Rocket weaponry of the Ming Dynasty

UPDATED DECEMBER 9, 2024

Overview

While first rocket was believed to be invented around twelfth century and had been fielded in battle almost as soon as it became viable, it was not until Ming period that rocket was employed en mass as a practical battlefield weapon. Ming weapon engineers constantly sought to create more deadly rocketry, and developed many platforms to better utilise this devastating weapon, whether stationary, handheld or mobile.

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Er Hu Zhui Yang Jian (二虎追羊箭)

MINOR UPDATE OCTOBER 9, 2024

Drawing of an Er Hu Zhui Yang Jian, from a Qing Dynasty print of 'Huo Long Jing (《火龍經》)'.

Er Hu Zhui Yang Jian (二虎追羊箭, lit. 'Two tigers chasing goat arrow') was a type of rocket arrow equipped with two rocket motors to achieve extended range. It was equipped with a three-pronged arrowhead as well as silk threads wound around the shaft just below the arrowhead, both dipped in poison, a four cun five fen long poison smoke-cum-incendiary warhead, as well as two seven cun long rocket motors, all mounted below the silk thread. The warhead and both rockets were connected to a single fuse.

It is not known if the rocket motors on Er Hu Zhui Yang Jian were configured to be ignited at once or in sequence, although the latter seems more plausible given the difficulties of igniting two rockets at exactly the same time.

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Unique weapon of the Ming Dynasty — Huo Long Chu Shui (火龍出水)

Drawing of a Huo Long Chu Shui, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

Huo Long Chu Shui (火龍出水, lit. 'Fire Dragon Out of the Water') was perhaps the most well-known of ancient Chinese weapons. It was often hailed as the first ever multistage rocket as well as cluster munition rocket.

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Unique weapon of the Ming Dynasty — Shen Huo Fei Ya (神火飛鴉)

Shen Huo Fei Ya (神火飛鴉, lit. 'Divine fire flying crow' or 'Flying crow with magic fire') was a unique, bird-shaped rocket made of papered bamboo or reed basketry. It was a long range incendiary weapon designed to attack stationary or slow-moving targets such as enemy encampments, fortresses and warships.

There were actually two variants of this rocket, detailed below.

Huo Long Shen Qi Zhen Fa (《火龍神器陣法》) variant

A badly drawn Shen Huo Fei Ya, from 'Huo Long Shen Qi Zhen Fa (《火龍神器陣法》).'

Huo Long Shen Qi Zhen Fa variant of Shen Huo Fei Ya was filled with a mixture of potent poisonous blinding smoke, poison smoke-incendiary gunpowder, incendiary gunpowder, caltrops, as well as numerous Fei Yan (飛燕) micro-rockets. It was propelled by a single rocket mounted below the crow's tail, and thus was infinitely more aerodynamically stable than the Wu Bei Zhi variant (see below).

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