Pen Tong (噴筒)

MINOR UPDATE JUNE 9, 2025

Pen Tong (噴筒, lit. 'Spurt tube') was a type of important but often overlooked gunpowder weapon of the Ming Dynasty. Nothing more than a hollow tube filled with various types of gunpowder, the weapon nevertheless remained a crucial weapon in the Ming arsenal.

Man Tian Pen Tong (滿天噴筒, lit. 'Sky-filling spurt tube')

Drawing of a Man Tian Pen Tong, from 'Ji Xiao Xin Shu (《紀效新書》)'.

Man Tian Pen Tong, also known as Man Tian Yan Pen Tong (滿天煙噴筒, lit. 'Sky-filling smoke spurt tube'), was the smallest of the common Pen Tong. It was a small bamboo tube filled with smoke-producing gunpowder and ceramic shrapnel, before being tied to the shaft of a spear to be used as a fire lance.

Man Tian Pen Tong was often used for incendiary attack as well as deploying smoke screen during siege defence and naval warfare, although it was portable enough to be used in field battle to provide smoke screen cover for assaulting troops as well.

Fei Tian Pen Tong (飛天噴筒, lit. 'Flying spurt tube')

Drawing of a Fei Tian Pen Tong, from 'Ji Xiao Xin Shu (《紀效新書》)'.

Fei Tian Pen Tong, also known as Pi Li Huo (霹靂火, lit. 'Thunderclap fire'), Fei Tian Huo Tong (飛天火筒, lit. 'Flying fire tube'), Du Yao Pen Tong (毒藥噴筒, lit. 'Poison spurt tube'), Huo Long Pen Tong (火籠噴筒, lit. 'Fire basket spurt tube' or 火龍噴筒, lit. 'Fire dragon spurt tube') and Da Zhu Pen Tong (大竹噴筒, lit. 'Big bamboo spurt tube'), was the middle-of-the-road variant among the common Pen Tong types. It was a 1.5–2 chi long, 2 cun diameter bamboo tube wrapped in twine and filled with incendiary gunpowder along with several disc-shaped projectiles made from a mixture of saltpetre, camphor, rosin, realgar, and arsenic trioxide. When the charge was ignited, Fei Tian Pen Tong would shoot out a jet of flame together with all the burning discs inside the tube; these would stick to any surface they touched (thanks to the sticky rosin) while simultaneously releasing poisonous smoke. Unlike Man Tian Pen Tong, it was mounted on a sturdier pole to be used as a standalone weapon.

Fei Tian Pen Tong was usually employed in naval warfare as a portable, single-use, longer-ranged alternative to Greek fire.

Du Long Pen Huo Shen Tong (毒龍噴火神筒, lit. 'Divine tube of fire-breathing vicious dragon')

Drawing of a Du Long Pen Huo Shen Tong, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Du Long Pen Huo Shen Tong, also known as Du Huo Pen Huo Shen Tong (毒火噴火神筒, lit. 'Vicious fire-spitting divine tube'), was the largest of the common Pen Tong. It was a 3 chi long large bamboo tube filled with a mixture of poisonous, smoke, and incendiary gunpowder, as well as poisoned iron pellets. When the charge was ignited, Du Long Pen Huo Shen Tong would unleash fire, poison smoke and poisoned pellets simultaneously. 

Designed for siege warfare, Du Long Pen Huo Shen Tong was hung from a long pole so that it could be used to attack enemy defenders on a wall.

Tie Pen Tong (鐵噴筒, lit. 'Iron spurt tube') and Tie Huo Long (鐵火龍, lit. 'Iron fire dragon')

Tie Pen Tong and Tie Huo Long were essentially improved versions of Man Tian Pen Tong and Fei Tian Pen Tong that replaced their bamboo tubes with iron casings.

Da Huo Long (大火籠, lit. 'Big fire basket')

Drawing of a Da Huo Long, from 'Bing Lu (《兵錄》)'.

Da Huo Long was a late Ming variant of Fei Tian Pen Tong that fired spherical projectiles similar to Huo Dan (火彈) instead of burning discs. The projectiles and gunpowder of Da Huo Long were pre-packaged inside a large paper cartridge.