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| Drawing of a Kuai Qiang, from 'Lian Bing Shi Ji (《練兵實紀》)'. |
Kuai Qiang (快鎗, lit. 'Fast gun'), also known as
Qiang Bang (鎗棒, lit.'Gun staff') is a type of single shot iron handgonne mounted on an unusually long (five
chi) wooden pole so that it can double as a quarterstaff. It is one of the most widely used handheld firearms among Ming Northern troops during mid to late Ming period, likely surpassing both
San Yan Chong (三眼銃) and
arquebus in total numbers.
Qi Ji Guang's Improvements
Ming general Qi Ji Guang (戚继光) was unimpressed by the poor performance of Kuai Qiang (and handgonne in general). However, he lacked the resource to replace handgonne with
arquebus entirely, so he proposed several improvements to Kuai Qiang as stopgap measures. Specifically, he standardised the bore size of Kuai Qiang, and replaced the short and unwieldy cast iron barrel of the Kuai Qiang with a two
chi long, wrought iron barrel that is much lighter. Despite the improvements, he still considered Kuai Qiang to be inferior to arquebus.
Would it be correct to think this weapon is still around by the Imjin war? But outnumbered by the San Yang Chong and arquebus? Also what's you opinion on the use of these handguns by cavalry?
ReplyDeleteThanks in advance.
Yes, this weapon is still around during the Imjin War (probably more common than Three-eyed gun and arquebus too, but I am not too sure about that), it was used until the end of Ming.
ReplyDeleteMost cavalry just dismount and shoot (a.l.a dragoons), IMHO. Otherwise Zhao Shi Zhen would not need to specifically design horseback-compatible version of arquebus and handgonne.
How were these fired? By fuse or kindling sticks?
ReplyDeleteFuse.
Delete