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| Drawing of a Li Hua Qiang, from 'Chou Hai Tu Bian (《筹海图编》)'. |
The Li Hua Qiang (梨花鎗, lit. "Pear Blossom Spear"), likely named because its fire tube produced explosive, scattering sparks reminiscent of a type of firecracker popular during the Ming period known as Da Li Hua (大梨花, lit. 'Great Pear Blossom'), was often regarded as the classic or quintessential example of a fire lance.
In reality, however, it was quite atypical among fire-lance-type weapons. Instead of the more common bamboo Pen Tong (噴筒) barrel, it mounted either a disposable paper tube or a reusable iron tube onto its shaft. Additionally, the Li Hua Qiang was considerably longer than most Chinese fire lances, as it had been modified from a standard Chang Qiang (長鎗).
The fire tube of Li Hua Qiang could also be mounted on a Lang Xian (狼筅).
I thought you might like this mughal painting showing fire lance in action used to create smoke screen to try to guide a elephant path away from the royal cavalry, much like how ming used smoke as area control weapons in warfare and I assume the same thing was try for mughal too
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/exhibitions/splendours-of-the-subcontinent-four-centuries-of-south-asian-paintings-and-manuscripts/the-queens-gallery-buckingham-palace/prince-awrangzeb-facing-a-maddened-elephant-named-sudhaka-7-june-1633
ReplyDeleteThanks for the pic! Painting showing fire lance in action is surprisingly rare, I think I've only seen a few Qing period one, and the fire lance is yet-to-be-fired too.
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