Zhao Shi Zhen's handgonnes

Note: The content of this blog post was originally taken from my other articles. However, I decided to write a separate article for cleaner navigation, tidier organization, and easier reading and digestion.

Although originally an advocate of universal adoption of matchlock firearms, Ming Dynasty firearm specialist and inventor Zhao Shi Zhen (趙士楨) later reconsidered his views after a chance meeting and and conversation with a mysterious Daoist priest in front of the Gongde Temple (功德寺) while on a fowling trip on Kunming Lake. Thereafter, he adopted a more nuanced position and began to seriously explore various advantages that traditional Chinese handgonnes had to offer, and to refine and improve them.

Ma Shang San Yan Chong (馬上三眼銃, lit. 'Horseback three-eyed gun')

Drawing of a Ma Shang San Yan Chong (highlighted), from 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'.

Known in full as the Xin Gai Ma Bu Xiang Yi San Yan Qiang (新改馬步相宜三眼鎗, lit. 'Newly modified three-eyed spear suitable on foot and on horseback'), this weapon was Zhao Shi Zhen's improved design of the classic San Yan Chong (三眼銃), which he developed just as the classic San Yan Chong began to see widespread adoption by the Ming military.

The biggest improvement made by Zhao Shi Zhen was replacing the original barrel of the San Yan Chong—which was typically made from three cast iron barrels forge-welded/cast together, making it top heavy and prone to overheating—with his own design, which used three separate longer barrels forged in the same way as matchlock gun barrels (i.e., rolled from skelp or iron strips and hammer-welded along a seam for a stronger, more uniform tube, double-layered for better integrity, plus individual screw-in breech plugs), all mounted on a grooved wooden bedding. This arrangement reduced the weapon's overall weight for easier handling, improved balance through the lighter construction, and allowed for easier maintenance and replacement of individual barrels.

Various components of the Xin Gai Ma Bu Xiang Yi San Yan Qiang, from 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'.

Zhao Shi Zhen also mounted a tanged blade and disc guard to the butt of the weapon, transforming the Ma Shang San Yan Chong into a versatile hybrid firearm. The tanged blade allowed the user to wield the weapon as a close-quarters polearm for thrusting and slashing after discharging the barrels, with the barrels themselves serving as a counterweight for better balance. Meanwhile, the heavy clustered barrels themselves could serve as an improvised bludgeon for blunt strikes, providing a fallback option where reloading wasn't feasible.

Furthermore, Zhao Shi Zhen tailored the weapon into two variants to accommodate different combat roles. The infantry version featured a longer overall length of approximately 5 chi 5 cun, while the cavalry version was shorter, measuring around 4 chi 4 cun.

Xian Chong (鍁銃, spade gun) and Jue Chong (镢銃, hoe gun)

Highlighted Xian Chong (above) and Jue Chong (below), from 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'.

Zhao Shi Zhen further adapted the Ma Shang San Yang Chong by replacing its tanged blade with spade- or hoe-shaped heads in specialized variants, known as Xian Chong and Jue Chong respectively. Both variants retained the firearm's volley capability while while serving as practical tools for frontier engineering.

San Shen Tang (三神鎲, lit. 'Three divine Tangpa')

Drawing of a San Shen Tang and its detachable matchlock trigger, from 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'.

The San Shen Tang can be considered to represent Zhao Shi Zhen's further refinement of the Ma Shang San Yan Chong, as it went beyond merely accommodating different combat roles for infantry and cavalry to also adapt to the habits of soldiers from both southern and northern China.

The primary modification made by Zhao Shi Zhen was the incorporation of a detachable matchlock trigger mechanism—likely borrowed from the Xun Lei Chong (迅雷銃)— which enabled the weapon to be braced and aimed like a matchlock gun by soldiers already familiar with such firearms, particularly those from southern China (although its accuracy still fell somewhat short of that of a true matchlock's), while retaining the flexibility to be used like a traditional handgonne by soldiers unfamiliar with matchlocks, particularly those from northern China. A second key modification was the replacement of the tanged blade of Ma Shang San Yan Chong with the head of a pronged Tang Pa (鎲鈀), which was far more versatile on a shorter polearm than a simple spearhead.

Top: A soldier aiming a trigger-attached San Shen Tang. Bottom: A soldier using a Ma Shang San Yan Chong on horseback. From 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'.

In a sense, the San Shen Tang can be considered a simpler and more practical successor of the Xun Lei Chong.

Bu Xia Yi Hu Chong (步下翼虎銃)

Bottom and side view of Bu Xia Yi Hu Chong, from 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'.

The Bu Xia Yi Hu Chong was a very unusual double-barrelled handgonne configured like a tonfa or arm shield.

Click here for more information about this handgonne.

Huo Dan Tong (火彈筒, lit. 'Fire bullet tube')

Drawing of a Huo Dan Tong (highlighted), from 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'

The Huo Dan Tong was a hand-mortar-style flare gun and one of the earliest of its kind in the world, predating the Very pistol by nearly three centuries and being predated only by the flare launcher of the Xun Lei Chong (迅雷銃), which was also designed by Zhao Shi Zhen.

Click here for more information about this flare gun.