Likely discovered the mixture while searching for elixirs; names are not securely recorded
Plate 029
c. 9th century CE
Tang and Song dynasty China
No photograph is shown for this exhibition. The museum displays an image only where it can show the object honestly.
About this date
A 9th-century Chinese Daoist text warns against mixing certain substances. The first written military formulas appear in the Wujing Zongyao in 1044.
About credit
Gunpowder’s discovery is usually attributed to Chinese alchemists, but individual discoverers are unknown. Its spread west is documented in the 13th century.
Chapter II
The world before
Life before Gunpowder
Fire could be used in war with oils and pitch, but nothing stored explosive force in a portable form.
II
The human achievement
How it came about
Alchemists in China found that saltpetre mixed with sulphur and charcoal could flare dangerously. By the 11th century it was used in fire arrows, bombs and later guns. Knowledge of it reached the Islamic world and Europe in the 13th century.
III
Understanding the invention
How it works
Gunpowder, explained in two steps.
01
Step 01 of 02
Fuel and oxidiser together
Charcoal and sulphur are fuels. Saltpetre supplies oxygen, so the mixture burns without air.
Fuel and oxidiser together
Gas expands
IV
The transformation
What changed for humanity
Warfare
Cannon made old castle walls vulnerable and favoured larger states that could pay for artillery.
Mining and building
Blasting powder was later used to cut through rock.
It changed warfare, mining and engineering, and led to firearms, artillery and rockets.
V
Before and after
Life before and after Gunpowder
Before
Siege towers and battering rams.
After
Cannon fire from a distance.
On larger screens, drag the divider (or use the arrow keys) to give more room to the world before or after.
Daoist alchemists were seeking medicines and long life. A text of the 9th century warns that mixing certain substances caused fires and burned workshops, a reminder that the discovery was accidental.
Where accounts differ, this museum follows the documented record and says so.