Final answer:
The Chinese used gunpowder to make explosives and a primitive flamethrower called a fire-lance.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Chinese used a mixture of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal, otherwise known as gunpowder, to make explosives and a primitive flamethrower called a fire-lance. This discovery over 1,000 years ago led to the creation of various military applications of gunpowder, including the fire-lance, which was a bamboo tube used to project flames and sometimes shrapnel at the enemy. Over time, the innovations of gunpowder-based weapons evolved to include cannons and guns, significantly impacting warfare not just in China but across the world as these technologies spread along trade routes and conquests.
By the thirteenth century, the Chinese refined their weaponry to create bronze cannons as well as other incendiary devices such as flamethrowers and bombs. Despite their advanced military technology, the Song Dynasty's use of these tools was restrained by their Confucian values, which emphasized pacifism and the priority of civilian rule over military might. Nonetheless, gunpowder's role in military history is unmistakable, and it played a crucial part in the expansion and warfare tactics of many civilizations following its invention.