Bamboo and Wooden guns of the Ming Dynasty

As the inventor of firearms, Chinese were also one of the first (if not the very first) to build their guns out of non-standard materials such as wood and bamboo, or even stone. These guns offered several advantages over their metal counterparts, namely lower cost, easier manufacture and portability. They were, however, less durable and very prone to catastrophic accident. Ming army used bamboo and wooden guns to supplement its metal guns, most often as one-use, disposable weapon.

For the purpose of this article, I will exclude fire lances (as these were proto-guns), Pen Tong (喷筒) (as these did not shoot bullets), rockets, dart guns and bombs. Only bamboo or wooden guns meant as low-cost substitute for metal tube 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 was a simple, three chi long bamboo tube turned into a handgonne. It was 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 was simply a bundle of (usually eight) leather band-reinforced bamboo guns loaded with incendiary projectiles. Like its namesake, it was 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 was a bamboo cannon that also doubled as a large Pen Tong (噴筒). It was a three chi long bamboo tube mounted on a two chi long wooden pole. The bamboo tube was treated with chemicals, wrapped with iron wires, cow tendons and hemp cloths, covered with ash, and then lacquered. Its muzzle was also reinforced with an iron hoop.

Chong Feng Zhui Di Zhu Fa Gong was usually loaded with twenty-four half jin stones, poisoned shrapnel, poison smoke gunpowder and blinding dust. It packed the firepower of a fairly large (if short ranged) cannon, but was very heavy for a handheld firearm (its stone ammunition alone weight twelve jin), although still light enough that one horseman could 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 found in Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》). This Zhu Fa Gong was a five chi long bamboo tube treated with chemicals and reinforced with hemp rope. It also came 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》)'.

Named after Wu Di Da Jiang Jun (無敵大將軍), this was a one-use bamboo cannon that could be manufactured on the fly, was very portable, yet had the firepower to match a metal cannon. It was basically a four chi long bamboo tube mounted on a carved wood handle. The bamboo tube was reinforced with thick hemp robes to reduce the risk of bursting. For ease of transportation, the muzzle was sealed with a wooden cover to prevent the pre-loaded ammunition and gunpowder from falling out.

Wu Di Zhu Jiang Jun was usually loaded with one large stone ball and numerous lead shots and iron shrapnel, but sometimes only the stone ball was used. A unique feature of Wu Di Zhu Jiang Jun was that it utilised a cup-shaped iron sabot to reduce windage. While it was very light, it was too powerful to be used handheld, and had to be 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》)'.

Xiao Zhu Jiang Jun was simply a bundle of three hemp-reinforced bamboo guns measuring two chi four cun in length. It was a lightweight one-use weapon that could be manufactured in bulk.


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》)'.

Zhu Niao Chong was a bamboo version of arquebus. Its cost was only half that of the metal version, and weighed much less. Zhu Niao Chong was not designed to be reused, rather it was thrown away after one shot.

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》)'.

This weapon was probably a wooden substitute of Da Shen Chong (大神銃), but little detail was known about it.

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 was a type of wooden cannon made of six staves assembled around a short iron tube and then reinforced with seven iron hoops, in a fashion reminiscence of wine barrel. The iron tube, which formed the inner part of the second reinforce (i.e. the bottom part of the barrel), prevented the cannon from bursting easily.

Liu He Pao could 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》)'.

A breech-loading variant of Liu He Pao could be assembled from two piece of carved wooden half-tubes. It still used iron chambers like normal Fo Lang Ji (佛狼機) though.

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.