Fire arrows were one of the earliest forms of weaponized

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

, being used from the 9th century onward. Not to be confused with earlier incendiary arrow projectiles, the fire arrow was a gunpowder weapon which receives its name from the translated Chinese term ''huǒjiàn'' (火箭), which literally means fire arrow. In China, a 'fire arrow' referred to a gunpowder projectile consisting of a bag of incendiary gunpowder attached to the shaft of an arrow. Fire arrows are the predecessors of

fire lance The fire lance () was a gunpowder weapon used by lighting it on fire, and is the ancestor of modern firearms. It first appeared in 10th–12th century China and was used to great effect during the Jin-Song Wars. It began as a small pyrotechnic de ...

s, the first firearm. Later rockets utilizing gunpowder were used to provide arrows with propulsive force and the term ''fire arrow'' became synonymous with rockets in the

Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...

. In other languages such as

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, 'fire arrow' (''agni astra'') underwent a different semantic shift and became synonymous with 'cannon'.

Design

Although the fire arrow is most commonly associated with its

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

mechanism, it originally consisted of a pouch of

attached to an arrow. This type of fire arrow served the function of an incendiary and was launched using a bow or crossbow. According to the

Wujing Zongyao The ''Wujing Zongyao'' (), sometimes rendered in English as the ''Complete Essentials for the Military Classics'', is a Chinese military compendium written from around 1040 to 1044. The book was compiled during the Northern Song dynasty by Ze ...

the fire arrow was constructed and used in the following manner: Incendiary gunpowder weapons had an advantage over previous incendiaries by using their own built-in oxygen supply to create flames, and were therefore harder to put out, similar to

Greek fire Greek fire was an incendiary weapon system used by the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. The recipe for Greek fire was a closely-guarded state secret; historians have variously speculated that it was based on saltp ...

. However, unlike Greek fire, gunpowder's physical properties are solid rather than liquid, which makes it easier to store and load. The rocket propelled fire arrow appeared later. By the mid-14th century, rocket arrow launchers had appeared in 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 ...

and later on mobile rocket arrow launchers that were utilized in China and later spread to Korea. The fire arrows propelled by gunpowder may have had a range of up to .

History

The fire arrows were first reported to have been used by the Southern Wu in 904 during the siege of Yuzhang. In 969, gunpowder propelled rocket arrows were invented by Yue Yifang and Feng Jisheng. In 975, the state of

Wuyue Wuyue (; ) was a Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic state of China and one of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period#Ten Kingdoms, Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period of History of China, Chinese history. It wa ...

sent a unit of soldiers skilled in the handling of fire arrows to the Song dynasty. In the same year, the Song used fire arrows to destroy the fleet of Southern Tang. Published in 1044, the ''

'', or ''Complete Compendium of Military Classics'', states that in 994, the city of Zitong was attacked by a Liao army of 100,000 men who were driven back by regular war machines and fire arrows. In 1083, Song records state that the court produced 350,000 fire arrows and sent them to two garrisons. On March 1, 1126, the

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

general Li Gang used a fire arrow machine known as the ''Thunderbolt thrower'' during the Jingkang Incident. By 1127, the Jin were also using fire arrows produced by captured Song artisans. In 1159, fire arrows were used by the Song navy in sinking a Jin fleet. In 1161, the general Yu Yunwen used fire arrows at the Battle of Caishi, near present-day

Ma'anshan Ma'anshan ( zh, s=马鞍山, t=馬鞍山, p=Mǎ ān Shān), also colloquially written as Maanshan, is a prefecture-level city in the eastern part of Anhui province in Eastern China. Its aliases include Taiping, Steel City, and Poetry City. An i ...

, during a Jin maritime incursion. By 1206, "gunpowder arrows" (''huoyaojian'') rather than just "fire arrows" (''huojian'') were mentioned. In 1245, a military exercise was conducted on the

Qiantang River The Qiantang River (), formerly known as the Hangchow River Postal Map Romanization, or Tsientang River, is a rivers of China, river in East China. An important commercial artery, it runs for through Zhejiang, passing through the provincial c ...

using what were probably rockets. The

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

also made use of the fire arrow during their campaigns in Japan. Probably as a result of the Mongolian military campaigns the fire arrows later spread into the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, where they were mentioned by Al Hasan Al Ramma in the late 13th century. In 1374, the kingdom of

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

also started producing gunpowder and by 1377, was producing cannons and fire arrows, which they used against

wokou ''Wokou'' ( zh, c=, p=Wōkòu; ; Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ; ; literal Chinese translation: "dwarf bandits"), which translates to "Japanese pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century to the 17 ...

pirates. Korean fire arrows were used against the Japanese during the invasion of Korea in 1592. In 1380, an order of "wasp nest" rocket arrow launchers were ordered by the Ming army and in 1400, rocket arrow launchers were recorded to have been used by Li Jinglong. In 1451, a type of mobile rocket arrow launcher known as the "Munjong Hwacha" was invented in Joseon. The Japanese version of the fire arrow was known as the bo hiya. The Japanese pirates (

, also known as wako or kaizoku) in the 16th century were reported to have used the bo hiya which had the appearance of a large arrow. A burning element made from incendiary waterproof rope was wrapped around the shaft and when lit the bo hiya was launched from a mortar like weapon hiya taihou or a wide bore Tanegashima matchlock arquebus. During one sea battle it was said the bo hiya were "falling like rain".

Rocket invention

The dating of the appearance of the gunpowder propelled fire arrow, otherwise known as a

, more specifically a

solid-propellant rocket A solid-propellant rocket or solid rocket is a rocket with a rocket engine that uses solid propellants (fuel/ oxidizer). The earliest rockets were solid-fuel rockets powered by gunpowder. The inception of gunpowder rockets in warfare can be c ...

, is disputed. The '' History of Song'' attributes the invention to different people at different times, Yue Yifang and Feng Jisheng in 969 and Tang Fu in 1000. However,

Joseph Needham Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, initia ...

argues that rockets could not have existed prior to the 12th century since the gunpowder formulas listed in the

are not suitable as rocket propellant. According to Stephen G. Haw, there is only slight evidence that rockets existed prior to 1200 and it is more likely they were not produced or used for warfare until the latter half of the 13th century.

Gallery

File:Gong she huo shi liu jian.png, A fire arrow from the '' Wubei Zhi'' File:明朝的神機箭.jpg, Depiction of fire arrows known as "divine engine arrows" (shen ji jian 神機箭) from the '' Wubei Zhi''. File:Fire arrow rocket launcher.jpg, Depiction of a stationary fire arrow (rocket arrow) launcher from the '' Huolongjing''. File:Hwacha-1500s-painting2.jpg, Illustration of a hwacha manual from the ''Gukjo-oryeui'' (國朝五禮儀, Five Rites of State) File:11th century basketry fire arrow rocket launcher.jpg, An illustration of fire arrow launchers as depicted in the '' Wubei Zhi''. The launcher is constructed using basketry. File:群豹奔橫箭.jpg, A "charging leopard pack" rocket arrow launcher as depicted in the '' Wubei Zhi''. File:一窩蜂.jpg, A "nest of bees" (yi wo feng 一窩蜂) rocket arrow launcher as depicted in the '' Wubei Zhi''. So called because of its hexagonal honeycomb shape. File:11th century long serpent fire arrow rocket launcher.jpg, A "long serpent" fire arrow launcher as depicted in the '' Wubei Zhi''. It carries 32 medium small poisoned rocket arrows and comes with a sling to carry on the back. File:Convocation of eagles chasing hare arrow.png, The 'convocation of eagles chasing hare arrow' from the '' Wubei Zhi''. A double ended rocket arrow pod that carries 30 small poisoned rocket arrows on each end for a total of 60 rocket arrows. It carries a sling for transport. File:Hwacha Yungwon pilbi.jpg, A hwacha from the ''Yungwon pilbi'' File:Hwacha2.jpg, A life size reconstruction of a hwacha that launches singijeons - the Korean fire arrow. File:Korean rocket arrows.jpg, Korean fire arrows File:Antique Japanese bohiya or bo hiya fire arrow and hiya taihou (fire arrow cannon).jpg, Antique Japanese (samurai) ''bo hiya'' or ''bohiya'' (fire arrow) and ''hiya taihou'' (fire arrow cannon), Kumamoto Castle, Japan. File:Antique Japanese (samurai) bohiya or bo hiya (fire arrow).jpg, Antique Japanese (samurai) ''bohiya'' or ''bo hiya'' (fire arrow), showing the fuse, Kumamoto Castle, Japan.

References

Bibliography

* . * . * * * * Lu Zhen. "Alternative Twenty-Five Histories: Records of Nine Kingdoms". Jinan: Qilu Press, 2000. . * .

External links

Great Chinese Encyclopedia - Ancient Chinese Rocket
* http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blrockethistory.htm

* http://www.spaceline.org/history/1.html
Chinese Fire Arrows
{{Early firearms Gunpowder Arrow types Artillery of China Chinese inventions Early firearms Early rocketry Rocket artillery