Language review, Hong Kong Space Museum

huo jian rocket, or literally, fire arrow

The Chinese word for rocket has intrigued me since I first learned it from Myles and his Chinese teacher last year. Why "fire arrow?" I wondered at the time. Last week Myles and I went to the Hong Kong Space Museum and saw why exactly such an ancient-sounding compound word is still used for something as the technical term for a rocket.

Early rocket propulsion technology was developed by the Chinese (as was everything else, it seems). And, of course, what good is technology if it isn't used for war? There are written records dating to 1280 describing the "Chinese arrows," basically rocket-propelled flaming weapons. And there are earlier records as well.