoman Empire, there really wasn't anything like that in China to my knowledge.

      A 30kg (66 pdr) shot as described by Ivan Peltin, even if true, is well within the scope of a heavy but otherwise ordinary cannon. Compare to Thanjavur cannon in India that can shoot a 1,000 kg cannonball.

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    6. Didnt you mention the Western Ocean cannon in a previous post? It was supposed to be a supergun with its specs published. As well what about conventional heavy cannon. Is there more info on that? Like for example cannons of exceptionally large calibre but still falling in the range of regular cannons.

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    7. It is, but it is also uncertain if that weapon was ever produced/used.

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    8. But what about conventional heavy cannon? Is there more info on that ? Like the calibre or usage of those weapons?

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    9. @WAKAWAKWAKA
      Isn't conventional heavy cannon...just cannon?

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    10. I am referring to cannons like ones that shoot cannonballs 32 or 68 pounders or higher not superguns that shoot 400 kg cannon balls. Do you know if there is more information on those types of cannons used in Ming China?

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    11. Most information is covered in my article about Hongyi cannon, but I will see what I can scrounge up then.

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