Land mine
Mina explosiva terrestre
- Date
- 1277 · confidence low
- Place
- Guangxi, Song China (against the Mongols)
- Credited to
- Song army (Lou Qianxia)
- Field
- Conflict
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A buried gunpowder charge detonated at a distance or by a pressure-triggered firing mechanism. Described in the Huolongjing (14th century) with steel wheel-lock fuzes.
The 1277 mention is late and literary; the firm technical description comes from the Huolongjing (c. 1360–1375).
What it led to
- underground mine warfare in European sieges (15th–16th centuries)
- military sapper engineering
- area defensive weapons
Built on
- Gunpowderc. 850
- Iron bomb and hand grenade1221
- Gunpowder
- Iron bomb and hand grenade