Fei Qiang (飛鎗) and Fei Jian (飛箭)

Drawing of Fei Qiang (left) and Fei Jian (right), from 'Shou Yu Quan Shu (《守圉全書》)'.

Read more

Bai Zi Chong (百子銃)

Bai Zi Chong (百子銃, lit. 'Hundred bullet gun')

Late Ming Bai Zi Chong discovered at an ancient battle site in Sichuan.

Bai Zi Chong, also known as Bai Zi Lian Zhu Pao (百子連珠砲, lit. 'Hundred bullet rapid fire cannon'), was the Chinese name for a muzzle-loading swivel gun. Prized for its wide arc of fire and accuracy, the Bai Zi Chong served primarily as shipborne anti-personnel ordnance and in siege defence.

Read more

Hong Yi Pao (紅夷砲) and Xi Yang Pao (西洋砲)

Hong Yi Pao (紅夷砲, lit. 'Red barbarian cannon') and Xi Yang Pao (西洋砲, lit. 'Western Ocean cannon') are Chinese names for sixteenth and seventeenth century European cast iron and cast bronze cannon, respectively. Despite being named after the Dutch, known as Hong Yi (紅夷, lit. 'Red barbarian') or Hong Mao Yi (紅毛夷, lit.'Red-haired barbarian') by the Chinese, European cannons actually came from multiple sources, including British, Portuguese and Spanish.

By seventeenth century, European-style cannons became the heaviest and most advanced weaponry in the Ming arsenal, and had largely superseded local designs.

Early adoption of European artillery

Three types of European artillery adopted by the Chinese. Top left: Fa Gong. Top right: Fo Lang Ji. Bottom: Hong Yi Pao. From 'Jing Guo Xiong Lue (《經國雄略》)'.

Read more

Bastion and Star Fort

Drawing of a simple star fort, from 'Shou Wei Quan Shu (《守圍全書》)'.

Star fort or trace italienne was one of the great inventions that truly put the Europeans ahead from the rest of the world militarily. Star fort, along with sailing ship and great cannon, were what make the colonial era possible, as it allowed the Europeans to hold and defend occupied territory with relatively few manpower.

Read more

Fa Gong (發熕)

Drawing of a bronze Fa Gong on a European-style naval carriage, from 'Chou Hai Tu Bian (《籌海圖編》)'.

Read more

Breech-loading cannons of the Ming Dynasty

UPDATED MAY 7, 2022, minor update DECEMBER 31, 2025

Large Fo Lang Ji from the Nanjing City Wall Museum.

Fo Lang Ji (佛郎機, lit. 'Frankish engine'), named after the Chinese name for Portuguese people (itself a Chinese transcription of related terms farang/farangi/ferenggi, used in the Muslim world to refer to White Europeans), was the Chinese version of breech-loading swivel gun, which they reverse-engineered from the Portuguese. 

Fo Lang Ji actually entered Chinese arsenal surprisingly early—the weapon came to the attention of the Ming court in October 1517, after a translator working on a Portuguese ship (likely a part of Fernão Pires de Andrade's fleet, which visited China in the same year) gifted a cannon and gunpowder formula to Gu Ying Xiang (顧應祥) during an anti-piracy operation. However, Imperial prince Zhu Chen Hao (朱宸濠) already manufactured some Fo Lang Ji in secret as early as May 1517 in preparation for his rebellion two years later, suggesting that the general populace may have learnt of this weapon well before the Ming court. In any case, after Sino-Portuguese relations turned sour, Ming navy sent to evict the Portuguese from Guangdong quickly found itself at the receiving end of this devastating weapon during Battle of Tunmen in 1521. In the ensuing blockade, Deputy Marine Commissioner (海道副使) Wang Hong (汪鋐), through military inspector He Ru (何儒) acting as an undercover agent, successfully enticed two Chinese sailors working for the Portuguese to defect. With the technical know-how acquired from these defectors, Wang Hong successfully reverse-engineered the Fo Lang Ji in a little under 40 days, then proceeded to use the new weapon to defeat the Portuguese. 

After the conflict, Wang Hong became a fervent advocate of the Fo Lang Ji and wrote several memorials to the throne to promote the weapon. In 1523, Beijing arsenal began to manufacture the Fo Lang Ji on an official basis, soon followed by Nanjing arsenal in 1524. By 1529, a mere seven years after the initial production run, virtually the entire country had been equipped with this new weapon. The Fo Lang Ji quickly supplanted older Chinese cannons and became the most important artillery piece in the Ming arsenal. 

Fo Lang Ji (佛郎機)

A standard Fo Lang Ji swivel gun, from 'Lian Bing Za Ji (《練兵雜紀》)'.

While the basic design of Fo Lang Ji was virtually unchanged from its Portuguese predecessor, Chinese gunsmiths created a great number of variant designs of nearly every size, power, and platform imaginable, ranging from downsized handheld guns, to standard-sized models mounted on small gun carriages or saddle frames similar to zamburak, to heavier piece mounted on war carts, warships and gun emplacements.

Ying Zhua Fo Lang Ji (鷹爪佛狼機, lit. 'Eagle talon Frankish engine')

Drawing of a Ying Zhua Fo Lang Ji, from 'Wu Bei Ji Yao (《武備集要》)'.

Ying Zhua Fo Lang Ji was simply a small Fo Lang Ji mounted on a three chi tall iron spiked tripod (which gave the weapon its name).

Fei Shan Shen Pao (飛山神砲, lit. 'Flying mountain divine cannon')

Drawing of a Fei Shan Shen Pao, from 'Lian Bing Za Ji (《練兵雜紀》'.

Fei Shan Shen Pao was a medium-weight Fo Lang Ji with two pair of trunnions.

Wu Di Da Jiang Jun (無敵大將軍, lit. 'Invincible great general')

Drawing of a Wu Di Da Jiang Jun, from 'Lian Bing Za Ji (《練兵雜紀》)'.

Wu Di Da Jiang Jun was a heavy breech-loading cannon primarily designed for close range anti-personnel purpose. A single blast from this cannon could rain death over a very large area in a manner not unlike a giant shotgun—each of its three chambers were loaded with one heavy stone ball and a whopping 365 iron pellets—although the stone ball was still capable of pulverising walls and buildings.

Weighing one thousand and fifty jin (619.5 kg or 1,366 lbs), Wu Di Da Jiang Jun was one of the heaviest cannons in Ming arsenal until the advent of Hong Yi Pao (紅夷砲). Regrettably, while it was undoubtedly devastating, Wu Di Da Jiang Jun was actually slightly underpowered for a cannon of this size due to its breech-loading nature, relatively short barrel, and the fact that its projectile weight and black powder load were limited by the size of its chamber. These shortcomings eventually led to the development of lighter and more powerful Ye Gong Shen Chong (葉公神銃).

Wu Di Shen Fei Pao (無敵神飛砲, lit. 'Invincible divine flying cannon')

Drawing of a Wu Di Shen Fei Pao, from 'Ji Xiao Xin Shu (《紀效新書》)'.

Wu Di Shen Fei Pao, sometimes shortened to Shen Fei Pao (神飛砲, lit. 'Divine flying cannon'), was a slightly shortened naval variant of Wu Di Da Jiang Jun. Each of its three chambers were loaded with a heavy stone ball and 200 iron pellets, although iron pellets were sometimes omitted to increase the power of stone ball.

Like its land-bound counterpart, Wu Di Shen Fei Pao was the heaviest naval artillery available to Ming navy until the advent of Hong Yi Pao.

Shen Fei Pao (神飛砲, lit. 'Divine flying cannon')

Drawing of a Shen Fei Pao, from 'Jun Qi Tu Shuo (《軍器圖說》)'.

Recorded in seventeenth century military treatise Jun Qi Tu Shuo (《軍器圖說》)', Shen Fei Pao appears to be a streamlined and more powerful version of Wu Di Da Jiang Jun/Wu Di Shen Fei Pao, lacking the iron rings used for lifting the cannon found on Wu Di Da Jiang Jun, but came with gunsight-equipped, wrought iron chambers.

The largest "Mark 1" Shen Fei Pao was 8 chi (256 cm or 8'5") in length and 1,000 jin (590 kg or 1300 lbs) in weight. Its five chambers were 1 chi 5 cun (48 cm or 1'7") in length, 80 jin (47.2 kg or 104 lbs) in weight, and had a bore size of 7 cun (22.4 cm or 8.8"). They were typically loaded with either a heavy 25 jin (14.75 kg or 32.5 lbs) stone ball, or 200 stone pellets plus 500 iron pellets (but not both at the same time unlike Wu Di Da Jiang Jun/Wu Di Shen Fei Pao), propelled by 5 jin (2.95 kg or 6.5 lbs) of black powder.

Other variants

There were also many known models of Fo Lang Ji without accompanying illustrations. Examples include Ma Shang Fo Lang Ji (馬上佛郎機, lit. 'Horseman's Frankish engine') designed to be used on horseback, Lian Zhu Fo Lang Ji Pao (連珠佛朗機砲, lit. 'Rapid fire Frankish engine'), an iron double-ended Fo Lang Ji with shortened barrels, as well as Liu Xing Pao (流星砲, lit. 'Shooting star cannon'), a type of brass Fo Lang Ji with rectangular-shaped open breech and lengthened barrel.

Read more

Jia Ban Chuan (夾板船/甲板船)

Drawing of a European sailing ship, probably a Portuguese East Indiaman, from 'Jing Guo Xiong Lue (《經國雄略》)'.

Read more

Wu Gong Chuan (蜈蚣船)

Drawing of a Wu Gong Chuan, from 'Chou Hai Tu Bian (《籌海圖編》)'.

Read more

Firelock firearms of the Ming Dynasty

UPDATED JULY 04, 2022, minor update March 6, 2026

Firelock guns—such as the wheellock, snaphaunce, miquelet lock, and true flintlock—represented the pinnacle of small-arms technology in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, offering superior reliability, weather resistance, and firing speed compared with matchlocks. Although the Ming Dynasty ultimately failed to adopt this advanced firearm on a large scale before its demise, various contemporary records and pieces of evidence suggest that knowledge of firelock guns was surprisingly widespread in late Ming China and that they may have entered limited service with the Ming military.

Zi Sheng Huo Chong (自生火銃, lit. 'Self-fire generating gun') (ca. 1635)

Drawing of a Zi Sheng Huo Chong, from 'Jun Qi Tu Shuo (《軍器圖說》)'.

The seventeenth-century military treatise Jun Qi Tu Shuo (《軍器圖說》) authored by Bi Mao Kang (畢懋康) is the only Ming military treatise to record a firelock gun, likely a miquelet lock, with a clear illustration. This weapon, called Zi Sheng Huo Chong, was said to be weatherproof and more convenient than a matchlock gun. 

Qian Li Chong (千裡銃, lit. 'Thousand li gun') (ca. 1565)

The Qian Li Chong was a type of handheld firearm—likely a firelock pistol—that was said to be a simple yet accurate weapon, worn on the belt and capable of being drawn and fired at a moment’s notice.

This weapon was introduced by Zhang Gong Fu (張公輔), the Regional Investigating Censor of Jiangxi (江西巡按), and was approved for mass production by the Ming court in 1565, with the Liaodong Defence Region noted as being capable of producing its own. This may possibly have been the only firelock gun to enter full (albeit likely still limited) military service with the Ming army.

Pi Li Huo Chong (霹靂火銃, lit. 'Thunderclap gun') (ca. 1599)

Ming firearm enthusiast and specialist Zhao Shi Zhen (趙士楨) may have been the first to discuss the pros and cons of a firelock gun—which he called the Pi Li Huo Chong—in detail. Regrettably, although he successfully reverse-engineered the weapon for his own use, he did not elaborate on the details of its ignition mechanism and considered the gun too expensive and complex for large-scale adoption.

Xu Guang Qi's attestation (exact date unknown, possibly 1605)

The firelock gun was also attested by the Ming polymath and military reformer Xu Guang Qi (徐光啟) in one of his memorials to the throne. Although he did not specifically describe a firelock gun or make a clear distinction between matchlock and firelock weapons, he did attest to the existence of particularly well-crafted arquebuses that could “use stone (i.e. either flint or pyrite) to ignite fire”.

Arquebuses and muskets mentioned in Bing Lu (《兵錄》) (ca. 1630)

In a section discussing arquebuses and muskets, the seventeenth-century military treatise Bing Lu also attests that both weapons could be equipped with either a matchlock or a firelock mechanism.

Fu Shou Ji (伏手機, lit. 'Concealed hand machine') (ca. 1632)

The Fu Shou Ji was a firearm of unknown type encountered by Chen Zi Yi (程子頤), author of the military treatise Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》), during a military operation to suppress a rebellion. He later reverse-engineered the weapon, renamed it Li Gong Guai (李公拐, lit. 'Lord Li's crutch'), and attempted to promote it to the Ming army.

Although the Fu Shou Ji was evidently not a firelock gun, Chen Zi Yi compared it favourably to both matchlock and firelock guns and lamented that even the rebels had access to superior firearms that the Ming army lacked. This suggests that firelock guns had already entered limited service with the Ming army by his time.

Read more

Matchlock firearms of the Ming Dynasty

UPDATED MAY 4, 2022, minor update NOVEMBER 10, 2023

A Ming Dynasty matchlock arquebus found in Xuzhou.

Read more