Characteristics of the invention and development of ancient gunpowder in China,

The gunpowder invented in ancient China is a mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal. When it is ignited, it can quickly ignite and explode, and a large amount of black smoke and fog will rise, so people also call it black gunpowder or pyrotechnics. Its invention has gone through a long historical process, which laid the foundation for the creation of firearms.

(1) the invention of gunpowder

How was gunpowder invented? Historical development has proved that it is not the product of individual genius, but the result of several generations' efforts for thousands of years. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period in the 6th century BC, a man named Ji Ran mentioned the origin of saltpeter and sulfur. He said, "eliminating nitrate will lead to a long way" and "sulfur will lead to Hanzhong". Inspired by him, many writers later listed more origins of saltpeter and sulfur in medical classics. With the continuous discovery of saltpeter and sulfur producing areas, it has attracted the attention of pharmacologists and physicians. After several tests, they think saltpeter and sulfur can be used as medicine. When alchemists realized the wonderful use of saltpeter and sulfur, they used them to refine the elixir of life. Coincidentally, during the long-term refining of Dan medicine, the alchemist accidentally discovered the burning and explosion phenomenon of the mixture of saltpeter and sulfur. The first experimenter in this respect was Ge Hong, an alchemist in Jin Dynasty. He once smelted saltpeter, sulfur, Xuan (cave) intestine (i.e. pig's large intestine) and carbon (here refers to carbon-containing organic matter) together to generate arsenic oxide (As2O3) mixture in Bai Rubing. If enough saltpeter is used in the test, the product will explode when it is ignited by fire. Has Ge Hong ever discovered this phenomenon? It's not in his book. However, his alchemical activities had a positive impact on the invention of gunpowder.

The alchemists in the Tang Dynasty inherited and developed the previous alchemy, and experimented with a method of reducing fire to change the characteristics of saltpeter and sulfur drugs, so as to avoid fire and extract the needed elixir. There was an alchemist named Qing, who used the "alum method" to conduct smoke tests on saltpeter and sulfur. His method is to mix sodium nitrate powder, sulfur powder and Aristolochia powder (a carbonaceous substance) evenly in a jar, and then bury the jar in a pit so that the jar mouth is flush with the ground. Then put a marble-sized fire (such as red-hot charcoal) into the jar and smoke rises from it. In order to prevent the fire from rushing up, the tank mouth is sealed with four or five layers of wet paper, and then compacted with brick soil. Judging from the whole process of submerged fire, all three kinds of mixtures are burned in anoxic tanks, and the smoke flame impulse is very large. This shows that this mixture is burned by oxygen released by itself after being ignited. Later, people called this spontaneous combustion medicine gunpowder. The Secret of the Great Sage records the "fire fan method" adopted by Qing Xuzi. This book was published in the 3rd year of Yuanhe, Tang Xianzong (AD 808), and was later included in Volume II of The Integration of Lead and Mercury. Therefore, it can be said that the ancient alchemists in China had already prepared the original gunpowder in 808 AD at the latest. Therefore, it is often said that the invention of gunpowder should be attributed to ancient alchemists.

The gunpowder invented by an alchemist for immortality was improved by 100 years. In the early Northern Song Dynasty, it was made into the first batch of primary firearms, such as fireballs and gunpowder arrows, by firearms developers and generals Feng Jisheng and Shipu, and used in combat. Wu's "Medicine" recorded three earliest gunpowder formulas in the world, namely, fireball formula, tribulus fireball formula and poisonous smoke ball formula.

The composition of fireball powder is: Jinzhou Sulfur 14, Alumen 72, Glauber's salt 2.5 Jin, Pill 12, Dry Paint 12, Arsenic 12, Fixed Powder 12 and Bamboo. If these substances are classified and merged according to saltpeter, sulfur and carbonaceous matter, saltpeter weighs 40 taels, sulfur and sulfide weigh 2 1 taels, carbonaceous matter weighs 2 18.02 taels, and tri * * weighs 79.02 taels. Their ratio (that is, the percentage of saltpeter, sulfur and carbonaceous substances in the powder) is 50. 6%, 26.6% and 22.8%.

The ingredients of the formula of tribulus terrestris fireball powder are: 1 kg of sulfur, 2.5 kg of sodium sulfate, 5.5 ounces of coarse carbon powder, 2 halves of asphalt, 2 halves of dry paint, and pounded into powder; One or two points for bamboo shavings and one or two points for hemp shavings, and cut into pieces; Divide tung oil and small oil in half, wax in half, and melt the juice. Among them, saltpeter 40, sulfur 20, carbonaceous material 19.07 and * * * weight 79.07. Their compound proportions are 50%, 25% and 25% respectively.

Poison, smoke, powder and square balls weigh five Jin. Use sulfur 15 Liang, kusnezoff monkshood-5 Liang, mirabilite-1 Jin 14 Liang, croton-5 Liang, Stellera chamaejasme-5 Liang, tung oil-2.5 Liang, small oil-2.5 Liang, charcoal powder-5.5 Liang, asphalt-2.5 Liang, arsenic-2.5 Liang, yellow wax-1.5 Liang, bamboo shavings-1.5 Liang, and hemp shavings. Among them, saltpeter 30, sulfur 15, carbonaceous material 15.07, and * * * weighs 60.07. Their composite proportions are 49.06%, 24.8% and 25.6% respectively. Four toxic substances *** 17, including kusnezoff monkshood, croton croton, stellera chamaejasme and arsenic.

The above three powder formulations are based on nitrate, sulfur and carbon, and are doped with some other substances. The gunpowder prepared according to these three formulas is then processed into fireballs, which becomes a firearm with fighting functions such as burning, pumping and dispersing poison. They are working people, pharmacologists, physicians and alchemists in ancient China. After hundreds or even thousands of years of hard exploration, they have achieved fruitful results. Their successful manufacture marks the end of China's gunpowder invention stage, and has entered the stage where military strategists manufacture firearms for combat, which is of epoch-making significance in the history of weapons development. However, because these three kinds of propellants contain more other substances, they can only be used as primary propellants for burning, smoking or dispersing poison, and need to be continuously improved and perfected in combat.

(2) The development of gunpowder in the late Ming Dynasty.

During the nearly 500 years from the early Northern Song Dynasty to the late Ming Dynasty, the refining and preparation technology of raw materials used in primary gunpowder has been greatly improved. The manufactured gunpowder not only has many varieties and high quality, but also greatly expands the operational use. At the end of Ming Dynasty, there were 6 kinds of gunpowder formulas for firing bullets with matchlock guns, including 1 kind for soaking matchlock, and 50 or 60 kinds of traditional gunpowder formulas with the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine formulas, such as Jishuxin, Artifact Spectrum, Binglu, Ubezi, Ji Shen by Xi method, fire attack medicine and so on.

There are three characteristics in the gunpowder formula used by the matchlock gun to fire projectiles: first, only nitrate, sulfur and carbon are used as raw materials, and the rest impurities are removed, and the nitrate content is increased to more than 77%, so the burning speed is fast and the power is great. Secondly, they are divided into two categories: guns and gunpowder, because utensils are divided into guns. Thirdly, the composition ratio of nitrate, sulfur and carbon in these gunpowder formulas is similar to that of propellants used in Europe at the same time, which is a reflection of the technical exchange between East and West at that time.

There are many traditional gunpowder formulas with the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine formulas, most of which come from three gunpowder formulas contained in the General Theory of Five Classics. There are roughly two ways to combine them: the first is composed of the same but opposite nitrate, sulfur and carbon raw materials; The second category is mainly composed of nitrate, sulfur and carbon, plus other raw materials. traditional Chinese culture

In the first powder, saltpeter, charcoal and sulfur are used to form a strong combustion powder with high combustion efficiency; Nitrate, charcoal and lithopone with strong power are combined into high explosive, and nitrate, charcoal and toxic arsenic are combined into toxic gunpowder; Nitrate and sulfur are combined with the burning carbon powder of willow branches, tomato sticks, honeycombs and ladle shells, which are easy to catch fire, to form ignition powder; Nitrate, sulfur and gourd charcoal powder with strong combustion ability are combined into strong combustion powder; This explosive is made of Indocalamus leaf carbon powder plus saltpeter and sulfur.

The second is the derivative powder with special combat function after adding other raw materials to ordinary powder. Among them: adding lily, arsenic (toxic), iron, magnetic front and other raw materials. , forming "rotten powder" that can make people's skin rot; Add toxic raw materials, such as kusnezoff monkshood, croton, rattan, water horse, etc. It makes people speechless. Raw materials such as ginger, Changshan, Pinellia ternata, Sichuan sulfur, etc. After adding, it forms a "fire-breathing drug" that can spray poisonous flames; Add tung oil, rosin, bean powder and other combustible substances. , forming a "flying powder" that can burn the enemy's grain and camp; Adding raw materials such as fierce fire oil (now called petroleum) to form gunpowder, which can burn wet things for water warfare; Adding raw materials that can generate strong smoke after burning, such as wolf dung, to form alarm fireworks that can generate smoke during the day and glow at night; Adding raw materials with strong flammability, such as finless porpoise oil, finless porpoise bone, wolf dung and moxa (Na Na), to form "headwind powder" which can burn against the wind. Wait, wait. Others use songs to create some poems about the preparation, performance, usage and power of gunpowder, which are easy to understand and easy to remember and use.

The above-mentioned gunpowder formula was obtained by the gunpowder developers in Ming Dynasty in China through repeated research and experiments by using the characteristics of nitrate, sulfur, carbon and some animals, plants, minerals and oils, and it was an original contribution to the development of ancient gunpowder.

The gunpowder developers in the late Ming Dynasty not only produced all kinds of excellent gunpowder in practice, but also made a serious summary of practical experience, making it a rational theory and forming a unique gunpowder theory system in ancient China. They called nitrate, sulfur and carbon, which were easily accepted and understood by people at that time, as monarch, minister and auxiliary respectively, and compared them with the practice of making pills in traditional Chinese medicine, and compared the dominant position of nitrate in gunpowder and the auxiliary role of sulfur and carbon. If the refining of the three is very pure and the combination is very proper, then the fire attack after ignition and combustion will be wonderful. On the contrary, there will be weak monarch, unclear leadership, poor assistance, or powerful subordinates bullying the monarch, so the prepared gunpowder can not play a fighting role, or even completely fail. At the same time, Zhao Shizhen, a military technologist, explained the influence of air humidity on the dryness of the prepared powder by measuring the proportion of nitrate in Japanese and Mi Lu powders in his Artifact Spectrum: the high air humidity makes the powder easily absorb moisture and turn into moisture; The nitrate content is too small, and the impact force of gunpowder is insufficient. Therefore, he asked all localities to prepare medicines according to the different weather, rainfall, dryness, coolness and steaming degree in the northern border and coastal areas. In sunny and dry places, the content of nitrate can be increased; In cloudy and humid places, the content of nitrate should not be too much. This is just like the people of Qin must abide by the laws of Qin, but not violate them. Only in this way can a commander be called a well-planned and accurate general. The achievements made by gunpowder developers in the late Ming Dynasty in gunpowder theory were also unique in the world at that time.

(3) the spread of gunpowder to the west

After the gunpowder invented by China in ancient times was made into firearms, it spread to Korea and Japan in the east and to Arabia and Europe in the west in the foreign war of the Mongolian army (the Yuan Army after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty). Among them, the impact of spreading westward is particularly great.

Why do Arab and European gunpowder come from China? This is based on facts. It turns out that Arabs had written some art books before 1225, and although they also mentioned some cold weapons and fire-fighting appliances made of sulfur and grease, nitrate had not been used in fire-fighting appliances. An Arab doctor named Ibn once wrote a medical dictionary "The Complete Book of Single Agreement" between 1225- 1250. There is a drug called "China Snow" mentioned in the dictionary. "China Snow" is the Egyptian name of a drug from China, which is called "Baroud" in modern Arabic, meaning gunpowder. In A.D. 1280, Syrian Hassan mentioned a gunpowder formula called "Fei Huo" in The Complete Works of Equestrian and Military Strategy. The ratio of nitrate, sulfur and carbon in the formula is 10: 1: 3. The book also mentions the names of fireworks such as "China Steam Wheel" and "Qidan Flower", which are obviously gunpowder formulas influenced by China or handed down directly from China.

The St. Petersburg Museum in Russia has an Arabic manuscript from the end of 13 to the beginning of 14, in which the words "1300" are recorded, and there is also a picture of Arabs holding "madfa" in the book. "Motor method" is an early wooden tubular shooting firearm used by Arabs. Ma Chengfu, a researcher of Japanese firearms history, said in The Origin and Spread of Guns: The "maneuver method" is made after the flying hair gun used by the Jin army in China and the sudden fire gun used by the Southern Song army, both of which belong to the early musket series. In A.D. 1325, Arabs used the "mobile method" to fight against the Spanish. /kloc-In the middle of the 0/4th century, the Spanish brought the "maneuver method" obtained from the Arabs to Western Europe, and Europeans used it as a sample to make the earliest tubular shooting firearm pistol in Europe.

The historical fact that gunpowder and firearms invented by China spread to the west has long been recognized by the world. However, some people in the west put forward some different opinions on the invention of gunpowder. However, because it does not conform to the historical facts, it was overthrown by the research results of many firearms historians.