Che Lun Ge (車輪舸)

Drawing of a Che Lun Ge, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

The Che Lun Ge (車輪舸) was a late Ming period paddle-wheel warship detailed in military treatise Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》). Measuring 4 zhang 2 chi (13.4 m) in overall length, with a beam of 1 zhang 3 chi (4.16 m), the ship was a small-to-medium assault craft featuring four paddle wheels mounted outside the main hull within protective side-frame paddleboxes, which provided remarkable speed, immediate acceleration, and sharp maneuverability unhindered by wind or tide.

Along its length, the hull was organized into three functional zones: an 8 chi (2.56 m) open foredeck ending in a flat bow, a 2 zhang 7 chi (8.64 m) central cabin entirely wrapped in raw ox hide for blast and fire protection, and a 7 chi (~2.24 m) aft section housing the stern helm tower.

The main fighting compartment of the Che Lun Ge was its central cabin, which housed both the combat crew and the sailors operating the paddle wheels. Constructed around a central ridge beam, the cabin featured flat wooden panels—each measuring 5 chi long (1.6 m) by 2 chi wide (64 cm) and clad in raw ox hide for blast and fire protection—hinged along their bottom axles like drop-shutter windows and rested against the beam to form a sloped roof. During initial engagement, the vessel remained completely enclosed, concealing the crew inside the central cabin as they unleashed devastating salvoes of gunpowder artillery, rockets, and incendiaries through small gun loops cut into the panels. Once the enemy was blinded by smoke and their defence faltered, the crew heaved the panels open—dropping them flat onto the outer gunwales to form extended fighting platforms—and deployed ox-hide-covered Pang Pai (旁牌) along the edges for cover, enabling them to hurl grenades, throw javelins, and hook enemy vessels with grappling tools to burn and sink them.

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Lun Chuan (輪船)

Drawing of a Lun Chuan, from 'Liang Zhe Hai Fang Lei Kao Xu Bian (《兩浙海防類考續編》)'.

Following the end of the Song Dynasty, China’s once-dominant paddle-wheel warships—massive boats driven by crewmen working internal pedals to turn the wheels—quickly fell out of favour as strategic naval priorities shifted. While highly agile and formidable on inland rivers and lakes, these craft required exhausting human muscle to power and proved far too vulnerable to rough open-sea waves and floating debris. As subsequent dynasties turned their focus towards ocean navigation, naval shipbuilders abandoned human-powered wheels in favour of multi-masted sailing junks, culminating in the massive ocean-going fleets of the Ming Dynasty.

Despite losing their status as main combat ships, paddle-wheel warships did not vanish entirely. Instead, they adapted to a scaled-back role, proving invaluable for patrolling inland rivers, shallow estuaries, and coastal waterways. This was especially true during the Ming Dynasty, when Wokou pirates frequently launched swift raids up regional rivers and canals to plunder inland settlements. To counter these rapid amphibious strikes, naval forces deployed smaller, simplified paddle boats. Free from the need for wind and capable of instant acceleration, these nimbler craft could easily navigate shallow tributaries, outmanoeuvre Wokou boats, and defend vital inland waterways with far smaller crews.

A prime example of this evolution was a Ming Dynasty patrol vessel known simply as the Lun Chuan (輪船, lit. 'Wheel-ship'). Entering active naval service to guard Zhejiang waters in the 15th year of the Wanli Emperor’s reign (1587), this ship is notable as the only paddle-wheel vessel positively confirmed by historical records to have been in active service during the Ming Dynasty, unlike other designs documented in Ming military treatises whose operational status remains unverified. Lun Chuan was adapted from the hull of the light, fast Hu Chuan (唬船), featuring three paddle wheels on each side alongside a stern-mounted yuloh operated by two sailors. Swift, light, and responsive, it served as an ideal patrol craft for scouting and guarding river networks where larger warships could not operate.

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Feng Chen Pao (風塵砲)

The Feng Chen Pao (風塵砲, lit. 'Wind-and-dust bomb') was a special grenade employed by the Ming military. Unlike conventional grenades designed to inflict damage through explosive blast and fragmentation, the Feng Chen Pao functioned as a throwable smoke and irritant dispersal device. Upon detonation, it released a cloud of smoke and irritant substances intended to impair vision, induce respiratory distress, and disrupt enemy formations.

The weapon was manufactured in two principal variants: a pottery bottle type and a bamboo basket type, which will be elaborated below.

Bottle Grenade

Bottle grenade variant of Feng Chen Pao, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

The ceramic bottle variant of the Feng Chen Pao consisted of a pottery vessel filled with fine roasted limestone powder (i.e. quicklime), with a firecracker placed inside to serve as the ignition and bursting charge, ensuring reliable rupture of the vessel and effective dispersion of the limestone dust when thrown. Counterintuitively, the fuse of the firecracker was led through a small hole drilled at the bottom of the bottle rather than simply out of the bottle mouth, which was sealed tightly with a rawhide cover.

This variant of the Feng Chen Pao was commonly used in siege defence.

Bamboo Basket Grenade

Bamboo basket grenade variant of Feng Chen Pao, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

The bamboo basket variant of the Feng Chen Pao consisted of a ball-shaped bamboo basketry, the outer shell of which was covered with layers of glued papier-mâché. It featured a rope sling attached for throwing, and was filled with weathered lime dust along with dried human faeces, dried fruit pods of Chinese honey locust (Gleditsia sinensis), and cinnabar — all of which were first stir-fried before being ground into fine powder. Like the bottle grenade variant, a firecracker was also placed inside to serve as the ignition and bursting charge.

EXTRA: Qun Feng Pao (羣蜂砲, lit. 'Swarming bees bomb')

The Qun Feng Pao, which has an illustration identical to that of the Feng Chen Pao, except for the inclusion of its additional fillings. 

The Qun Feng Pao was possibly a more lethal modification of the bamboo basket variant of the Feng Chen Pao, although it is unknown whether this deadlier version was actually fielded. It shared an almost identical external construction with the Feng Chen Pao — a ball-shaped bamboo basket covered with up to 50 layers of glued papier-mâché and fitted with a rope sling for throwing — but contained far more destructive internal fillings: approximately 3 jin of gunpowder, half a jin of iron caltrops, several dozen Fei Yan (飛燕) incendiary micro-rockets, several dozen small firecrackers, as well as Du Huo (毒火) poison smoke gunpowder.

When thrown, the Qun Feng Pao would explode with a powerful blast that scattered iron caltrops in every direction, released thick clouds of poison smoke, and unleashed a storm of crackling firecrackers alongside dozens of Fei Yan micro-rockets that flew erratically in chaotic patterns (which likely gave rise to its name), sticking to clothing, sails, and wooden surfaces to burn fiercely — while the combination of blinding smoke, roaring explosions, darting flames, and searing fires created such panic and confusion that enemies desperately trying to evade the rockets and smoke were far more likely to step on the caltrops left scattered across the ground, turning the entire area into a hazardous killing zone.

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