History of gunpowder: Fireworks
Who invented gunpowder?
Like the idea of zero, gunpowder developed gradually over time. In 142 AD, during the Han Dynasty, a man named Wei Boyang was the first to write anything about gunpowder. He wrote about a mixture of three powders that would “fly and dance” violently. We aren’t sure that he meant gunpowder, but that’s the only explosive that uses three ingredients that we know of. He may have been a Taoist trying to find a potion to let you live forever.
Ingredients of gunpowder
By 300 AD, a Jin dynasty scientist named Ge Hong had certainly written down the ingredients of gunpowder and described the explosion. Scientists made gunpowder in ancient China by mixing sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter, or potassium nitrate. You got sulphur by mining it out of the ground, where it exists naturally as a yellowish rock. You could make potassium nitrate, or saltpeter, by taking animal manure and letting it sit around for a while and decay. Then potassium nitrate crystals formed in the manure, and you could drain them off by washing water through the manure pile. You mixed the three powders together, using about fifteen parts of saltpeter to three parts of charcoal and two parts of sulphur. The reason gunpowder explodes is that it burns very fast, and when it burns it releases gases that are bigger in volume than the original powder (just the way steam is bigger than water is).
Earliest picture of a fire-spear, the earliest kind of gun (Dunhuang Caves, 900s AD)
The first cannons and guns
But it was under the rule of the T’ang Dynasty, about 700 AD, that people really began to use gunpowder. T’ang Dynasty emperors used gunpowder to put on great fireworks displays. By 904 AD, Chinese inventors saw that you could also use gunpowder for a powerful weapon. First the army used gunpowder in the form of rockets. They put small stone cannonballs inside bamboo tubes and shot the cannonballs out by lighting gunpowder at one end. This is the same idea that makes guns and cannons work today.
A small bronze cannon from Gansu (about 1220 AD)
Gunpowder leaves China
The Chinese emperors tried to keep gunpowder as a secret weapon, but by the 1100s AD their secret had gotten out, and people in the Islamic Empire and then the Roman Empire started to understand how to use gunpowder for weapons. After that, it wasn’t long before people in Europe also learned how to use gunpowder. Nobody is sure exactly how they found out, but it might have something to do with the Third Crusade.
History of gunpowder: Earliest image of a European gun (1326). The gun shoots arrows.
By 1216 AD, a monk named Roger Bacon in England described gunpowder as a weapon. He thought of it as something that came from foreign places. Unfortunately for the people of West Africa, they hadn’t heard about gunpowder yet when European people attacked them in the 1400s AD, which is one reason why the Europeans were able to defeat them.
Since that time, guns have killed a lot of people. Quatr.us does not in any way support the use of guns for any purpose.
Did you find out what you wanted to know about the history of gunpowder? Let us know in the comments.
Learn by doing: go see a fireworks show
Chinese Science
Or Chinese Mathematics
Chinese Astronomy
Bibliography and further reading about Chinese science:
The Nine Chapters (a Chinese math textbook)
Chinese astronomy
More Chinese science
Ancient China
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hi
who technically invented gunpowder?
That’s in the article?
also, I love your website
Thanks!
did it make life easier or harder?
Hmm, that is a hard question. I think in the end guns made life easier for people who had them, and harder for people who didn’t have them. But even for people who had guns, your chances of being killed in battle went way up once armies on both sides had a lot of guns.
did they use it for other purposes besides as wepons and entertainment?
Not right away, but yes, eventually people used gunpowder to blast holes in rock for mining, or to knock down old buildings, for example. It helped to level out the roadway in order to build better roads. That’s a great question; I’ll have to add that to the article.
I need it for a project
why did they invent gunpowder
As far as we can tell, they were just messing around, experimenting to see what would happen. They don’t seem to have had any particular goal in mind. That’s how a lot of science gets done, though other times people are looking specifically for a solution to a problem.
I am curious about how gunpowder impacted China? Did they just blow stuff up and everyone thought that was cool and went on with their lives, or did it leave a notable impact on China?
Once they realized you could use it to fight wars, Chinese governments did use gunpowder, especially in fire-bombs launched from catapults, to kill people.
Quatr.us does not support the use of guns or gunpowder for ANY purpose?! If it wasn’t for guns and gunpowder, you would have most likely been living in [the] third world … and your bloodline most likely would have been wiped out centuries ago. Quit being a pathetic cupcake and deal with it. Guns are a tool. […]
(I edited your comment to take out most of the insults and all the swears.) My family was very lucky to avoid being wiped out in the genocide of World War II. Guns have only hurt my ancestors. And even if they had been helped, using them to force other people to do things would still be wrong.
I agree with Ms. Karen Carr. Just because you may approve of guns doesn’t give you the right to be disrespectful and flat-out rude. Also, guns are dangerous things, not a matter to be made fun of! When you’re behind a gun it’s much easier to pull the trigger blindly, much like on the internet. Please think about what you’re typing and if you’d want it commented on an article you worked hard to write for other’s use before your comment hurts someone else’s feelings!
Thanks, Skylark! (But it’s Professor Carr, not Ms. Carr, please!)
In the first paragraph you stated that Wei Boyang was the first to write about gunpowder, was he also the first to develop it in China?
Well, if somebody developed gunpowder earlier, we don’t know about it. Probably Wei Boyang was the first, because he writes about it like it’s a new thing he just thought of, not something that had already been around for a while.
I was wondering what is a Taoist i thought he would’ve been an alchemist
Taoism is a Chinese philosophy or religion. You can read more about it here: https://quatr.us/china/tao-taoism-ancient-china.htm. Wei Boyang was not an alchemist; alchemists tried to find ways to change other things into gold. But he was certainly a kind of chemist.
We are doing a class project about Chinese inventions and this really helped me. Can I plz use you as a source 🙂
Of course! You don’t need my permission in order to quote me. The citation format is at the bottom of the article.
Hi
My biggest question is that why was it such a big thing for weapons and entertainment?
Was it because it put on a spectacle or what?
It took a long time for gunpowder to find a use, but yes, its first uses were because it was exciting to watch it explode. Later on, people realized you could use it as a weapon too.
i am awesome
this is a cool article
你好嗎？
What was the first recorded use of gunpowder? was it the Chinese against the Mongols, if so do you have any details on that war/battle?
The first recorded use of gunpowder was for fireworks, not in battle. Do you mean the first use of gunpowder as a weapon? The first evidence of it is from 904 AD, which is hundreds of years before the Mongol invasions.
Where was the place that invents gunpowder ???
I’m pretty sure that’s in the article, George.
When it was first invented it was called Black Power but now it gunpowder.Why did they change the name into gunpowder?
When it was first invented it was called something in Chinese, yes? But they couldn’t call it gunpowder because they hadn’t invented guns yet. That took another thousand years. “Black powder” is our modern name for the early kind of gunpowder made by mixing sulphur, charcoal, and saltpeter. What we use today – “smokeless gunpowder” – is made of a lot of complicated man-made chemicals. You can read about them here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokeless_powder
What is gunpowder mad out of and when was this published?
The publication date is at the end of the article, with all the other citation information. Do you mean gunpowder back when it was first invented, or today? We don’t make it exactly the same way today as people did then.
I need help.
Happy to help anytime! You’ll need to ask your question though.
Hello, when was this published? I will be using this for school work and I need to know!
Also, Why was gunpowder made?
That would depend on who was making it. At first, gunpowder was just a sort of science experiment, and it may even have been made accidentally, while trying to make something else. Later, people used it for fireworks. Then they started to work on ways to make it into a weapon. That process, from science to fireworks to weapons, took about a thousand years.
The citation info is right below the end of the article on every page.
i have a question how does gunpowder work
You can find out about that here: http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=4130
Just asking but how many people used gunpowder every years?
I’m not sure what you are asking? Which years? In the very beginning, only a few specialists knew about gunpowder. Today, millions of people use it every day.
because iv posted like 5 things but the next day there gone
I am deleting your comments because they are disrespectful. I’ll keep deleting them until you have something more interesting or kind to say.
Hi.
hi
i need help
I’m happy to help! What’s your question?
please me need help help
What’s your question?
What historical role did gunpowder play from the middle ages on?
I think that’s your homework, Yuki?
i need help please!!!!
What’s your question, Nathan? I’d be happy to answer it.
what new inventions were made with gunpowder. And dont tell me to look it up because im lazy
Hmm, what if I am lazy too? What would *you* make with gunpowder?
what impact did gunpowder had on the Chinese in the Golden Age
That sounds like your homework?
i need help on a essay for a school project i need info
I’d be happy to help, but you have to ask specific questions I can answer. “Info” is too general.
Who really made it?(dont say Chinese people)
Who was first person who test out gunpowder?
Without gunpowder what will happen?
Why did they keep gunpowder as a secret?
The answers to these questions are in the article, or they are things your teacher wants you to think about for yourself.
How did other civilizations change the gunpowder????????
We don’t really cover that on this page; gunpowder changes much later on, in the modern period, to make it more stable and reliable.
Hi there my name is amee and i am doing gunpowder for my project in school and i am in 7th grade.I need all the information in this website but i cant really find what i need so i have to ask you this question and i really hope you answer it if you dont i dont really mind so “why was it invented?” and “what make it so important?”
I think the answer to “Why was it invented” is that scientists were just interested in what would happen if you mixed different things together, and they happened to mix things that exploded. That must have been exciting!
And I think you can figure out for yourself why gunpowder is important!
Thank for your help!
hola
hi Prof..your information help me a lots on understanding the existence of gun powder..is it the gun powder also known as black powder?
Yes, early gunpowder is also called “black powder” to distinguish it from modern, smokeless gunpowder that is made a little bit differently.
Hey I was wondering if maybe you could post your sources on this. I am a UCLA student writing a final paper on gunpowder, it would be really helpful. Thanks!
Whoops just noticed the bibliography! Disregard!
Oh, I’m glad that worked out for you! Best of luck with your paper.
lol!
Hi
No really I need more info
What would you like to know? I’ll be happy to answer if I can.
hi
hi
Hi yourself! Thanks for stopping by.
hi
Hi yourself! Thanks for stopping by!
hi