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Firearms refer to a type of combat weapon formed from gunpowder as the basic raw material. According to the order of the development of firearms, this book introduces in detail the emergence of gunpowder and early firearms, gunpowder war tools recorded in ancient documents, and gunpowder weapons in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. It includes the history of the invention of gunpowder, the formulas of various gunpowder bombs, documentary records, and unearthed firearms such as blunderbuss, artillery, and rockets, the Franco machine guns and red cannons introduced from the West, new firearms made by absorbing European firearms technology during the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty, and so on. China is the country that invented gunpowder. Over the long years, it has developed a wide range of gunpowder weapons. This book completely shows the process of the emergence, growth and eventual replacement of cold weapons by firearms. It guides readers to trace their origins and is also helpful for readers to understand ancient Chinese wars and military thought.