Fire Lance

The fire lance is an early Chinese gunpowder weapon consisting of a tube, originally made of bamboo and later of metal, packed with gunpowder and attached to the end of a spear or similar pole, ignited to spray flame, sparks and sometimes shrapnel or arrows at an approaching enemy for several seconds before the wielder could still use the weapon as a conventional close-combat spear. Chinese sources and archaeological finds place its development within the Song dynasty, with textual descriptions and depictions such as the Dunhuang silk banner painting dated to around the tenth century, making it one of the earliest gunpowder weapons in the historical record and a direct ancestor of the true handheld firearm that eventually replaced it once metal barrels capable of firing a projectile on gunpowder alone were developed. Fire lances remained in Chinese military use for several centuries, gradually evolving through hybrid designs that added metal barrels and projectiles before finally giving way to dedicated gunpowder firearms by the late medieval and early Ming period.