For the purpose of this article, I will exclude fire lances (as these are proto-guns), Pen Tong (喷筒) (as these do not shoot bullets), rockets, dart guns and bombs. Only bamboo or wooden guns meant as low-cost substitute for metal firearms will be covered.
Zhu Huo Qiang (竹火鎗, bamboo handgonne)
Drawing of a Zhu Huo Qiang, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. |
Zhu Huo Qiang is a simple, three chi long bamboo tube turned into a handgonne. It is reinforced with hemp rope and iron wire to reduce the risk of bursting.
Ye Di Zhu Chong (夜敵竹銃, lit. 'Night raid bamboo gun')
Ye Di Zhu Chong, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'/ |
Ye Di Zhu Chong is simply a bundle of (usually eight) leather band-reinforced bamboo guns loaded with incendiary projectiles. Like its namesake, it is usually employed in night raid.
Chong Feng Zhui Di Zhu Fa Gong (衝鋒追敵竹發熕, lit. 'Assaulting and enemy-chasing bamboo Fa Gong')
Drawing of a Chong Feng Ye Di Zhu Fa Gong, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. |
Chong Feng Zhui Di Zhu Fa Gong is a bamboo cannon that also doubles as a large Pen Tong (噴筒). It is a three chi long bamboo tube mounted on a two chi long wooden pole. The bamboo tube is treated with chemicals, wrapped with iron wires, cow tendons and hemp cloths, covered with ash, and then lacquered. Its muzzle is also reinforced with an iron hoop.
Chong Feng Zhui Di Zhu Fa Gong is usually loaded with twenty-four half catty stones, poisoned shrapnels, poison smoke gunpowder and blinding dust. It is very heavy for a handheld firearm (its stone ammunition alone weight twelve catties), but packs the firepower of a fairly large (if short ranged) cannon. It is still light enough that one horseman can carry up to four tubes with him.
Zhu Fa Gong (竹發熕, Bamboo Fa Gong)
Drawing of a Zhu Fa Gong, from 'Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》)'. |
A seemingly different Zhu Fa Gong can be found in Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》). This Zhu Fa Gong is a five chi long bamboo tube treated with chemicals and reinforced with hemp rope. It also comes with iron sight.
Wu Di Zhu Jiang Jun (無敵竹將軍, lit. 'Invincible bamboo general')
Drawings of Wu Di Zhu Jiang Jun, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. |
Wu Di Zhu Jiang Jun is usually loaded with one large stone ball and numerous lead shots and iron shrapnel, but sometimes only one stone ball is used. A unique feature of Wu Di Zhu Jiang Jun is that it utilises a cup-shaped iron sabot to reduce windage. While it is very light, it is too powerful to be used handheld, and is usually placed on a X-shaped wooden rack before firing.
Xiao Zhu Jiang Jun (小竹將軍, lit. 'Small bamboo general')
Xiao Zhu Jiang Jun and the bags used to store it, from 'Huo Long Shen Qi Zhen Fa (《火龍神器陣法》)'. |
Zhu Niao Chong (竹鳥銃, bamboo arquebus)
A bamboo arquebus with a trigger guard, from 'Yu Zi Shi San Zhong Mi Shu Bing Heng (《喻子十三種秘書兵衡》)'. |
Mu Shen Qiang (木神鎗, lit. 'Wooden divine gun')
Drawing of a Mu Shen Qiang (highlighted), from 'Si Zhen San Guan Zhi (《四鎮三關志》)'. |
The cannon that exploded during the Siege of Sacheon and resulted in a humiliating defeat for the Ming army, was in fact a wooden cannon.
Liu He Pao (六合砲, lit. 'Six harmonies cannon')
Drawing of a Liu He Pao, from 'Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》)'. |
Liu He Pao is a type of wooden cannon that is made of six staves assembled around a short iron tube and then reinforced with seven iron hoops. It is literally made in the same fashion as a wine barrel. The iron tube, which forms the inner part of the second reinforce (i.e. the bottom part of the barrel), prevents the cannon from bursting easily.
Liu He Pao can be mounted on small boats, in a fashion not too dissimilar to a punt gun.
A wooden breech-loading cannon, from 'Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》)'. |
Other Bamboo and Wooden Guns
Bamboo version of San Yan Chong (三眼銃) and Da Jiang Jun Pao (大將軍砲) were used by the Ming army as well.
Some of the bamboo guns seem to have already appeared during the Southern Song Dynasty. These Ming bamboo guns are reminiscent of the Song Dynasty Tu Huo Qiang invented in 1259, which is the earliest bamboo gun and possibly also the earliest gun in the world.
ReplyDelete@TheXanian
ReplyDeleteTu Huo Qiang is, as far as I am aware, a proto-gun that is basically a flamethrower and smoke generator. It also shoots some kind of projectile, but the projectile itself is of unknown nature.
The closest Ming counterpart of Tu Huo Qiang is probably Fei Tian Pen Tong (飛天噴筒).
@春秋战国
ReplyDeleteBut the accounts for Tu Huo Qiang mentioned that it has something called "子窠" (projectiles), and this means it's not just a flamethrower but more like a proto-handgonne. I guess the projectiles were most likely pebbles or ceramic shrapnel.
@TheXanian
ReplyDeleteThere's no general agreement on what Zi Ke (子窠) actually is. Possible candidates include paper-wrapped incendiary package, ceramic shrapnels, or solidified mixture of poisons and gunpowder.
There are some Ming Dynasty Pen Tong that shoots shrapnels or some sort of projectile too.
Were these generally used out of desperation? One would think one of the more gunpowder experienced armies would know of the risks using these cannons.
ReplyDeleteNot really. Ming artillerymen knew full well that bamboo guns wouldn't hold out for repeated use, so most of these weapons were one-shot, discard-after-use weapons.
DeleteHey! How does the mechanism work of that bamboo arquebus or is it just a fuse,and what it uses as ammo and can you send more pictures of the bamboo arquebus and was it Chinese or Japanese
ReplyDeleteZhu Niao Chong (竹鳥銃, bamboo arquebus)
The description doesn't go into the details about its mechanism, but since that picture of bamboo arquebus comes with a trigger guard, I think some sort of matchlock mechanism is present. It shoots lead ball normally (like ordinaly matchlock).
DeleteUnfortunately I only have one picture of this weapon, as shown above. I don't think it was very common to begin with.
"Zhu Niao Chong" is Chinese.
Thank you!
DeleteI know this may be stupid question but are you sure this bamboo arquebus existed,and a question about the fire lance: what was the difference about spear attached fire lance and the stick only and wich one is the shotgun typed and wich one is flamethrower type
ReplyDeleteYes, although it was more gimmicky than practical.
DeleteBy definition, a fire lance is a flamethrower. If it shoots bullets (lead and/or stone) or arrows, then it is a handgonne.
I think it existed. Bamboo itself is a very durable material, and if wrapped with strengthening hemp cords, iron wires, or sinews it can definitely be made into a gun, although I still feel that this is more of a makeshift weapon, not a regular one.
DeleteSpeaking of non-metallic guns, did the Ming or Qing ever tried making guns out of ceramic?
ReplyDeleteCeramic gun? How does that even work?
DeleteA ceramic tube loaded with projectiles, with a hole for fuse, and possibly reinforced with leathers, is what I have imagined.
DeleteBasically Wu Di Zhu Jiang Jun, but made out of ceramic. Obviously one-time use only.
I'd imagine not - IMO wood, bamboo, leather and stone were used because they are the next strongest materials around (after metal). Ceramic seems too fragile for firearm use (except for bombs).
DeleteAlso, Zhu Niao Chong feels too elaborate to be practical for one-use weapon, compared to Zhu Huo Qiang. Even if bamboo is cheaper than iron, I imagine trigger and matchlock mechanism are just as expansive as regular matchlock.
DeleteThe book does not elaborate on it, but I suppose even the mechanism can be replicated with bamboo?
DeletePerhaps. I fooled around with Google and there are apparently muskets from Malaysia with bamboo spring:
Deletehttps://www.mandarinmansion.com/index.php/item/fine-malay-matchlock-musket
'The lock plate is curiously fastened with various bamboo pins that lock them in place from the top. It also has a bamboo spring. The gun even retains its touch hole pricker, suspended from a short chain, that was used to clean out the touch hole after repeated firing.'
But the rest of lock mechanism is still made with brass, according to description.