Guo Chu San Yan Qiang (國初三眼鎗) and Guo Chu Shuang Tou Qiang (國初雙頭鎗)

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.

Guo Chu Shuang Tou Qiang (left) and Guo Chu San Yan Qiang (centre), from 'Shen Qi Pu (《神器譜》)'.

The Guo Chu San Yan Qiang (國初三眼鎗, lit. 'Founding-era three-eyed spear') and the Guo Chu Shuang Tou Qiang (國初雙頭鎗, lit. 'Founding-era double-headed spear') were two elusive firearms mentioned by the mysterious old Daoist priest whom the Ming firearm specialist Zhao Shi Zhen (趙士楨) met in front of the Gongde Temple (功德寺). 

According to the Daoist priest, these weapons were used by the founding emperor of the Ming in his campaign to overthrow the Yuan, and during the Cheng Hua Li Ting (成化犁庭, lit .'Chenghua-era courtyard-ploughing') military campaigns to eradicate the Jianzhou Jurchens, but they gradually fell out of use after the Tumu Crisis when the Ming dynasty switched to a more defensive posture and border officials began to remove the spearheads of these weapons for convenience. However, his claim does not seem to be supported by archaeological and Ming written records, which show that the multiple-barrel handgonne was uncommon during the early Ming period, and that adding a spearhead to the handgonne also seems to be a post-Tumu Crisis practice, with mention as recently as 1546 by Supreme Commander Weng Wan Da (翁萬達) (Note: Patron-only content).

Irrespective of the accuracy of the Daoist priest's anecdote, the context of their conversation strongly indicates that both Guo Chu San Yan Qiang and Guo Chu Shuang Tou Qiang were handgonnes equipped with a spearhead, as evidenced by the Daoist priest's rough sketches drawn on the sand, which Zhao Shi Zhen later copied into his firearm treatise. Unfortunately, Zhao Shi Zhen did not provide a detailed description of the weapons (or the written descriptions have since been lost), so their exact nature remains unknown.

Drawing of a San Yan Qiang, almost certainly based on Zhao Shi Zhen's original illustration, from 'Fang Shou Ji Cheng (《防守集成》)'.

Nevertheless, more comprehensive descriptions of weapons that appear to be the Guo Chu San Yan Qiang and Guo Chu Shuang Tou Qiang can be found in later period military treatises. The description of the San Yan Qiang can be found in the Fang Shou Ji Cheng (《防守集成》), a late Qing compilation of Ming-era armaments and fortification technology. In this treatise, it is described as a spear fitted with three bamboo tubes designed to store and launch small rockets. Meanwhile, the Shuang Tou Qiang, referred to as Shuang Feng Qiang (雙鋒鎗, lit. 'double-edged spear') instead, appears in the military section of the late Ming magistrate handbook Zhi Pu (《治譜》), where it is depicted as a single-barrel handgonne with two spearheads mounted at the muzzle.

Ironically, later records of both of these weapons no longer carry the "Guo Chu" prefix, and the San Yan Qiang was not even described as a handgonne. It is unknown whether this discrepancy was due to reinterpretation based on the original Zhao Shi Zhen's illustrations, textual expansion or evolution over time, or whether the weapons were in fact a spear fitted with three attached rocket tubes and a single-barrelled handgonne with two spearheads from the beginning.