Hand Cannon

Lore & Background

The earliest artistic depiction of what might be a hand cannon—a rock sculpture found among the Dazu Rock Carvings—is dated to 1128, much earlier than any recorded or precisely dated archaeological samples. The first cannons were likely an evolution of the fire lance. In 1259 a type of "fire-emitting lance" (tūhuǒqiãng 突火槍) made an appearance. According to the History of Song: "It is made from a large bamboo tube, and inside is stuffed a pellet wad (zǐkē 子窠). Once the fire goes off it completely spews the rear pellet wad forth, and the sound is like a bomb that can be heard for five hundred or more paces." The pellet wad mentioned is possibly the first true bullet in recorded history depending on how bullet is defined, as it did occlude the barrel, unlike previous co-viatives used in the fire lance. Fire lances transformed from the "bamboo- (or wood- or paper-) barreled firearm to the metal-barreled firearm" to better withstand the explosive pressure of gunpowder.

In Their Own Story

Hand cannons first saw widespread use in China sometime during the 13th century. In 1287 Yuan Jurchen troops deployed hand cannons in putting down a rebellion by the Mongol prince Nayan. The History of Yuan reports that the cannons of Li Ting's soldiers "caused great damage" and created "such confusion that the enemy soldiers attacked and killed each other." The hand cannons were used again in the beginning of 1288. Li Ting's "gun-soldiers" or chòngzú (銃卒) were able to carry the hand cannons "on their backs". The passage on the 1288 battle is also the first to coin the name chòng (銃) with the metal radical jīn (金) for metal-barrel firearms. The oldest extant hand cannon bearing a date of production is the Xanadu Gun, which contains an era date corresponding to 1298. The Heilongjiang hand cannon is dated a decade earlier to 1288, corresponding to the military conflict involving Li Ting, but the dating method is based on contextual evidence; the gun bears no inscription or era date.

Reader's Guide

The earliest reliable evidence of cannons in Europe appeared in 1326 in a register of the municipality of Florence and evidence of their production can be dated as early as 1327. The first recorded use of gunpowder weapons in Europe was in 1331 when two mounted German knights attacked Cividale del Friuli with gunpowder weapons of some sort. By 1338 hand cannons were in widespread use in France. One of the oldest surviving weapons of this type is the "Loshult gun", a 10 kg (22 lb) Swedish example from the mid-14th century. In 1999, a group of British and Danish researchers made a replica of the gun and tested it using four period-accurate mixes of gunpowder, firing both 1.88 kg (4.1 lb) arrows and 184 g (6.5 oz) lead balls with 50 g (1.8 oz) charges of gunpowder. The velocities of the arrows varied from 63 m/s (210 ft/s) to 87 m/s (290 ft/s) with max ranges of 205 m (673 ft) to 360 m (1,180 ft), while the balls achieve velocities of between 110 m/s (360 ft/s) to 142 m/s (470 ft/s) with an average range of 630 m (2,070 ft).

Did You Know?

• The oldest extant hand cannon bearing a date of production is the Xanadu Gun, which contains an era date corresponding to 1298.
• The Heilongjiang hand cannon is dated to 1288, corresponding to the military conflict involving Li Ting, but bears no inscription or era date.
• In 1259 a type of 'fire-emitting lance' (tūhuǒqiãng) appeared, using a pellet wad that is possibly the first true bullet in recorded history.
• The first recorded use of gunpowder weapons in Europe was in 1331 when two mounted German knights attacked Cividale del Friuli.
• A replica of the Loshult gun fired lead balls at velocities between 110 m/s and 142 m/s, with an average range of 630 m.