How was gunpowder invented?

"Firecrackers are one year old, and the spring breeze warms Tu Su." These are the first two sentences in the poem "January Day" by Wang Anshi, a poet in the Song Dynasty, which describes the joyful scene and atmosphere of the New Year's Day. Setting off firecrackers in festivals seems to have existed since ancient times, not now. Then, why wrap some black powder on the paper and then "twist" it outside, which is called firecrackers? There were no such firecrackers in ancient times. At that time, people always lit a fire to drive away unlucky ghosts and gods, then threw bamboo into the fire and listened to the beep of bamboo burning, thinking that this would drive away ghosts and gods. And making firecrackers with some black powder wrapped in paper, of course, is later.

So, when did humans start to use gunpowder? It is difficult to answer this question accurately now. But one thing is certain; It is universally acknowledged that gunpowder was first invented and used by China, and it is one of the four great inventions in ancient China. Powder is easy to catch fire and burn out instantly, forming an explosion phenomenon, so it is very powerful. But it's not for treating diseases. Why is it called "medicine" It's a long story

The upper rulers of ancient society all over the world were keen to find the immortal elixir, so alchemy flourished for a while. China is no exception. According to historical records, Qin Shihuang was very keen on seeking the elixir of life. In the Western Han Dynasty, people applied metallurgical technology to refine mineral drugs and dreamed of refining elixir. At that time, alchemists were everywhere. Now Geling, the West Lake in Hangzhou, is said to be the place where Ge Hong, the alchemist of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, made an alchemy. Obviously, no matter how people practice, they will never practice the so-called elixir of life. However, a lot of chemical knowledge has been accumulated in the long-term smelting process. For example, the raw materials used in alchemy are mercury (mercury), sulfur, saltpeter (potassium nitrate), magnets, cinnabar, etc., which makes people have a deeper understanding of the properties of these chemicals. Because sulfur and potassium nitrate are heated together, they will burn violently, and this experience is gradually known by more people.

Sulfur and saltpeter are used to make gunpowder. Because they were originally used as "medicine", they are called gunpowder. In the early years of Tang Dynasty, pharmacologist Sun Simiao mentioned "internal sulfur method" in his book "Single Crystal". That is, two ounces of sulfur and two ounces of saltpeter are ground into powder and put into a casserole. Then, dig a pit in the ground, put the jar in the pit, the top of the pit is flush with the ground, and the periphery is filled with soil, and then put the jar with three soap feet to make the mixture of sulfur and saltpeter burn. When the fire just goes out, stir-fry it with three Jin of raw and cooked charcoal. When the charcoal burns one third, the mixture taken out while it is hot is called "lying on fire".

It's a bit like black powder, but to get real powder, it must be prepared in the right proportion. Probably before the Tang Dynasty, black powder appeared in the world.

The appearance of black powder was quickly used in the military. There were frequent wars in the late Tang Dynasty. A general used "plane fire" when attacking the city and burned down the city gate. He took his soldiers into the city in the fire and was burned all over. "The plane caught fire" is actually a kind of artillery. Put gunpowder on the gun, light it and throw it at the enemy. Before gunpowder was used, all guns were used to throw stones at the enemy, so ancient guns were written as "guns". After gunpowder was used in the military, guns were written as "guns". Guns were originally used to throw incendiary weapons.

In addition, there is a kind of rocket. In the early years of Northern Song Dynasty, due to the continuous development of production, rockets made of gunpowder appeared. It is said that a man named Feng Jisheng presented the method of making rockets to the emperor, so he was rewarded. This kind of rocket ties gunpowder to an arrow, lights the fuse and shoots at the enemy, causing a fire to kill the enemy or burn out the grain and grass. During the Northern Song Dynasty, gunpowder was widely used. There is a national arsenal called "Guangbei Siege Factory", and there is a "gunpowder kiln worker" in it, which is a workshop for making gunpowder. In Song Shenzong, the troops of the Xixia Kingdom attacked Lanzhou, and when the troops of the Northern Song Dynasty resisted, they collected 250,000 rockets at a time, which was 50,000 more than Zhuge Liang's "borrowing grass boats to shoot arrows" in the Three Kingdoms, and they were rockets. It can be seen that the production and application of gunpowder at that time were very extensive.

At first, it was ignited with gunpowder, and later it took advantage of its powerful explosive ability. During the Northern Song Dynasty, China began to manufacture explosive gunpowder weapons, which marked the transition of human weapons from the era of cold weapons to the era of firearms. In the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a book called "General Outline of Wu Jing", which recorded many newly invented firearms in detail. One of the weapons is called "Thunderball", which can make a thunderous sound when ignited by fire. Later, on the night of the Lantern Festival, cities and villages were very lively. Besides all kinds of lanterns, there are fireworks. Xin Qiji, a poet in the Song Dynasty, recorded this passionate scene of fireworks flying, and wrote: "Thousands of trees are blooming in the east wind night, and the stars are like rain." At this time, gunpowder has been applied in many forms and methods. By the time the regime of the Northern Song Dynasty collapsed (1early 2nd century), Li Gang, commander-in-chief of the Song Dynasty, had ordered the release of thunderbolt guns in order to resist the invasion of Jin Bing, which was an early example of the use of explosive weapons in the war.

China Ancient Rocket During the Southern Song Dynasty, the 600,000-strong army of the State of Jin hit the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in an attempt to wipe out the Southern Song Dynasty in one fell swoop. The minister of the Song Dynasty rushed to Quarry (near Maanshan City today) and led the army to prepare for the battle quickly. The nomads from the army sailed across the river, and the coach Wan Yanliang personally commanded the crossing with a small flag. Yu ordered the warships to meet and fired thunderbolts at the same time. After the gun was lit, it suddenly rose into the air, then fell into the water and jumped out, burning and exploding in front of the enemy, making a thunderous noise; A lot of lime was also released from the gun, which narrowed the enemy's eyes. Song Jun stormed, nomads from the water in succession, and finally Song Jun won.

According to Yang Wanli, a great poet in the Song Dynasty, the thunderbolt gun used by Song Jun at that time was made of lime and sulfur wrapped in paper. It may be like the current "two kicks", one filled with gunpowder and the other with lime, so it has that power.

In a.d. 1207, nomadic people attacked Xiangyang. Zhao Chun, the commander-in-chief of Xiangyang, ordered the firing, and the nomads from the city quickly retreated. One night, Zhao Chun sent 1000 soldiers with firearms such as rockets and lightning to sail near Jinying, and fired rockets and lightning at Jinying, causing thousands of casualties.

In order to fight against Jin Bing in Song Dynasty, weapons manufacturing experts kept trying to improve their weapons. In the Southern Song Dynasty, a man named Ji Tao invented a tubular firearm-musket. This is the first "gun" in the world. This musket is made of a long bamboo pole, and the bamboo tube is filled with gunpowder. In the war, two men took it, lit a fire and fired it to kill the enemy. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, muskets were constantly improved, and some people invented muskets. The musket is made of thick bamboo, and the bamboo tube is filled with gunpowder, and there is something called "Zike". After the gunpowder was ignited with a torch, it first ignited a flame, then it was shot out and exploded. This kind of bullet may be the earliest bullet.

/kloc-In the 3rd century, both the Song Dynasty and the State of Jin began to fight with firearms made of metal. The explosive weapons made at that time were a bit like mines now, but they were thrown out to hurt the enemy. In the Yuan Dynasty, the musket originally made of thick bamboo tubes developed into a large metal vessel.

In the Museum of Chinese History, there is still a large steel gun made of 1332 yuan. This is the earliest cannon in the world. This kind of tubular firearm made of metal has a long range and great power, which is a qualitative leap over previous firearms. The rocket originally invented by China was launched by a man with a bow. Later, people invented a rocket that was propelled directly by the burning power of gunpowder itself. After the rocket is ignited, a large amount of gas produced by gunpowder combustion is ejected from the tail hole, and the rocket is rapidly pushed forward by the recoil force of the ejected air. Don't underestimate this earliest self-propelled rocket, its principle is exactly the same as the rocket launched into space today!

The manufacturing method of gunpowder first spread from China to Arabia, and then from Arabia to European countries. In the Middle Ages, Arab science was far more advanced than Europe. Some Europeans tried to translate Arabic books to learn about gunpowder.

/kloc-in the 0/4th century, there were several wars in Spain, Italy, Mediterranean countries and Europe. Firearms such as thunderbolt were used in the war, which played a great role. After learning the manufacturing method of gunpowder, Europe actively develops the manufacturing of firearms. After the rise of modern science, weapons manufacturing in Europe quickly reached the forefront of the world, with machine guns, mortars and even rockets and missiles.

Learning point

sun simiao

Sun Simiao, a native of the Western Wei Dynasty, was born in 58 1 and died in 682. He is a centenarian. There are six versions of Sun Simiao's age: the youngest 10 1 year, the second 120, the third 13 1 year, the fourth 14 1 year. But I'm not young anyway. However, the fourth statement is more. He himself said in Emergency that he wrote it when he was over 100 years old, which means he should be over 10 1 year old. He was a famous Taoist priest and medical scientist in the Tang Dynasty, and was known as the "King of Medicine". In his book Single Crystal, the formula of gunpowder was recorded for the first time.