Wujing Zongyao describes gunpowder

1044

The Song military encyclopedia Wujing Zongyao, compiled for the imperial court, included three formulas for gunpowder used in incendiaries and smoke bombs. It is the earliest dated written account of the recipe anywhere in the world. Within a century Chinese soldiers would be lobbing bamboo tube flamethrowers in battle, and the technology would begin its slow westward journey along the Silk Road toward Europe.