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Notes on the Invention of the First Gun: Conflict and Innovation in the Song Warring States Period (960-1279)

In: Journal of Chinese Military History
Author:
Benjamin Avichai Katz Sinvany Johns Hopkins University, Hopkins-Nanjing Center

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Abstract

The invention of gunpowder and its first military applications during the Song Warring States period (960-1279) led directly to the invention of the first gun sometime in the thirteenth century. Intense interstate conflict during this period encouraged the Song and its neighbors to experiment with new weapons, as seen by the publication of the Song military text Wujing zongyao in 1044 AD at the end of the Sino-Tangut wars (1040-1045). For the duration of the Song period, aggressive neighbors such as the Khitan Liao (916-1125), the Tangut Xia (1038-1227), the Jurchen Jin (1115-1234), and the Mongols (1190s-1368) shaped Song borders and early gunpowder experimentation. This article uses a geographic information system to examine resource distribution in conjunction with an analysis of the rate of conflict in the East Asian region during the Song Warring States period.