Some studies indicate that gunpowder first appeared in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), but due to insufficient documentation and the fact that it was only an occasional by-product of alchemy at that time, there is no standard record of its production method. One of the reasons for the original record of gunpowder is said to be a record in alchemy literature, warning not to mix certain designated items, otherwise it will cause an explosion. However, in the documents that can be traced now, it can also be seen that the mixture at that time was mixed with a variety of non-flammable materials, and even human semen was mixed in. It is also speculated that gunpowder was first used to facilitate ignition.
Until the 19th century, gunpowder was the only propellant and explosive known to exist. Gunpowder is generally considered by the Chinese to be one of the four great inventions of ancient China. Western countries do not have one of the four great inventions of ancient China, but they generally admit that gunpowder was first invented and used in China. It is generally believed that during the Song Dynasty in the 11th century, China began to use it as a war tool, in the form of bombs carried on rockets and trebuchets. The earliest traceable record is in 1259, when bamboo branches were used to launch clay warheads. Most of these rockets only have a scaring effect and do not actually pose a huge threat.
However, early gunpowder contained many toxic mixtures, such as mercury and arsenic, so it could be regarded as a chemical weapon. The oldest metal cannon found today was made around 1323. However, the Mongols before the Yuan Dynasty (1279~1368) used cannons to fight against the Russians at that time, which was recorded in the writings of Roger Bacon in Europe in 1248. In Europe, the earliest record of a cannon was a cannon exported from Ghent, Belgium, in 1313. In the mid-14th century, there were many records of the use of cannons in both European and Chinese documents. However, it was the Europeans who first discovered that only three ingredients in gunpowder were actually useful, and they were the first to understand that the main active ingredient was potassium nitrate (KNO3).
Three controversies about the time of the invention of gunpowder
The first view is that gunpowder was invented in the Han Dynasty of my country. The basis for those who hold this view is that in the Han Dynasty of my country, alchemists used saltpeter and three yellows to refine alchemy, because in the existing ancient book of alchemy in the Han Dynasty, “The Yellow Emperor’s Jiuding Shendan Jing”, although The records are not very detailed, but they all talk about the method of refining elixirs with fire, and there is no record of using saltpeter or sulfur water to refine elixirs. In the “Thirty-six Water Methods” compiled by alchemists, it is the earliest book in our country and the world. The name of gunpowder and the formula of military gunpowder. However, not all of the 33 elixir recipes in the Han Dynasty used saltpeter in alchemy, but they were all refined with water, and none of them were refined with fire. Therefore, it is very likely that the alchemists at that time deliberately avoided burning the mixture of saltpeter and sulfur when making alchemy. In other words, the alchemists of the Han Dynasty may have mastered gunpowder.
The second view is that gunpowder was invented in the Jin Dynasty of my country. Ge Hong, a famous alchemist in the Jin Dynasty of my country, wrote in Volume 11 of “Baopuzi Neipian” “Elixir of Immortality”: “Also realgar… The method of taking it as bait is either steaming it or using wine as bait. Either first turn saltpeter into water and then condense it, or wrap it with black carcass intestines and steam it under the red soil, or mix it with rosin. Or refine it with three things, and make it as white as cloth and as white as ice.” From this passage, we can see that the alchemists of the Jin Dynasty had used saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal to refine the elixir by fire. When the three things are refined by fire, in some cases (such as the saltpeter content is small), arsenic oxide and elemental arsenic can be obtained (that is, “the arsenic is drawn like cloth, white as ice”); in some cases (such as the saltpeter content is increased, and the If heated by a fierce fire), it will explode. This explosive is the original thermal power plant chemical. Based on this, some people believe that the invention of gunpowder in our country began in the Jin Dynasty.
The third view is that my country only invented gunpowder in the Tang Dynasty. This is because in the Tang Dynasty, alchemists often used the fire-subduing method when refining alchemy, that is, taking certain measures to remove or change the toxicity of gold and stone materials (subdue fire poison), easy to Flammability, explosiveness (voltage), fluidity, volatility, sublimation (voltage), etc. Although the term “fuming fire” first appeared in books of the Western Han Dynasty, it was not until the Tang Dynasty that there were clear and detailed written records about the use of gold, stone, and medicine to fuse fire. The Tang Dynasty’s “Zhujia Shenpin Dan Method” records a “fire and sulfur method”. The method is to take two ounces of sulfur and two ounces of saltpeter, grind them into powder, put them into a pot, and dot three saponins one by one. Put it into the pot and let the sulfur and saltpeter burn. When one-third of the charcoal is eliminated, immediately cool it with water and take out the mixture. This is “subduing the fire”. Equal amounts of saltpeter, sulfur and a certain amount of charcoal are the formula for gunpowder, right?
Who invented gunpowder
Gunpowder was invented by ancient Chinese alchemists during the alchemy process. Ge Hong, the famous alchemist in ancient my country, all stayed in Luoyang for a long time. The great medical scientist Sun Simiao lived in the Sui Dynasty and the early Tang Dynasty and was a native of Jingzhao Huayuan (today’s Yaoxian County, Shaanxi Province). He was well versed in hundreds of schools of thought in classics and history, and had access to Taoist scriptures and Buddhist scriptures. He summarized clinical theories before the Tang Dynasty, collected prescriptions, acupuncture and other contents, and compiled them into books such as “Qian Jin Yao Fang” and “Qian Jin Yi Fang”. He made great contributions to the world and was honored as the “King of Medicine” by later generations. He was not only a great medical scientist, but also a famous alchemist, calling himself “Zhenren Sun”. He summarized the experience of previous alchemists and collected formulas from alchemists in the Heluo and Guanzhong areas, and finally proposed a more effective formula, the sulfur fire method. In short, the invention and spread of gunpowder are inextricably linked to Sun Simiao.
The significance of the invention of gunpowder to the world
First, gunpowder was used in medicine. Li Shizhen, a great medical scientist in the Ming Dynasty, clearly recorded in the “Compendium of Materia Medica” that gunpowder can treat skin diseases and be used as an insecticide. The modern “Clinical Manual of Traditional Chinese Medicine” also records that “Silver saltpeter, also known as saltpeter and fire saltpeter, is a crystal processed from natural potassium nitrate. It has a bitter and slightly salty nature and a warm taste. It has the functions of softening and softening, diuretic and purgative. It is suitable for jaundice. , edema, stranguria, constipation, late summer heat, diarrhea and other diseases…” “Sulfur, sour, warm. Toxic, insecticidal, replenishing fire and supporting yang. Used for scabies, gangrene and other diseases; used for Mingmen fire deficiency , cold waist and knees, impotence, as well as asthma, coldness, abdominal pain and other symptoms caused by insufficient kidney energy.” Gunpowder was originally made by alchemists using saltpeter, sulfur and other gold and stone ingredients to obtain the elixir of life. , although it cannot really be used as an elixir of immortality, it is undoubtedly used to treat diseases. Nowadays, Chinese people still have the legacy and habit of using gunpowder to treat diseases. For example, to stop bleeding due to minor injuries, the first aid method in rural areas is to tear off the gunpowder skin from the matchbox and stick it tightly to the wound. The blood will immediately stop and the pain will disappear. This is miraculous. In addition, Taiwanese folk use gunpowder in bullets to treat stomachache, and the effect is also very good. .
Second, gunpowder was used for hunting. The flammability and explosiveness of gunpowder have long been known by ancient alchemists. After their wise ancestors knew its power, they used it to defend themselves against attacks by ferocious beasts and insects. Such as setting traps, shooting prey, etc. According to “Xu Yi Jian Zhi”, in the late Jin Dynasty (1161-1189), that is, during the Qiandao period of Xiaozong in the Southern Song Dynasty (1185-1189), there was a hunter named Tie Li in Beizheng Village of Yangqu (now Taiyuan, Shanxi) in the Jin Dynasty. He makes a living by hunting foxes. When catching foxes, he uses a hunting tool called a “cupping pot.” Once Tie Li discovered the whereabouts of the fox, he set up a net to ambush the fox where it must pass, tied a pigeon as bait, and climbed up a tree to wait. At the second watch, the fox group arrived. Tie Li immediately lit the “rolled cup” of the “cup cup” he carried around his waist and threw it under the tree. The gunpowder in the cup caught fire and made a violent explosion. The foxes fled in panic and were killed. Keep a good net in everything. The “cup pot” used by Tie Li must be a gunpowder product, and gunpowder does have the power to scare animals.
Third, gunpowder was used in military applications. Around the end of the Tang Dynasty, gunpowder was used in military applications. At that time, the vassal towns were divided and wars were frequent. In the first year of Tianyou (904), Emperor Zhaozong of the Tang Dynasty, Yang Xingmi’s army besieged Yuzhang (now Nanchang, Jiangxi). In this battle, Yang Xingmi’s army used trebuchets to fire “artillery” (a weapon that uses gunpowder, arsenic, starch, etc.) A spherical gunpowder ball made of ingredients) burned the Longshamen in Yuzhang. (See Volume 2 of “Nine Kingdoms”) This is the earliest known gunpowder weapon in my country, and it is also the earliest historical record of the use of gunpowder in world affairs. In other words, my country invented gunpowder weapons at the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 10th century AD, and gunpowder was used in military affairs for the first time. By the Song Dynasty, gunpowder was increasingly used in military affairs. According to the “Wu Jing Zong Yao”, a military encyclopedia edited by Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, gunpowder weapons in the early and middle Northern Song Dynasty mainly included artillery (a round gunpowder ball), tribulus fireball, iron-tipped fire harrier, poison smoke ball, and bamboo fire. There are more than ten kinds of harriers, gunpowder whips and arrows, fierce fire oil torches, rockets, etc. For example, the thunderbolt fireball is made by taking a piece of bamboo with three sections long and about 4.95cm thick without cracks. Do not remove the sections. Use 30 thin slices of different sizes cast from iron, add 1.5 to 2kg of gunpowder, mix and wrap it around the fireball. The bamboo is shaped into a ball, leaving an inch of bamboo at each end. In this way, it becomes a thunderbolt fireball. When used against an enemy, a red-hot “fire cone” is used to brand the ball. The explosion sounds like a thunderbolt and the smoke is fierce.
Fourth, gunpowder was used to ward off evil spirits, pray for blessings, and for entertainment. This is the most widespread civilian use of gunpowder.