Qiang Chong (鎗銃)

Drawing of a Qiang Chong, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Qiang Chong (鎗銃, lit. 'Gun-spear') was a type of heavy, (presumably) crew-served combination weapon. Despite its simple and straightforward name, the weapon was anything but simple. In fact, this monstrosity of a weapon consisted of a spear, a small double-barrelled gun, a foldable leather "umbrella shield", and twelve sword blades attached to said shield.

Needless to say, this weapon was definitely one of the most impractical weapons ever designed. It had all the downsides of a Xun Lei Chong (迅雷銃), but none of its advantages. Not only Qiang Chong's foldable shield added unnecessary complexity and cost compared to a simple gun shield, its twelve blades that added so much weight (the blades alone weighed fifteen pounds!) to the weapon actually served no real purpose other than intimidation. On top of that, for such a heavy, complex and costly weapon, Qiang Chong's firepower could hardly compete with that of a San Yan Chong (三眼銃)!