16 January 2016

Huo Qiang (火鎗)

UPDATED NOVEMBER 9, 2023


Chinese Huo Qiang
Drawing of a Huo Qiang, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.
Huo Qiang (火鎗, lit. 'Fire spear' or 'Fire lance') was an archetypal fire lance with an archetypal name. It had a seven chi long shaft, a one chi long spearhead, two prongs with integrated hooks similar to Mao Lian Tang (茅鐮鎲), a butt spike, as well as two linked Pen Tong (噴筒) that fired in succession.

Contrary to a popular misconception, fire lance was probably not the direct predecessor of true guns but a branched development/specialisation of earlier gunpowder-based flamethrowers and proto-guns, only appearing in recorded history around 1230s. In fact, this particular Huo Qiang was only devised around the turn of the seventeenth century.
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4 comments:

  1. 梅县anon12 November 2024 at 07:01

    How would these weapons have been used in combat?

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    1. 春秋戰國12 November 2024 at 08:07

      The fire tubes were connected to a long fuse, which was held in the front hand (for spear it was usually left hand). The user lit the fuse beforehand and then fought with the spear as usual, until the tubes unexpectedly began to spew fire to catch the other side off-guard.

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    2. 梅县anon21 March 2025 at 10:50

      I mean in what kind of situations would one use a fire lance?

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    3. 春秋戰國24 March 2025 at 20:25

      Set fire on something (ships for example), to cover infantry charge into close combat, or to stop enemy charge.

      Delete

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