Heilongjiang hand cannon

The Heilongjiang hand cannon or hand-gun is a bronze hand cannon manufactured no later than 1288 and is possibly the world's oldest confirmed surviving firearm. It weighs 3.55 kg (7.83 pounds) and is 34 centimeters (13.4 inches) long. The Heilongjiang hand cannon was excavated during the 1970s in Banlachengzi, a village in the province of Heilongjiang in Manchuria. It was found alongside other bronze artifacts made in the style of the Jurchen Jin Dynasty (12th–13th century). The hand cannon likely originates from battles fought nearby Banlachengzi in 1287 and 1288. The History of Yuan indicates that a Jurchen commander by the name of Li Ting led a group of soldiers equipped with hand cannons into a military camp in 1288, as a part of a campaign to suppress a rebellion for the Yuan dynasty. The cannon currently resides at the Heilongjiang Provincial Museum in Harbin, China.

The Heilongjiang hand cannon is 34 centimeters (13.4 inches) long without a handle and weighs 3.55 kg (7.83 pounds). The diameter of the interior at the end of the barrel is 2.6 cm (1.0 inches). The barrel is the lengthiest part of the hand cannon and is 6.9 inches long. There is no inscription on the hand cannon.

The hand cannon has a bulbous base at the breech called the yaoshi (藥室) or gunpowder chamber, where the explosion that propels the projectile occurs. The diameter of the Heilongjiang hand-gun's powder chamber is 6.6 cm (2.6 inches). The walls of the powder chamber are noticeably thicker to better withstand the explosive pressure of the gunpowder. The powder chamber also has a touch hole, a small hole for the fuse that ignites the gunpowder. Behind the gunpowder chamber is a socket shaped like a trumpet where the handle of the hand cannon is inserted. The bulbous shape of the base gave the earliest Chinese and Western cannons a vase-like or pear-like appearance, which gradually disappeared when advancements in metallurgical technology made the bulbous base obsolete.

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