The oldest extant gun bearing a date of production is the Xanadu Gun, so called because it was discovered in the ruins of
Xanadu (Shangdu), the summer palace of the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
in
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. The Xanadu Gun is in length and weighs , its muzzle is flared outwards, slightly bowl-shape, and called by
Chinese as 碗口铳 (
Wǎn kǒu chòng, literally ''
bowl-mouthed gun'').
Its dating is based on archaeological context and a straightforward inscription containing an
era name and year that correspond with the Gregorian Calendar at 1298. Not only does the inscription contain the era name and date, it also includes a serial number and manufacturing information which suggests that gun production had already become systematized, or at least become a somewhat standardized affair by the time of its fabrication. The design of the gun includes axial holes in its rear which some speculate could have been used in a mounting mechanism. Like most early guns with the possible exception of the
Western Xia gun (the
Wuwei bronze cannon), it is small, weighing just over and in length. Although the Xanadu Gun is the most precisely dated gun from the 13th century, other extant samples with approximate dating may be older.
See also
*
Gunpowder weapons in the Song dynasty
*
Military of the Yuan dynasty
*
Wuwei Bronze Cannon, late Western Xia (1214–1227).
*
Heilongjiang hand cannon, circa 1287–1288.
*
Huochong, a Chinese term for firearms
*
Hu Dun Pao, a term refers to cannon and trebuchet.
References
Bibliography
* .
Weapons of the Mongol Empire
Military history of the Yuan dynasty
Artillery of China
Chinese inventions
Individual cannons
Early firearms
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