Matchlock musket in China
Matchlock muskets were used in China as both military and civilian weapons from the mid-16th century. They were already outdated but remained in Qing service until the end of the 19th century.
The first Ottoman matchlock muskets reached northwestern China through Turfan during 1513–1524, but they were not widely adopted at first. In other parts of China, muskets arrived before the late 1540s, brought by Japanese pirates who had copied them from the Portuguese in 1543. Around 1529 China began making larger cannons based on Portuguese designs.
By the late Ming period, bird guns were common but not the main infantry weapon. A 1620s report called for mobilizing many new troops and producing thousands of hand cannons and bird guns. Ming production data show thousands of muskets and large numbers of polearms, swords, and bows.
The Qing mainly relied on bows and arrows until the 19th century, though they did use European-style artillery early. After 1820, as infantry started using firearms, China chose simpler, cheaper Turkish-style matchlocks over flintlocks. A British 1793 report said matchlocks were more reliable than flintlocks, even if the latter reloaded faster.
By 1841 only a small portion of soldiers had matchlocks; most still used swords, bows, or arrows. Muskets remained in military use in China until the end of the 19th century.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 15:07 (CET).