Fei Long Hua Dao (飛龍化刀)

Drawing of a Fei Long Hua Dao rocket, from 'Huo Long Jing (《火龍經》)'.

Fei Long Hua Dao (飛龍化刀, lit. 'Flying dragon turning into knives') was a highly unusual and viciously designed—if not terribly effective—rocket. Recorded in famous firearm treatise Huo Long Jing (火龍經), it was a one zhang five fen long spear-sized rocket with a two chi long bamboo rocket motor as well as two Du Huo (毒火) poison smoke-cum-incendiary warheads, which by itself wasn't anything unusual. What set Fei Long Hua Dao apart from other rockets was that it was fitted with several secondary rockets designed to be engaged at the same time as poison smoke warheads detonate. Known as Hua Dao Tong (化刀筒, lit. 'Knife-changing tube'), these stickless secondary rockets were two chi five cun long gunpowder-filled tubes fitted with three poisoned blades on both ends, and were said to be able to cover an area dozens of zhang wide, literally shredding anything they hit.

Long Fei Hua Dao Zhen (龍飛化刀陣)

Layout of Long Fei Hua Dao Zhen, from 'Huo Long Jing (《火龍經》)'.

The author of Huo Long Jing also created a military formation for the rocket, called Long Fei Hua Dao Zhen (龍飛化刀陣, lit. 'Dragon flying changing into knives formation') or simply Long Fei Zhen (龍飛陣, lit. 'Dragon flying formation'). The formation was designed to inflict maximum mayhem with the rockets to create an opening that allowed a trapped unit to break out of encirclement, and was best deployed during cloudy but windless weather.

Long Fei Hua Dao Zhen consisted of thirty-two rocket teams armed with ten Fei Long Hua Dao rockets each. These rocket teams were arrayed in a checkerboard-like formation, with eight teams serving as vanguard, twelve teams as wings, four teams at the centre, as well as eight teams as rearguard. Nevertheless, it was not known what purpose such a specific formation served other than for firearms safety, as Fei Long Hua Dao had a long enough range that such arrangement wouldn't be necessary.

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Tian Bing Jian (天兵箭)

Drawing of a Tian Bing Jian, from a Qing Dynasty print of 'Huo Long Jing (《火龍經》)'.

Tian Bing Jian (天兵箭, lit. 'Heavenly soldier arrow') was perhaps one of the most ingenious weapons ever devised before the modern era. It was essentially a huge war kite, seven to eight chi long and three to four chi wide and made of straw mat nailed to a wooden frame, which carried a rocket pod containing one hundred rocket arrows as well as dozens of bombs. Specifically designed for night raid, the rocket pod and bombs on the kite were ignited by a slow-burning incense fuse that gave off minimal light, allowing ample time for the kite to be guided to its target in complete darkness and silence before it began to rain down fire and chaos, creating a scene that could be easily mistaken for divine judgement (hence its namesake).

A variant of the kite, known as Tian Lei Pao (天雷砲, lit. 'Heavenly thunder bomb'), replaced the rocket pod with a human bombardier. who was a death row convict being forcibly tied to the kite.

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Fei Lun Jia Hai Zhou (飛輪架海舟) and Tao Chuan Zi Mu Lun Zhou Chuan (套船子母輪舟船)

Fei Lun Jia Hai Zhou (飛輪架海舟, lit. 'Flying wheel sea-rack ship')

Drawing of a Fei Lun Jia Hai Zhou, from 'Bing Jing (《兵鏡》)'.

Fei Lun Jia Hai Zhou was a warship of unusual design, possibly a Ming-era throwback to older paddle wheel warships from the previous dynasties (as hinted by its tower ship-style crenellated superstructure). Intended as a capital-class warship despite its moderate size, Fei Lun Jia Hai Zhou was made of expensive and durable nanmu wood and came with two masts, four inboard paddle wheels and twelve large oars. In addition, it also had two large slots at the bow and stern, which allowed two ships to be connected together via wooden beams into a catamaran-like configuration for increased stability.

Tao Chuan Zi Mu Lun Zhou Chuan (套船子母輪舟船, lit. 'Ship-sheathing mother and child wheeled ship')

Drawing of a Tao Chuan Zi Mu Lun Zhou Chuan, from 'Bing Jing (《兵鏡》)'.

Tao Chuan Zi Mu Lun Zhou Chuan was actually not a different ship design per se, but a detachable exterior shell/auxiliary armour equipped by Fei Lun Jia Hai Zhou. Made of Chinese fir, the exterior shell enclosed the warship from the front and both sides, and came with a bow fitted with barbed spikes and storage space filled with gunpowder and flammable materials. Beside protecting the warship from grounding hazards, the exterior shell was also a potent weapon in its own right, allowing the warship to ram into enemy ship, ignite the payload, then discard the shell to disengage.

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Chinese fire gourd

Chong Zhen Huo Hu Lu (衝陣火葫蘆, lit. 'Phalanx-charging fire gourd')

Drawing of a Chong Zhen Huo Hu Lu, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Chong Zhen Huo Hu Lu was an unusual weapon which was essentially a gourd-shaped iron "gun barrel" mounted on a six chi long wooden pole. Intended to be paired with a weaponised shield, this handgonne/fire lance hybrid was loaded with both lead pellets as well as incendiary gunpowder that generated poisonous smoke as it burned, and was said to be effective against both infantry and cavalry. 

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Huo Long Chuan (火龍船)

MINOR UPDATE MARCH 6, 2024

Drawing of a Huo Long Chuan, from 'Huo Long Jing (《火龍經》)'.

Huo Long Chuan (火龍船, lit. 'Fire dragon ship'), full name Shen Fei Du Jiao Huo Long Chuan (神飛獨角火龍船, lit. 'Divine flying single-horned fire dragon ship'), was an interesting weapon that was more of a trap than a true warship. It was a small, three-decked warship with the hull of an ocean-going vessel but is propelled by oars or paddle-wheels. The hull of Huo Long Chuan was heavily protected by bamboo palisade and raw cowhides, and its main deck was fitted with numerous gun and arrow loops allowing combatants on the ship to engage their enemy without exposing themselves to return fire. The ship was also possibly equipped with a naval ram, hence its "Single-horned" moniker. 

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Fei Kong Hua Shui Shen You Guan (飛空滑水神油罐)

Drawing of Fei Kong Hua Shui Shen You Guan, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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Mu Huo Shou (木火獸)

Tiger (top) and Qilin (bottom) Mu Huo Shou, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Mu Huo Shou (木火獸, lit. 'Wooden fire beast') was one of the weirder weapons of the Ming Dynasty, being a wooden pushcart with paper model of an animal—typically a tiger or qilin—mounted on top. The paper animal was treated with fire retardant (i.e. potassium alum), and a flame throwing bamboo Peng Tong (噴筒) and two smoke dispensers were hidden inside the "mouth" and "eyes" of the paper animal respectively. When the weapons were ignited, the pushcart looked like a terrifying fire-breathing monster from afar, since the soldier pushing the cart would be obscured by all the smoke and fire.

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Shen Ji Wan Sheng Huo Long Dao (神機萬勝火龍刀)

UPDATED MAY 24, 2022

Drawing of Shen Ji Wan Sheng Huo Long Dao, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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Shui Di Long Wang Pao (水底龍王砲) and Hun Jiang Long (混江龍)

Shui Di Long Wang Pao (水底龍王砲, lit. 'Underwater dragon king bomb')

Drawing of Shui Di Long Wang Pao, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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Tai Ping Che (太平車)

Drawing of a Tai Ping Che (above) and its various componnets (below), from 'Zhan Shou Quan Shu (《戰守全書》)'.

Tai Ping Che (太平車, lit. 'Peaceful cart') was a unique siege defence weapon used by the Ming army. Despite the name, it was not actually a war cart, and anything but peaceful.

Tai Ping Che was actually a semi-cylindrical mobile gun turret armed with five small cannons. Equipped with two wheels, it could be easily raised or lowered down the wall with the help of a wall-mounted crane, which allowed the turret to fend off besieging troops, particularly sappers, hiding in the hard-to-reach "dead zone" of the fortress. Since it would be nearly suicidal to man the turret with gunners and send them outside the wall, Tai Ping Che was also equipped with a Gang Lun Fa Huo (鋼輪發火) so that its five guns could be fired remotely.

The gun turret can be considered a successor of Warring States period Mohist Xian Pi (縣脾, lit. 'Hanging spleen').

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Dao Ma Huo She Shen Gun (倒馬火蛇神棍)

UPDATED MAY 24, 2022

Two Dao Ma Huo She Shen Gun, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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Unique weapon of the Ming Dynasty — Fang Ji Huo Feng Zheng (燔積火風箏)

Section of the scroll painting 'Feng Zhen Tu (《風箏圖》)', painted by famous Ming painter Xu Wei (徐渭), depicting an ordinary kite.

Fang Ji Huo Feng Zheng (燔積火風箏, lit. 'Supply-scorching fire kite') was a unique but obscure siege weapon. It was essentially a weaponised kite, carrying a time bomb and propelled by a rocket. The rocket allowed Fang Ji Huo Feng Zheng to be launched into the sky quickly, where it would stay in the air and "wire-guided" to its intended target. After a set amount of time, the bomb would explode in mid air, spreading poisonous dust and burning gunpowder all over the target.

Nevertheless, while the idea behind Fang Ji Huo Feng Zheng was sound, its relative slowness and weak power likely did not justify its use over other, more straightforward weapons such as cannons or incendiary rockets.

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Huo Nu Liu Xing Jian (火弩流星箭)

Drawing of a Huo Nu Liu Xing Jian, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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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.

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Fei Tian Shen Huo Du Long Qiang (飛天神火毒龍鎗)

UPDATED MAY 24, 2022

Drawing of a Fei Tian Shen Huo Du Long Qiang, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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Shen Xian Zi Fa Pai Che Chong (神仙自發排車銃)

Drawing of a Shen Xian Zi Fa Pai Che Chong, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Shen Xian Zi Fa Pai Che Chong (神仙自發排車銃, lit. 'Immortal's self-firing wheel gun'), also known as Shen Xian Zi Fa Pai Cha Chong (神仙自發排叉銃, lit. 'Immortal's self-firing fork gun') and Shen Huo Dao Chong (神火刀銃, lit. 'Divine fire bladed gun'), was a weapon that was very similar to Ping Guang Bu Zhan Sui Di Gun (平曠步戰隨地滾), but took the concept even further. The weapon was made of a hollowed tree log filled with gunpowder and came with multiple poisoned spikes, guns, flamethrowers, and poison smoke tubes. It also had a waterproofed fuse wired in such a way that the guns and flamethrowers would fire in succession (instead of firing everything at the same time).

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Shen Zhuan Huo Qiu Che (神轉火毬車)

Drawing of a Shen Zhuan Huo Qiu Che, from 'Yu Zi Shi San Zhong Mi Shu Bing Heng (《喻子十三種秘書兵衡》)'.

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Feng Lei Huo Gun (風雷火滾)

Three Feng Lei Huo Gun, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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Ping Kuang Bu Zhan Sui Di Gun (平曠步戰隨地滾)

Drawing of a Ping Kuang Bu Zhan Sui Di Gun, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Ping Kuang Bu Zhan Sui Di Gun (平曠步戰隨地滾, can be roughly translated as 'Anywhere roller for foot combat in wide plains') was a strange contraption designed to break enemy camps and disrupt enemy formations. It was essentially a tree log full of poisoned blades, hooks and nails, equipped with sixty linked black powder rocket propellers that pushed the weapon forward and doubled as short range flamethrowers. The tree trunk was also hollowed out and filled with explosives and blinding dust, so that it would explode into a shower of flaming wood splinters, smoke and blinding dust after a predetermined time.

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Lan Gu Huo You Shen Pao (爛骨火油神砲)

Drawing of a Lan Gu Huo You Shen Pao, from 'Wu Bei Zi (《武備志》)'.

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