San Yan Chong (三眼銃)

A typical San Yan Chong.

Perhaps the most iconic handheld firearm of Ming army, San Yan Chong (三眼銃, lit. 'Three-eyed gun') is an iron handgonne that has three short barrels arranged in a triangular layout. It allows the gunner to discharge three shots in quick succession before needing to reload, thereby compensating for its short range and lack of accuracy somewhat. San Yan Chong was the preferred firearm of border cavalry, particularly those from Liao Dong (遼東, present-day Liaoning) garrison.

During mid-Ming period, the adoption of matchlock firearms had rendered older handgonnes largely obsolete. Nevertheless, Ming army never phase out handgonnne from its arsenal entirely. On the contrary, use of handgonne, particularly San Yan Chong, somewhat increased towards the end of Ming Dynasty.

San Yan Qiang (三眼鎗, lit. 'Three-eyed spear')

Drawing of a San Yan Qiang, from Qing Dynasty military treatise 'Fang Shou Ji Cheng (《防守集成》)'.

San Yan Qiang is a closely-related variant of San Yan Chong. Despite similar-sounding names, this variant is actually not a handgonne at all, but a three-shot rocket launcher attached to a spear. Its three tubes are made of bamboo.

Zhao Shi Zhen's Improvements

Ming Dynasty firearm specialist and inventor Zhao Shi Zhen (趙士楨) recorded or developed several variants of the San Yan Chong in an attempt to keep up with the performance of matchlock arquebus. While this was ultimately an exercise in futility, his designs substantially improved the performance and versatility of this ageing weapon.

Zhao Shi Zhen advocated the use of longer and thinner wrought iron barrels, made in the same way as that of the matchlock gun, to replace the short and thick (and thus heavy and unwieldy, not to mention inaccurate) cast iron barrels of the old San Yan Chong. He also designed a wooden bedding to separate the barrels, so that shooting from one barrel will not heat up the other two.

Guo Chu San Yan Qiang (國初三眼鎗, lit. 'Three-eyed spear from the early years of the Ming Dynasty')

Drawing of a Guo Chu San Yan Qiang (highlighted), from 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'.

The supposed progenitor of San Yan Chong (indeed it closely resemble a fire lance), this variant has a spearhead fixed between its three barrels. Although Zhao Shi Zhen claimed that he learned Guo Chu San Yan Qiang from a mysterious old Daoist outside of Gongde Temple, this weapon was most probably devised by himself or his contemporaries, as multiple barrel handgonne was uncommon during the early years of Ming Dynasty.

It is uncertain if this is the same weapon as rocket-launching San Yan Qiang (see above) or not.


Ma Shang San Yan Chong (馬上三眼銃, lit. 'Horseman's three-eyed gun')

Drawing of a Ma Shang San Yan Chong (highlighted), from 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'.

This variant is also known as San Yan Qiang (三眼鎗, lit. 'Three-eyed spear'), but different from the rocket launching variant. It has a spearhead mounted at the butt of the pole. Like its namesake, it is usable on horseback.


Xin Gai Ma Bu Xiang Yi San Yan Qiang (新改馬步相宜三眼鎗, lit. 'Newly modified three-eyed spear that is suitable on foot and on horseback')

Drawing of a Xin Gai Ma Bu Xiang Yi San Yan Qiang, from 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'.

This is simply a Ma Shang San Yan Chong with all upgrades advocated by Zhao Shi Zhen installed. Zhao Shi Zhen designed two version of this weapon—a longer version used by infantry, and a shorter version used on horseback.

Xian Chong (鍁銃, hoe gun) and Jue Chong (镢銃, spade gun)

Highlighted Xian Chong (above) and Jue Chong (below), from 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'.

Xian Chong and Jue Chong are simply Ma Shang San Yan Chong with its spear attachment replaced with a hoe and a spade, respectively.

San Shen Tang (三神鎲, lit. 'Three divine ranseur')

Drawing of a San Shen Tang, from 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'.

A general consensus among many Ming generals and bureaucrats was that matchlock arquebus was only suitable in South China, while handgonne was more suitable in North China. While this consensus was ultimately irrelevant (the advantages provided by matchlock arquebus vis-a-vis handgonne still far outweigh any downside of using the weapon in the north), it did influence the development of many Ming Dynasty firearms.

While Zhao Shi Zhen clearly did not buy into the consensus, he still designed San Shen Tang that combines the advantages of the two, presumably as an interim replacement for normal San Yan Chong before the eventual adoption of arquebus (which never happened).

San Shen Tang was designed to be usable in both North and South China. It incorporates a detachable matchlock mechanism as well as a Tang Pa (鎲鈀) head mounted at the butt of the pole. With the matchlock mechanism attached, San Shen Tang can be braced and aimed like a matchlock gun (although it is still more unwieldy than a true matchlock gun), or it can be used like an ordinary handgonne by removing the mechanism.

A soldier shooting San Shen Tang, and a horseman shooting Ma Shang San Yan Chong. From 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'.

In a sense, San Shen Tang can be considered a saner and more practical successor of the Xun Lei Chong (迅雷銃).