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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Bian Chong (邊銃)

Drawing of a Bian Chong, from 'Wu Bei Yao Lue (《武備要略》)'.

Bian Chong (邊銃, lit. 'Border gun' or 'Frontier gun'), also known as Chong Gun (銃棍, lit. 'Staff gun') was a relatively common but very obscure firearm of the Ming army. True to its namesake, it was commonly found in the hands of frontier troops. Bian Chong was essentially a double-ended handgonne that also doubled as quarterstaff. It had one rear sight and two front sights, one on each end of the barrel, to facilitate aiming.

Some Bian Chong had one half of their barrels wrapped in bamboo or rattan to for better grip.

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The myths of Shan Wen Kia

Section of the Ming period scroll painting 'Sou Shan Tu (《搜山圖》)', depicting Chinese war deity Er Lang Shen (二郎神) in a full suit of Shan Wen armour.

The so-called "mountain pattern armour/star scale armour" or Shan Wen Kia (which is a misspelling, correct Pinyin should be Shan Wen Kai or Shan Wen Jia) was a type of scale armour that was (almost) unique to China. However, like many ancient Chinese military equipment, it is shrouded in mysteries and misconceptions. 

In this blog post, I will attempt to clear up some misconceptions regarding mountain pattern armour.

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