Huochong (simplified Chinese:火铳;traditional Chinese:火銃) is a Chinese name forfirearms. In pre-modern China, the termschong andpao were used interchangeably at times without clearly distinguishing between agun andcannon. By the earlyMing dynasty (1368–1644), it could refer to both cannons orhand cannons. The termchong has been applied to numerous types of firearm weapons in China, including the hand cannons (shou chong), bowl-mouth cannons (wankou chong), double edged gun (liangtou chong), and big 100-bullet gun (da chong baizi). The Koreans and Vietnamese (sung andphao) also used the same terms to describe early firearms.[1][2][3]
The oldest confirmedhuochong, also the earliestcannon with a date of production, is a bronze bowl-mouth gun (wankou chong) bearing an inscription dating it to 1298 (seeXanadu Gun).[4]
Chong was later used to describe European firearms such as Frankish cannons andmuskets. InFujian, the Frankish cannon was called "bie-wei chong" (turtle-tailed cannon). The matchlock musket was called "niaochong" or "niaozuichong" (bird-beak gun) before it was replaced by "niaoqiang" during theQing dynasty.[5] The term "niaoqiang" had been used since the late Ming dynasty, although very rarely. According to Song Yingxing, writing in 1637, the difference between a "niaoqiang" and "niaochong" was the length of their barrels and the range of their shots. A "niaochong" was about threechi in length and had a range of 100 paces. A "niaoqiang" was built the same as a "niaochong" except its barrel was twice as long, used twice as much gunpowder, and had a range of 200 paces.[6]
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