Many historical materials indicate that gunpowder first appeared before theTang Dynasty(618-907). From 300 to 650AD several recipes were written about inflammable mixtures. Some historians date the invention of gunpowder at 850AD when a Taoist book warned of three specific elixir formulas as too dangerous to experiment.

The military applications of gunpowder began in the Tang Dynasty. Explosive bombs filled with gunpowder and fired from catapults were used in wars. During the Song and Yuan dynasties (960-1368). the military applications of gunpowder became common and some other weapons like ``fire cannon``. ``rocket``. ``missile`` and ``fireball`` were introduced.

In theYuan Dynasty(1279-1368). the method of powder-making was introduced to the Arab world and Europe. bringing a series of revolutions to weapon manufacturing. as well as to stratagem and tactics on the battlefield. From Italy the making of gunpowder soon spread to other European countries. and by the 1350s it had become an effective weapon on the battlefield.

Crossbow

The use of the bow and arrow for hunting and for war dates back to the Paleolithic period in Africa. Asia. and Europe. It was widely used in ancient Egypt. Mesopotamia. Persia. the Americas. and Europe until the introduction ofgunpowder. However. over two thousand years ago in China. the crossbow was invented as an innovation to the basic longbow that extended the use of mechanical hand-held weapons throughout the world and which revolutionized warfare.

A crossbow is a bow set horizontally on a stock. When the shooter releases a mechanism. the crossbow fires arrows or bolts propelled by the mechanical energy of previously taut bowstring. In ancient times. it could be more powerful than the ordinary bow and could fire multiple arrows. darts. or stones (nowadays the crossbow is definitely much stronger than the ordinary bow). Some designs were slower to fire than the longbow while others were small and useful for close combat.

Chinese literary records (such as The Romance of Wu and Yue) place the invention of the crossbow in China during theWarring States Period(475-221BC) in the kingdom of Chu about 500 BC. However. many contemporary writers. such as for example Yang Hong and Zhu Fenghan. contend the that the often cited inventor improved upon a trigger mechanism. and that the crossbow may have existed from the seventh century BC or even much earlier. Some archeological evidence indicates that the crossbow was developed in China during the Copper Age around 2000 BC.

In Europe. crossbow-type artillery pieces were known to the ancient Greeks and were used in 397 BC at Syracuse (modern-day Sicily). Carthaginians in the second century BCE used a hand-held crossbow called the scorpion. as it is told in Derry and Williams: A Short History of Technology that 2.000 of these weapons were handed over to the Romans after the fall of Carthage (present-day North African country of Tunisia). Later. with the decline of Rome. the crossbow fell into disuse before reappearing again in Europe in the tenth century.

Rockets of Ancient China

China has always been hailed as the hometown of ancient rockets. which was made by ancient scientists via applying the counterforce produced by ignitedgunpowder. Through longtime evolvement combined with the theory and research of natural science. the ancient rockets finally turned into the modern launch vehicles. which are indispensable to the development of aerospace exploration.

The word ``rocket`` appeared as early as in the third century during theThree Kingdoms period(220-280). In 228. the Wei State took the lead by applying a torch to each arrow in an attempt to guard Chencang (in today`s Baoji City of North China`s Shannxi Province) against the invading troops led by Zhuge Liang. the prime minister of the Shu State.

Hao Zhao. the Wei general. used fire arrows to burn down the cloud ladders (mobilesiege ladders) of the Shu troops. and was therefore able to defend Chencang. Thus the word rocket. meaning fire arrow. came into existence. referring to the inflammable materials attached to the end of an arrow. which was mainly used as a weapon to set a fire.

By the late 10th century in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). the Chinese had adapted gunpowder to rockets. To make such an arrow. first apapertube was made; then the gunpowder was put inside the tube. which was then attached to an arrow to be launched by a bow. Those were the first and most primitive rockets in the history of humankind.

Later. improvements were made on such arrows. For example. the gunpowder was directly carried inside an arrow. and the thunderous sound from the explosion of the gunpowder could frighten away the enemy.

An ancient rocket consisted of four parts: arrowhead. arrow barrel. arrow feather. and gunpowder tube. The gunpowder tubes. which were mostly made from bamboo tubes or paperboard. were filled with gunpowder. with one end closed and the other end open. A small hole was left for the blasting fuse. When ignited. the gunpowder would burn inside the tube. producing a large amount of gas. which. while shooting backwards at high speed. would produce enormous forward-propelling force.

This was believed to be the embryonic form of modern rockets. The gunpowder tube compared well with the modern propelling system. and the sharp arrowhead. with its piercing power of destruction. compared favorably to the warhead of a modern rocket. While the feather helped to stabilize the arrow. just like the modern stabilizing system. the barrel was similar to the body part of modern rockets.

After their appearance. the ancient rockets were widely adapted in military activities and folk entertainments. In the war between the Song. Jin and Yuan States between the 10th and 13th centuries. gunpowder weapons. such as fire guns. and flying fire cannons. were widely used. The then flying fire cannons. a primitive rocket weapon. were much similar to today`s flamethrowers.

At the end of the 12th century. primitive rockets were greatly improved and widely employed in weaponry. During the Yuan (1271-1368) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. rocket weapons received further development. as many new types of rockets were invented. including Nine-dragonarrow and A-flock-of-bee arrow. which were very similar to the modern rockets.

TheMing Dynasty(1368-1644) witnessed significant development in Chinese rocketry. with many rockets propelled by the counterforce produced by ignited gunpowder used in military wars. In the early Ming Dynasty.Zhu Di(the fourth prince of the first Ming Emperor Taizu). who intended to seize state power. led his troops to fight those led by the reigning Emperor Jianwen and was attacked by a a-flock-of-bee fire arrow. which was the earliest record on the application of jet rockets in warfare. From then on. one-stage jet rockets were used more and more on a daily basis. including single-shot and multi-shot ones.

Up to Ming Dynasty when General Qi Jiguang fought against Japanese pirates on China`s southeast coast. he invented three kinds of jet rockets. The bodies of the rockets were made of hard wood. while the metal arrowheads were composed of a knife. spear. or sword. The rockets could pierce the armor. At the bottom of the jet rockets were the power flasks.

The rockets were positioned on the wood racks. In battles. the soldiers held the rear of the rockets and lit the fuse to fire at the enemies. The device could be used both on land and under water. More than 2.000 rockets were equipped on ten warships. 4.760 rockets were facilitated among the infantry and cavalry troops. Such a great number was unprecedented both in Chinese and world military history. The other countries in the world only knew of this kind of weapon some 240 years later.

Even more advanced was the ``multi-shot rockets`` which appeared later. A large number of rockets were positioned in a bucket. which had two layers for orientation and direction purposes. Meanwhile. all the fuses of each single rocket were bundled together. Once the soldier fired the fuse. all of shots were made at the same time. covering quite a noticeable range. Besides this kind. there were some other dozens of variations. with 2 to 100 shots at a time.

General Qi Jiguang`s troops also put several ``multi-shot rockets`` on a cart. which could shoot hundreds. or even thousands of arrows at one time. When his troops were guarding the east part of theGreat Wall. Qi would have at least 40 carts equipped with ``multi-shot rockets.`` This was also unique at the time in the world.

The weapon experts in late Ming Dynasty also invented the rockets with wings in the shapes of a ball or crow. with the ball or crow full of powder. A fuse was used to link the powder that pushed forward the rocket with that in the body of the ball or crow. When the rocket reached the enemy. it would also explode. inflicting more damage on the enemy. It was also a very useful weapon in attacking cities. Missiles nowadays use exactly the same basic principle with these winged rockets filled with powder.

In the late Ming Dynasty. the rockets with double boosts were also produced. At the rear of the rockets. there were four gunpowder boosters. These two features resembled the basic characteristics of the rockets nowadays. The weapon could fly for a few miles above water. What`s more. three other kinds of rockets with double boosters that used recyclable body were also invented. which greatly inspired the research and development of modern rockets.

Not only were the rockets used in the military domain in the Ming Dynasty; there were also men`s attempts to fly together with the rockets. The scholar Wan Hu in the Ming Dynasty. who is regarded as the originator of the manned rockets. was the trailblazer in doing experiments aimed at taking human being to space.

On the basis of his research about the boosting power generated by the rockets. he made a chair with 47 rockets. the maximum number that could possibly be tied to his chair. He tied himself to the chair. and held two bigkitesin each of his hands. Then he asked his assistants to fire the fuses of the 47 rockets at the same time. hoping to fly in the sky with the boosting power from the rockets and the kites.

Though doomed to fail. Wan Hu has been universally acknowledged as the first man to try flying to space with the help of rockets. In memory of Wan. one of the lunar craters on the back of the moon is named after him.

Around the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century. Chinese inventions of powder and rockets spread to India. Arab. and in turn. Europe. With centuries of development and application. rocketry began to be used for spatial exploration after World War Ⅱ.

Despite the fact that powder and rocket were first invented in China. the ancient rocketry failed to develop into modern rocketry due to longtime neglect in science and technology. Consequently. powder and rocket were only used in fireworks for centuries.