China was the first country in the world to invent and use artillery. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei invented a trebuchet, which could throw stones far away to kill the enemy. This kind of gun, also called "stone cannon", is the predecessor of artillery.

The original form of artillery was gunpowder arrow, which began in the late Tang Dynasty and early Song Dynasty, that is, gunpowder was attached to the arrow, ignited and fired. In the history of China, the pioneers of trial-producing artillery were Tang Fu in A.D. 1002 and Shipu in A.D. 1002. Their rockets, fireballs and thistles were very successful.

In 1 126, people created weapons like "thunderbolt" and "thunderbolt" of artillery. There is such a record in the Golden History: "The gunpowder exploded like Lei Zhen, and the heat reached more than half an acre. People's cowhide is broken without trace, and the armor and iron are all through. " The first metal cannon in the world appeared in the Yuan Dynasty in the middle of14th century. The invention and manufacture of metal cannon took 100 years. Because of the limited range of muskets and muskets, people want to extend the range by increasing the explosive force in the gun bore. However, because the barrel of muskets is made of bamboo tubes, the explosive force is too small, and too much loading will accidentally hurt their own people.

Until the Yuan Dynasty, a barrel gun made of copper or iron finally appeared. These guns are collectively called "fire milling" and are honored as "iron generals" because of their great power. The bronze cannon from Yuan Dynasty to Shunsan (A.D. 1332), which is now preserved in Beijing Museum of Chinese History, is the earliest cannon in the world.