Lei Huo Bian (雷火鞭)

MINOR UPDATE MAY 11, 2026

Drawing of a Lei Huo Bian, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'.

The Lei Huo Bian (雷火鞭, lit. 'Thunderfire Whip') was a relatively straightforward, if obscure, weapon that combined a Tie Bian (鐵鞭) with a simple handgonne. According to the Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》), a Lei Huo Bian could be made of either iron or bronze, and typically measured three chi two cun in length, with the first five cun hollowed out and fashioned into a short gun barrel fitted with a touch hole, and normally loaded with three lead pellets. Being essentially a a one-metre-long solid metal rod, the Lei Huo Bian was quite heavy for a one-handed weapon, and was usually reserved for sufficiently strong/trained warriors.

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Wei Yuan Pao (威遠砲)

UPDATED APRIL 17, 2026

Illustration of a large (left) and small (right) Wei Yuan Pao, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'

The Wei Yuan Pao (威遠砲, lit. "Awe-inspiring long range cannon") was essentially a stripped-down version of the wrought-iron Da Jiang Jun Pao (大將軍砲), developed during the late Ming period, probably around 1600. It discarded the cumbersome reinforcing hoops of the Great General Cannon, as it became clear through experience that the latter's advanced wrought-iron construction was already significantly overbuilt for the required size, weight, and firepower, making the reinforcing hoops unnecessary dead weight that only hindered handling and mobility.

The Wei Yuan Pao retained the general profile of the Great General Cannon, including the flared foot for vertical cleaning and reloading and abacus bead-shaped powder chamber. Unlike its predecessor, however, it featured a slightly flared muzzle, an iron sight similar to that of matchlock gun, and a touch hole lid similar to the type commonly found on Shen Qiang (神鎗).

A Wei Yuan Pao in the China Great Wall Museum, Badaling, China. Note the absence of reinforcing hoops. Source: Zhihu.

According to late Ming military treatise Li Qi Jie (《利器解》), the Wei Yuan Pao was produced in two sizes. The lighter version measured approximately 2 chi 8 cun (90 cm) in length and weighed 120 jin (71 kg), with a bore diameter of roughly 2 cun 2 fen (7 cm) at the muzzle and a bore length of 2 chi 3 cun (74 cm), giving a rough calibre (bore length to bore diameter ratio) of about 10.5. It was loaded with 8 liang (296 g) of gunpowder and fired a large iron-cored lead ball weighing 3 jin 6 liang (2 kg or 4.6 lb) along with one hundred 6 qian (22 g) lead bullets. Due to its light weight, it could be easily carried by a horse or mule. 

The heavier variant followed the same general proportions for length, bore length, and calibre, but was scaled up in weight to 200 jin (118 kg), with an estimated bore diameter of approximately 2.6–2.7 cun (8.3–8.6 cm). It was loaded with 1 jin (590 g) of gunpowder and fired a 6 jin (3.5 kg or 7.8 lb) iron-cored lead ball.

While other contemporary Ming military texts record slight variations in these dimensions and specifications, some recommending a powder charge of up to 1 jin 4 liang (740 g) for the lighter version — a remarkably heavy charge for such a light piece, made possible only by its robust wrought-iron construction — the general characteristics of the Wei Yuan Pao remained fairly consistent across sources.

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Interesting comparison between different warships of the Far East in the sixteenth and seventeenth century

I came across this interesting comparison at Baidu Tieba, although the original post has since been deleted. The original comparison is a simple table written entirely in Chinese, so I translated the table to English and added a few commentaries.

Weight of Cannon (lbs)*	<500	500	1000	1500	2000	3000	4000>
Sixteenth Century Portuguese Galley	34+
Ming Dynasty Feng Zhou (early)	30+
Ming Dynasty Feng Zhou (late)	14+
Mark 1 Warship of Qi Ji Guang's fleet (early)	9+	1
Mark 1 Warship of Qi Ji Guang's fleet (late)	14+		2
Tekkōsen	48 – 70	3
Geobukseon**	20 – 30+
Advanced Ming Dynasty War Junk	30+	14 – 22				6 – 8
Koxinga-era Gong Chuan	100 – 200+	20+					1
Dutch Hired Vessel 'Graaf Hendrik'	?	?	8	10	8	8	2
Mông Đồng							1 – 2

* Although weight of shot is a more reliable measure of firepower, Chinese records seldom mention them. Chinese gunners also frequently loaded their guns with multiple smaller shots in addition to the main shot (which made them less powerful), making measurement purely by weight of shot very misleading.

** This assume a late variant of Geobukseon/Turtle ship with significantly improved armaments, due to the fact that very little is known about the early, Imjin War-era Geobukseon.

Feng Zhou (封舟, lit. 'Investiture ship')

A Qing Dynasty Feng Zhou, from 'Ce Feng Liu Qiu Tu (《冊封琉球圖》)'.

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