fl. 1000s

Chinese author of Wu Ching Tsung Yao (1044), an encyclopedia in which early Chinese versions of gunpowder are mentioned. Tseng wrote that these mixtures, often containing petrochemicals and even garlic or honey, were useful in flamethrowing devices, fireworks, and rockets. Though the Chinese probably used firecrackers as early as the sixth century, these did not contain gunpowder. Tseng's manuscript supports the theory that the Chinese had indeed invented gunpowder by the eleventh century.