Inventions & Discoveries · Weapons and war

Fire lance

950 · 10th century · Also known as huoqiang

The fire lance was an early gunpowder weapon: a tube of gunpowder, usually bamboo, strapped to a spear or other polearm, with the earliest evidence from China in 950. Its first recorded use in war came in 1132, when Song garrisons used fire lances at the siege of De'an against the Jin. Pellets and shards were later added to the charge, and by the late 13th century metal barrels used without the lance had become the first hand cannons, making it the ancestor of modern firearms.

Fire lance
Image: Jiao Yu (焦玉), Huolongjing · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

On the inventions tree

First known
950
Where
China
Built onGunpowder808
Led toCannonby 1288

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See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Fire lance. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/fire-lance
MLA
“Fire lance.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/fire-lance. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Fire lance.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/fire-lance.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Fire lance’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/fire-lance (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻