UPDATED DECEMBER 19, 2023, minor update NOVEMBER 12, 2024
Da Zhui Feng Qiang (大追風鎗, lit. 'Great wind chasing gun')
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| Drawing of a Da Zhui Feng Qiang, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. |
Da Zhui Feng Qiang, also known as
Zhui Feng Qiang (追風鎗, lit. 'Wind chasing gun') and
Zhui Feng Pao (追風砲, lit. 'Wind chasing cannon'), was a late Ming period heavy handgonne that possibly modified back from a
matchlock gun to simplify the reloading process. Zhui Feng Qiang had a four
chi four
cun long gun barrel equipped with front and rear iron sight, a stock similar to that of a matchlock gun, as well as an iron tripod gun rest. It was typically loaded with a six
qian five
fen (24 g) lead ball, as well as six
qian (22 g) of gunpowder, making it far more powerful than a typical arquebus.
Lacking a matchlock mechanism, Zhui Feng Qiang was ignited directly through its touch hole, and thus required a second operator.
Zi Mu Zhui Feng Qiang (子母追風鎗, lit. 'Mother-and-child wind chasing gun')
Late Ming period Liaodong commander Peng Hao Gu (彭簪古) also devised an upsized Da Zhui Feng Qiang with twice the barrel length. Designed to be mounted on ramparts and battlements, Zi Mu Da Zhui Feng Qiang was more powerful than even a
heavy musket, although its tremendous length posed a problem for muzzle reloading, necessitating further modification to allow the weapon to be reloaded
from an open breech.
did these saw mass production during the late ming period?
ReplyDeleteNot quite, they did produce and field the weapon, but the most prevalent one was still the matchlock.
DeleteThe Koreans before the Imjin War developed a similar handgonne mounted on the stock as well. It was used for a while, but once they learned how to make matchlock, it was quickly phased out.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a record of modified handgonne that was equipped with sight, matchlock mechanism, and trigger, copied from the captured matchlock during the Imjin War.
If I remember right, the Korean stock-mounted handgonne was an early attempt to replicate Japanese arquebus before the war broke out (as part of the war preparation), but the effort was cut short due to political infighting.
DeleteThey only successfully reverse engineered matchlock gun after the war broke out.
The modified handgonne I mentioned was made during the war, but was apparently never mass-produced due to wartime shortage of material. Although, from the description, it seemed to have been pretty much a matchlock - wrought iron barrel copied from captured Tanegashima, with matchlock mechanism and trigger, made with help from Japanese defectors. I guess it was called the handgonne(총통) because of convention.
DeleteAFAIK all known Korean stock-mounted handgonnes were manufactured around several months - two years before the war broke out.
DeleteCould you tell me where I can find the historical records regarding Peng Hao Gu's (彭簪古) improvement of the Zi Mu Zhui Feng Qiang (子母追風鎗)?
ReplyDeleteInfo of Peng Hao Gu gun came from 《戰守全書》, but the name came from Mao Yuanyi's 《石民四十集》 if I remember correctly.
Delete