[Archive] Da Jiang Jun Pao (大將軍砲) (Patreon)

Note: I am also in the process of updating the article about Great General Cannon. Here's is the older version kept here for archival purpose.

The famous Da Jiang Jun Pao (大將軍砲, lit. 'Great general cannon'), a type of muzzle-loading iron cannon, is one of the most powerful and most widely used cannon developed locally by Chinese gun masters. A typical Da Jiang Jun Pao has a length of about three chi six cun. It is usually loaded with one 4-5 catties lead ball together with one hundred lead pellets weighing six maces. Alternatively, a single 8 catties lead ball can be used.

Surviving Da Jiang Jun Pao on top of the Great Wall of China.

Early Da Jiang Jun Pao could weigh up to 600 catties (this could be referring to early Ming Dynasty bronze bombard, also known as Da Jiang Jun Pao, but very different from the iron version), although mid-late Ming models tend to be lighter, ranging from 250 to 500 catties. Heavier variant also existed in the form of Da Shen Chong (大神銃), which can weigh as much as 1,050 catties, although the distinction (if exists) between Da Jiang Jun Pao and Da Shen Chong is unclear.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the role of Da Jiang Jun Pao as heavy field artillery had been supplanted by more advanced European cannons such as Hong Yi Pao (紅夷砲), although it was never entirely phased out.