The ''che dian chong'' () is a

breech-loading A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition from the breech end of the barrel (i.e., from the rearward, open end of the gun's barrel), as opposed to a muzzleloader, in which the user loads the ammunition from the ( muzzle ...

, cartridge-using

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

invented by Zhao Shizhen (趙士禎) during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

for the dynasty's arsenals. Like all early breech loading fireams, gas leakage was a limitation and danger present in the weapon's mechanism. The ''zi mu chong'' is also a breech loading musket, the earliest breech-loader musket known. It was indigenously developed in China in the late 16th century.

References

Muskets Firearms of China {{firearms-stub