Feng Zhou Zhan Jian (封舟戰艦) — The Ming ironclad

Illustration of a Qing period Feng Zhou, from 'Zhong Shan Chuan Xin Lu (《中山傳信錄》)'. It should be noted that Ming period Feng Zhou, above all the ironclad warship, likely looked very different from this illustration.

The so-called Feng Zhou Zhan Jian was a type of large warship built in 1568~1569 to counter the Wu Wei Chuan (烏尾船) of notorious Chinese pirate lord Zeng Yi Ben (曾一本) (Note: article available to my Supporter-tier patrons only), who had long terrorised the coasts of Guangdong Province and had outright defeated Ming navy on several occasions. 

Though unique in its kind, this formidable warships actually did not have a proper name to call its own, as it was simply referred to as "giant warship" in historical sources. It was only dubbed 'Feng Zhou Zhan Jian (封舟戰艦, lit. 'Investiture war ship') in popular discourse out of convenience, due to the fact that the warship was specifically constructed to the same size and/or quality standard as Feng Zhou (封舟, lit. 'Investiture ship'), ocean-going sailing ship specifically built for Imperial Chinese investiture missions to Ryukyu Kingdom. Despite the misleading moniker, Feng Zhou Zhan Jian was purpose-built from the ground up for war, rather than converted from existing investiture ship.

Size and construction

Information about Feng Zhou Zhan Jian's dimensions and design is very incomplete, as no known blueprints or other design documents of the ship exist. From the few descriptions that survived, it's known that Feng Zhou Zhan Jian had a beam of 4 zhang (roughly 12.52 m or 41.08 ft), and it was known to be fitted with masts of 17~18 zhang (roughly 53.21~56.34 m or 174.57~184.84 ft) in height. Thus, it can be inferred with high confidence that a Feng Zhou Zhan Jian was approximately 53~56 m/174~184 ft long with a beam of approximately 12.5 m/41 ft (Chinese junks are generally as long as their mainmasts are tall), which was roughly comparable to HMS Victory, and in line with known sizes of (non-combat) Ryukyu investiture ships of the time.

Since Feng Zhou Zhan Jian was built in Fujian, it most likely took the form of an oversized Fu Chuan (福船), i.e. a sailing war junk with a prominent multi-storey aftercastle, fully enclosed superstructure above its main deck, as well as protective bamboo palisade around the deck and the roof of the superstructure. Likewise, it was most likely built from Chinese fir, pine and camphor wood like its lesser cousins. At least some Feng Zhou Zhan Jian had two-layered bottom planking, in keeping with the standard practice of building Ryukyu investiture ship.

The masts of Feng Zhou Zhan Jian were constructed from joining together multiple pieces of timbers and reinforcing them with iron hoops, in part due to difficulties in sourcing enough tree logs of sufficient length for such a large ship. For sails, Feng Zhou Zhan Jian employed junk sailing rig with sails made of bamboo mat backed by thick sailcloth, which were quite different from rolled bamboo mat sails used by most other Fujian warships at the time. 

Perhaps the most interesting feature of Feng Zhou Zhan Jian was the iron reinforcement around its hull, which consisted of more than forty large iron bands running vertically from the keel to the gunwales, forming an external iron skeletal frame. This feature was already present on some Ryukyu investiture ships to improve hull integrity during long voyage, although for warship the amount of iron bands more than doubled (normal investiture ship only had twenty iron bands) as they now served as armour against ramming as well—a necessary precaution against Guang Chuan (廣船) built with significantly sturdier woods than ships built in Fujian.

Armaments

While Feng Zhou Zhan Jian was noted to be heavily stocked up with firearms in period sources, all but a handful of its armaments remain unknowable due to incomplete records. Only three weapons were confirmed to be equipped by Feng Zhou Zhan Jian, namely wooden Fa Gong (發熕), Pai Gan (拍竿), as well as Zhuang Liang (撞樑) for lateral ramming. However, based on inference from historical documents about war preparation against Zeng Yi Ben, it's almost certain that Feng Zhou Zhan Jian was also equipped with normal (i.e. metal) Fa Gong, Fo Lang Ji (佛郎機) and Bai Zi Chong (百子銃), iron-cased Peng Tong (噴筒) and rockets, as well as an assortment of handheld naval weapons for its crews including matchlock guns, grenades, javelins, bows and arrows, swords and shields, as well as spears.

On top of that, based on better-preserved records about diplomatic missions to Ryukyu, it is known that a contemporary Ryukyu investiture ship would be armed with 20 Fo Lang Ji, 10 Wan Kou Chong (碗口銃), 60 Xiu Chong (袖銃, lit. 'Sleeve gun'), 100 arquebuses, 1,000 javelins, 60 spears, 300 sabres, 100 rattan shields, 100 iron helmets, and 100 iron armours. It can be safely presumed that Feng Zhou Zhan Jian would be at least armed to a comparable standard as its diplomatic counterpart, if not better.

Given the time period and possible armaments of Feng Zhou Zhan Jian, it is clear that the warship wasn't designed with Age of Sail-style artillery broadside or line-of-battle tactic in mind. Instead, Feng Zhou Zhan Jian likely fought with more traditional tactics, namely using its considerable anti-personnel firepower to kill and suppress enemy ship crews, flamethrowers and rockets to set fire to enemy rigging, as well as ramming and boarding. While it did carry heavier Fa Gong, probably mounted as chase gun, that could inflict damage on enemy vessel directly, such role was generally given to smaller and more agile oared vessels in the Ming navy.

 

Crew

Feng Zhou Zhan Jian had a crew of 224, which consisted of a Bu Dao (捕盜, lit. 'Thief-catcher', this was the name for a warship's captain during Ming period), 3 Duo Shou (舵手, helmsman) and 220 sailors and soldiers. Other crew positions on the ship included Liao Ding Shou (繚椗手, sail and anchor operator), Zhao Dou Shou (招斗手, solider stationed to crow's nest or fighting top), Fa Gong gunner, Fo Lang Ji gunner, arquebusier, rocketeer, Pen Tong operator, shielded javelin thrower, archer and spearman, although regrettably it's unknown how many crews were assigned to each position.

Interestingly, for such a huge warship Feng Zhou Zhan Jian had a relatively small crew contingent.

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Shipborne close quarters weapons of pre-modern Chinese navies

19th century oil painting of a Qing-era war junk. Image Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.

When people think of pre-modern naval warfare in China and to a lesser extend East Asia, most think of imposing tower ships raining arrows and stones against the opposing fleet, or masses of fire ships turning the sea into a raging inferno à la Battle of Red Cliff.

But there were more to Chinese naval warfare than just missiles and fire. Though often overlooked and understudied, naval battle at close quarters such as boarding action remained an important, even predominant, facet of Chinese naval warfare. In this article, I will introduce some of the tools and weapons used by Chinese navies for close quarters engagement.

Gou Ju (鉤拒, lit. 'Hook-resist')

Since naval boarding was the oldest and predominant form of military tactic in the age of pre-modern naval warfare, it is unsurprising that the earliest naval weapons ever devised were tools to facilitate boarding. Gou Ju, also known as Gou Qiang (鉤強), was a tool, or possibly a set of tools, developed during China's Warring States period and attributed to legendary Chinese carpenter and inventor Lu Ban (魯班). Although the exact design of Gou Ju is now lost, its purposes couldn't be more straightforward: to hook and pull over an enemy ship for boarding, and to fend and push away enemy ship to prevent boarding. As such, it most likely took the form of grappling hook and wooden push pole, or a combination thereof, i.e. something akin to a boat hook. Gou Ju was one of the principal naval weapons of State of Chu (楚國), which used the boarding tool to great effect against the navy of the rival State of Wu (吳國). In fact, military training for Gou Ju became a cultural pastime for the people of Chu state and remained observed long after the demise of the state, eventually evolved into tug of war sport in China.

Ming period boarding tool Liao Gou (撩鈎) essentially fulfilled the same function as ancient Gou Ju.

Gou Ju became overshadowed by other, more advanced naval weapons as Chinese naval warfare became increasingly sophisticated, and largely disappeared from written records after the end of Warring States period. However, such useful tool(s) most definitely continued to see use, either in altered forms or under other names, for as long as naval boarding remained a viable tactic.

Zhuang Liang (撞樑, lit. 'Ramming beam') or Zhuang Gan (撞竿, lit. 'Ramming pole')

A curious and very obscure naval weapon, Zhuang Liang was essentially a wooden beam, longer than the ship's breadth, that was sodded with iron on both ends and built directly into the ship's hull, presumably by replacing one of the planks of its watertight bulkhead. The reinforced ends of Zhuang Liang jutted out from both sides of the hull and functioned as naval rams for the ship, although they were designed for lateral ramming rather than the more familiar head-on ramming. In fact, it may be the only weapon in the world purpose-built for such tactic, as side-mounted rams would seriously interfere with the rowing of oared vessels such as Mediterranean galleys, but won't present a problem for Chinese ships propelled by banks of yuloh (搖橹), as unlike normal oar, the blade of a yuloh is submerged at all time during sculling.

Zhuang Liang was one of the notable armaments of the powerful Wu Wei Chuan (烏尾船) fleet employed by notorious pirate lord Zeng Yi Ben (曾一本), which allowed him to pulverize Ming navy's Fu Chuan (福船) with ease. Fortunately, Ming navy was able to counter his formidable fleet by equipping the same weapon on its own purpose-built ironclad warships.

Naval ramming

Unlike their counterparts in the Mediterranean Sea, for the most part Chinese navies of the antiquities never seem to develop a specialised naval ram, and instead favoured fortified superstructures on warship to better capitalise on their advanced missile weaponry as well as to deter boarders. The formidable yet ponderous Lou Chuan (樓船) and its many derivatives, packed to the brim with commanding firepower yet ill-suited for ramming, thus remained a staple of Chinese navies for thousands of years.

Despite having been employed only sporadically in previous dynasties, naval ramming suddenly gained popularity in the Ming era, when the tactic came to be known as Chong Li (衝犁, lit. 'Charge and plough') or simply Li (犁, lit. 'Ploughing'). Curiously, this only happened after older oar-powered ships were largely phased out by sailing junks, and ramming was largely abandoned by navies elsewhere. The reason for this change is unknown, although it may be related to the primary naval threat faced by Ming Dynasty at the time: the Wokou (倭寇) or Japanese pirates. To elaborate, Japanese ships were considered rather shoddily built by Chinese standard and could be easily destroyed in a collision, which probably enabled ramming to become a viable tactic. This is indirectly supported by the fact that Ming military thinkers never seem to bother with ramming prevention/defence or military formations designed around ramming tactic, as the underlying assumption seem to be that ramming was one-sided, and Ming ships were largely safe from retaliation.

Still more questions remain. For example, how was ramming conducted with typically flat-prowed sailing junks without a ram? How did Chinese ship captains avoid the common pitfalls associated with ramming, such as getting stuck in the hull of the ramming target? Fortunately, a late Ming period military treatise, Bing Lu (《兵錄》), sheds some light on these questions, and the solution was surprisingly simple and ingenious: anchor.

A large Ryukyu Kingdom wooden anchor displayed in Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum.

It turns out instead of designing a purpose-built ram, Chinese sailors simply used secured anchors as rams instead. Traditional Chinese anchors, of both arrow-shaped wooden and four-clawed iron varieties, could weigh anywhere from 400 kg to 800 kg (for comparison, the Athlit bronze ram, the largest naval ram ever discovered, weighs 465 kg) and equipped with long arms to prevent overpenetration, which made for an ideal ramming weapon. In addition, anchor had the added benefits of being readily available on practically every ship, and could be easily cut loose if it somehow got stuck.

Old photo of a Chinese junk with its anchor fixed to the prow.

Using an anchor as a ram was only possible with a Chinese junk, thanks to its flat prow that allowed an anchor to be directly fixed to the front. Ships with curved/pointed prows, or those with long bowsprits, generally required a cathead to secure the anchor to the side, rendering them unable to use it for ramming. Moreover, many war junks like Fu Chuan typically had multiple anchors, which made their ramming all the more devastating (not to mention an entire row of anchors was visually strikingly reminiscence of a plough).

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Unique Chinese weapon — Pai Gan (拍竿)

MINOR UPDATE JUNE 10, 2025

Scale model of a Sui Dynasty capital warship equipped with six V-shape Pai Gan. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Pai Gan (拍竿, lit. 'Swatting pole') was an ancient Chinese naval weapon fitted to various warships to pulverise enemy ship at close range. Said to be able to outright sink a ship in one tremendous downward smash, it was in many ways an omni-directional alternative to naval ram. 

Pai Gan was first recorded in use during an uprising against Western Jin Dynasty led by Du Tao (杜弢) in 311 A.D. and quickly grew in popularity in the subsequent dynasties. Before long, this potent weapon had become one of the most common naval weapons in China, so much so specialised warships designed to use Pai Gan as their primary armament became a staple in various Chinese navies and were given descriptive names such as Pai Jian (拍艦, lit.'Swatting ship') and Jin Chi Jian (金翅艦, lit. 'Golden wings ship', likely named after raised Pai Gan mounted at the port and starboard of said ship). Pai Gan gradually fell out of popularity after Song period due to the advent of firearms, although it continued to see limited use during Ming period.

Theoretical operation

Illustration of a Lou Chuan (樓舡), or tower ship, from 'Wu Jing Zong Yao (《武經總要》)'. Historians are yet undecided about whether the crane-like device mounted on the top of the ship is an indigenous form of counterweight trebuchet or a Pai Gan.

Although the exact nature of this weapon is unclear, written records describe Pai Gan as being similar to a ship's mast, as well as compare it to a Jie Gao (桔槔), a.k.a. shadoof. In fact, the weapon was simply called Jie Gao initially before acquiring a more specific name to distinguish it from the irrigation tool. Pai Gan had a short range, and was seemingly a one-off weapon or at least took a very long time before it could be used again. This led to the development of countermeasure tactics such as sending out small boats to bait enemy ships into activating their Pai Gan prematurely.

There are ongoing debates on the exact workings of Pai Gan. Some see Pai Gan as nothing more than a ship-mounted traction trebuchet, while others imagine Pai Gan as a boulder tied to a crane arm, intended to be used as a giant striking hammer. Currently, the striking hammer interpretation seem to be the dominant view, with researchers proposing several candidate designs for Pai Gan, although each comes with their own pros and cons. The first candidate, a "T-shape" Pai Gan, most closely resembles a Jie Gao/shadoof, but has abysmal reach and is mechanically inefficient, not to mention its hammer has a high chance of smashing into the ship it is mounted on. On the other hand, the second candidate, a "V-shape" Pai Gan, operates on a similar principle as Greek Sambuca and Roman Corvus which is far more mechanically sound, although this design certainly does not evoke the image of a Jie Gan/shadoof.

Personally, I lean heavily towards the view that Pai Gan was simply a trebuchet, as there is at least one record mentioning Pai Gan being used to attack shore fortifications.I believe that with some tweaks to the "T-shape" Pai Gan—namely mounting the arm on a much shorter pole and having it face inwards, as well as arranging it so that the arm must be manually pulled rather than simply released—it can easily be turned into a functioning stone-thrower while still matching the available written descriptions. Better yet, my proposed Pai Gan does not preclude the striking-hammer interpretation and will in fact resolve all the issues present in both the "T-shape" and "V-shape" versions while being more stable and powerful than either.

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Po Chuan Fa (破船筏)

Drawing of a Po Chuan Fa, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Po Chuan Fa (破船筏, lit. 'Ship-breaking raft'), also known as Po Chuan Ge (破船舸, lit. 'Ship-breaking barge') was a simple yet effective anti-ship weapon designed for coastal and riverine warfare. It was essentially a heavy log raft assembled from five full-sized, three zhang long tree trunks, waterproofed with tung oil, caulked with putty and hemp, and installed with four to six paddle wheels. For armaments, three Po Zhou Chong (破舟銃, lit. 'Ship-breaking gun') which were essentially oversized Shen Qiang (神鎗) loaded with spear-sized steel darts, were mounted at the bow of the raft. A fully enclosed crew compartment was also built on the raft to allow the crews to operate the guns and paddle wheels in relative safety.

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Duo Qian Fang Pai (奪鉛防牌)

MINOR UPDATE JUNE 28, 2023

Drawing of a Duo Qian Fang Pai (highlighted), from 'Wu Bei Ji Yao (《武備集要》)'.

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Fei Chui (飛鎚)

Drawing of a Fei Chui, 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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Si Chuan Fei Shi (四川飛石)

Drawing of a Si Chuan Fei Shi, from 'Zhan Shou Quan Shu (《戰守全書》)'.

Si Chuan Fei Shi (四川飛石, lit. 'Sichuanese flying stone') was a type of lightweight, two-man operated traction trebuchet. True to its namesake, the trebuchet was commonly found in Sichuan, although it was also manufactured in Beijing during the twilight years of the Ming Dynasty.

Unlike other Chinese trebuchets, Si Chuan Fei Shi had a A-shaped arm mounted on a single pole, which allowed it to be propped on narrow places and pivot easily. This was presumably an adaptation to the mountainous, narrow and uneven terrain of western Sichuan, where many Tusi mountain fortresses stand.

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Xiang Mo Chu (降魔杵)

Drawing of a Xiang Mo Chu (right), from 'Jin Tang Jie Zhu Shi Er Chou (《金湯借箸十二籌》) '.

Xiang Mo Chu (降魔杵, lit. 'Demon-subduing pestle', or Vajra) was a simple yet effective siege defence weapon designed to counter siege tower. It was simply a long battering ram mounted on top of fortress wall, designed to be used in conjunction with pole hooks to immobilise enemy siege tower so that it could be destroyed more easily.

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Zao Hua Xun Huan Pao (造化循環砲)

MINOR UPDATE JANURAY 28, 2024

Two Ming troopers shooting Zao Hua Xun Huan Pao, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Zao Hua Xun Huan Pao (造化循環砲, lit. 'Fortuitous cyclic cannon'. The 'cyclic' in its name refers to fire by rotation tactic employed by its gunners) was a type of heavy handgonne (or rather, a set of four handgonnes) and one of the attempts to improve handgonne design in order to keep up with the firepower, accuracy and rate of fire of matchlock musket. 

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Gong Cheng Lin Chong Lu Gong Che (攻城臨衝呂公車)

Stylised illustration of a Lu Gong Che, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志 》)'.

Gong Cheng Lin Chong Lu Gong Che (攻城臨衝呂公車, lit. 'City-siege approaching assault cart of Lord Lu'), often shortened to Lin Chong Lu Gong Che (臨衝呂公車, lit. 'Approaching assault cart of Lord Lu') or simply Lu Gong Che (呂公車, lit. 'Cart of Lord Lu'), is the Chinese siege tower. It was named after the semi-legendary Lu Shang (呂尚), better known as Jiang Zi Ya (姜子牙).

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Di Yong Qiang (地湧鎗)

UPDATED NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Sprung trap (left) and unsprung trap (right), from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Di Yong Qiang (地湧鎗, lit. 'Ground surge spear'), also known as Di Yong Shen Qiang (地湧神鎗, lit. 'Ground surge divine spear') was a simple yet deadly pressure plate-activated spiked trap. Designed to be easy to use, mass-producible and disposable, Di Yong Qiang consisted of a flat, rectangular wooden frame, a wooden plank serving as pressure plate, and up to eight steel spikes connected to the pressure plate with ropes and eye bolts.

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Xiu Jian (袖箭)

Xiu Jian (袖箭, lit. 'Sleeve arrow')

Drawing of a Xiu Jian (highlighted), from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

A Xiu Jian was a simple dart with weighted arrowhead. It was usually kept hidden inside its user's sleeves (traditional Chinese clothing had long and broad sleeves), hence its namesake. Although Xiu Jian could also be thrown like a normal throwing dart, it was presumably launched directly from the sleeve with so-called gunslinger throw method. Unlike later models, Ming-style Xiu Jian did not come with spring-loaded launch tube.

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Weaponised shields of the Ming Dynasty

MINOR UPDATE JANUARY 2, 2024

Throughout the long history of Ming Dynasty, the Chinese had developed all kinds of combination weapons, and shield was no exception. Unlike most other Ming combination weapons which are often gimmicky and impractical, These shields were somewhat more practical and saw limited field use, although they were still far from the most common equipment on the battlefield. 

It should be noted that shields that only have built-in gun loops, such as Wu Di Shen Pai (無敵神牌), as well as firearms that have gun shields, like Xun Lei Chong (迅雷銃), are not covered by this blog post.

Shen Xing Po Zhen Meng Huo Dao Pai (神行破陣猛火刀牌, lit. 'Marvelous travelling, formation breaking, raging fire blade shield')

Drawing of a Shen Xing Po Zhen Meng Huo Dao Pai, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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Da Feng Ke (大蜂窠)

A Da Feng Ke, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Da Feng Ke (大蜂窠, lit. 'Great wasp nest'), also known as Huo Feng Wo (火蜂窩, lit. 'Fire wasp nest') and Yi Ke Feng (一窠蜂), was a type of primitive but powerful bomb and land mine. Made of one hundred layers of paper and ten layers of fabric, its payload included everything from incendiary and poison gas gunpowder, firecrackers, Di Shu (地鼠), small bomblets, darts, poisoned ceramic fragmentation, iron fragmentation and caltrops, to sulphur, resin, human hair and feces. Da Ke Feng was usually thrown by hand or launched from siege engine, and was most useful during siege or naval warfare. It is sometimes confused with Yi Wo Feng (一窩蜂) due to similarly sounding names.

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Yu Da You's Du Lun Che (獨輪車) — Part 1

Contrary of popular misconception, war wagons formed an integral part of the Song, Ming and early Manchu armies, particularly in North China. Massive numbers of war wagons once roamed China's soil, defending Ming territories against Mongol raiders, and much of the battles between Ming Chinese and Manchus were fought with war wagons from both sides.

While mentions of Ming period war wagons are plentiful, famous Ming general Yu Da You (俞大猷) was one of the earliest pioneers to discuss in detail the deployment and tactics of these war machines. He also designed Du Lun Che (獨輪車, lit. 'One wheeled cart'), which was basically a giant armed and armoured wheelbarrow.

Early Version

This version of Du Lun Che was designed by Yu Da You before his transfer to Datong Defence Region (大同鎮). Early Du Lun Che was a simple cart armed with two long spears, manned by ten crews and supported by ten infantries, twenty horsemen and twenty packhorses. The infantries were armed with Gou Lian Dao (鉤鐮刀), Hu Cha (虎叉, lit. 'Tiger fork', a trident that was similar but much larger than Tang Pa (鎲鈀). Its use was more common during Qing period.), Long Dao Qiang (龍刀鎗), as well as round shields paired with Huan Dao (環刀, lit. 'Ring sabre', this is an archaic Yuan period term referring to a sabre. Korean continued to use this terminology in the form of Hwando or 환도 to refer to their sabre).

Unlike its more advanced variant, early Du Lun Che was not equipped with shield or firearm. 

Late Version

Basic layout of Du Lun Che, from 'Zheng Qi Tang Ji (《正氣堂集》)'.

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Jiu Long Jian (九龍箭)

Drawing of a Jiu Long Jian, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Jiu Long Jian (九龍箭, lit. 'Nine dragons arrow') was a simple iron handgonne that shot nine poisoned darts. It was possibly related to Jiu Long Tong (九龍筒, lit. 'Nine dragons tube'), an early Ming period rocket launcher or dart gun.

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Lang Ya Bang (狼牙棒)

Drawing of a Lang Ya Bang, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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Gong She Huo Zhe Liu Jian (弓射火柘榴箭)

Drawing of a Gong She Huo Zhe Liu Jian, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

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Pao (礟)

Side view of a Pao, from 'Ji Xiao Xin Shu (《紀效新書》)'.

Top view of a Pao, from 'Ji Xiao Xin Shu (《紀效新書》)'.

Pao (礟, trebuchet) was the Chinese name for traction trebuchet. Also known as Pao (砲) during the previous dynasties, the latter term gradually became associated with guns and cannons. Traction trebuchet originated in China and its use reached zenith during Song period. While the importance of trebuchet diminished after the invention of cannons, it still remained a useful weapon in Ming arsenal.

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