Battles & Wars › Medieval wars › Gunpowder and cannon
Fire lance: the first gun
c. 950 (China); used at the Siege of De'an, 1132· Invention or discovery· Weapons, armor & warships
Mostly agreedGood evidence; some details, dates or numbers uncertain.
A Chinese tube of bamboo or paper fixed to a spear that spat gunpowder flame and debris; the ancestor of all guns.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
Soldiers tied a tube packed with gunpowder to a spear. Lit, it shot flame and sparks a few meters for a short time, then the spear was used as normal. A Buddhist banner from Dunhuang of about 950 may show one. The first recorded battle use was by Song defenders at De'an in 1132. Later versions added pellets or pottery shards and tubes of iron-reinforced paper or metal. By the late 1200s, metal barrels firing a tight-fitting projectile made the first true guns.
Why it matters
It was the first weapon to use gunpowder to throw something out of a tube, the basic idea behind every gun and cannon that followed.
How we know
An account of the De'an siege by Chen Gui, a commander there; Song and Jin records; the Dunhuang painting; and later Ming manuals illustrating many fire-lance types.
Still debated
Whether the Dunhuang figure really holds a fire lance is debated, and so is the exact point at which the fire lance became a true gun.
Connections (3)
▸Gunpowder and cannon was first packed into a tube in the Fire lance: the first gunMostly agreed
The connection
Chinese gunpowder was first used in war in fire arrows and incendiary bombs. Packing it into a bamboo or paper tube on a spear produced the fire lance, a short-range flamethrower. Strengthening the tube, tightening the fit and adding projectiles then led step by step to the metal-barreled gun and the cannon.
When and how
China, from about 950 (the Dunhuang painting) to 1132, when Song defenders used fire lances at De'an in Hubei.
How sure are we?
Song military manuals describe early gunpowder weapons, and Chen Gui's account of De'an is the first battle record of fire lances.
Debates and open questions
Dating the first fire lance depends on how one reads the Dunhuang painting, and whether some early 'fire arrows' used true gunpowder is debated.
▸Fire lance: the first gun was the distant ancestor of The gun: arquebus and musketMostly agreed
The connection
The fire lance, a bamboo or paper tube of gunpowder tied to a spear, shot flame and sometimes shrapnel. Over centuries makers switched to metal tubes and loaded a projectile that filled the bore: the first guns. Hand cannon spread west, and adding a stock, trigger and lock produced the arquebus.
When and how
China, from about 950 to the 1200s; metal guns by about 1288; hand guns in Europe by the 1300s; arquebus by about 1475.
How sure are we?
Chinese manuals, a painted silk banner from Dunhuang showing a fire lance, the Heilongjiang hand cannon of about 1288, and Europe's earliest surviving guns.
Debates and open questions
Whether Europe's guns came directly from Chinese designs or were partly reinvented once gunpowder arrived is still debated.
▸Fire lance: the first gun was used against the Mongols during the Mongol conquestsMostly agreed
The connection
As the Mongols besieged Jin cities, defenders used improved fire lances with iron-reinforced paper tubes. At Kaifeng in 1232–1233 and Guide in 1233, Jin troops attacked Mongol positions with them; at Guide, by one account, about 450 fire-lance troops routed a Mongol camp. The Song later used them too, and the Mongols adopted gunpowder weapons themselves.
When and how
Kaifeng and Guide (now Shangqiu) in Henan, northern China, 1232–1233; Jin defenders against Mongol armies, at Kaifeng under Subutai.
How sure are we?
The Jin dynastic history (Jin Shi) describes 'flying fire lances' and their use in these battles.
Debates and open questions
Casualty figures come from Chinese histories compiled later and may be inflated; how much these weapons slowed the Mongol conquest is debated.