Huolongchushui (fire dragon issuing from the water; ) were the earliest form of

multistage rocket A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage i ...

s and

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...

s used in

post-classical In world history, post-classical history refers to the period from about 500 AD to 1500, roughly corresponding to the European Middle Ages. The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and development of trade n ...

China. The name of the weapon was used to strike fear into enemy troops. If the enemy was out of range, the fire dragon had a contingency: a magazine of three rocket driven arrows located within the mouth of the missile. It acted as one of the world's earliest multistage rockets and ballistic missiles, and was fired at enemy ships in naval battles.

Overview

The Huolongchushui had a hollow bamboo tube with a carved wooden dragon head and tail about five feet long.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 508. The front and rear contained four rockets packed with gunpowder that propelled the dragon forwards. Fuses facing downwards out of the four rockets outside the dragon body were linked with the fuses of the rockets inside the dragon's belly.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 508. Just before the four rockets on the outside burnt out, it would automatically ignite fuses of arrow rockets hidden inside the rear of the dragon, which would then shoot out of its mouth propelled by the gunpowder to destroy the enemy.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 508. The Huolongchushui would be used on both land and sea.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 508. The Huolongchushui would operate on the principle of an early form of a two-stage rocket.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 510. The two stage rocket would have a booster rocket attached to it that would then burn out automatically issuing a batch of smaller rockets hidden inside the dragon's belly.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 510.

History

An illustration of the Huolongchushui is found in the 14th century Chinese military treatise ''

Huolongjing The ''Huolongjing'' (; Wade-Giles: ''Huo Lung Ching''; rendered in English as ''Fire Drake Manual'' or ''Fire Dragon Manual''), also known as ''Huoqitu'' (“Firearm Illustrations”), is a Chinese military treatise compiled and edited by Jiao ...

'' by

Jiao Yu Jiao Yu () was a Chinese military general, philosopher, and writer of the Yuan dynasty and early Ming dynasty under Zhu Yuanzhang, who founded the dynasty and became known as the Hongwu Emperor. He was entrusted by Zhu as a leading artillery ...

and

Liu Bowen Liu Ji (1 July 1311 – 16 May 1375),Jiang, Yonglin. Jiang Yonglin. 005(2005). The Great Ming Code: 大明律. University of Washington Press. , 9780295984490. Page xxxv. The source is used to cover the year only. courtesy name Bowen, better kn ...

during the early Ming dynasty. The illustration and description depicts the world earliest form of the multistage rocket and ballistic missile used by Ming Chinese army and navy.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 510.

Popular culture

Huolongchushui were the primary inspiration for the man-portable artillery depicted in Disney's Mulan. Huolongchushui are discussed in Liu Cixin's 2010 science-fiction novel Death's End (on page 98 of 766 of the 2016 English translation by Ken Liu), as a comparison to a fictional multistage nuclear-propelled space probe.

Notes

References

* Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7, Military Technology; the Gunpowder Epic''. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd. {{Ancient and Dynastic Chinese Military History Ballistic missiles Chinese inventions Medieval artillery Military history of the Ming dynasty Multiple rocket launchers Artillery of China Naval weapons of China