Propelled by gunpowder, `flying fireworks’, (charcoal-saltpetre-sulfur), were described by Zeng Gongliang of China in 1042. War rockets originated in 1245 near Hangzhou, China (the capital of China between 1127 and 1278)
However the first use of true rockets was reported in 1232 when the Chinese and Mongols were at war with each other. During the battle of Kai-Keng, the Chinese repelled the Mongol invaders by a barrage of ‘arrows of flying fire’.