Talk:Telegraphy

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History: Early Signalling

This section mentions signals, lights, and curiously, "gunshots" as an option, but is not cited. If some form of gunpowder explosion was used in the period mentioned in China, it would be inappropriate to call it a "gunshot" as there's no true shot being fired. This needs revision or to have the reference to gunshots removed. 129.24.93.211 (talk) 18:35, 1 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Gunshots in the Han Dynasty?

The article says that in the Han Dynasty, messages could be sent by gunshots. How is this possible if guns were invented in the 10th century, and gunpowder in the 9th? פֿינצטערניש (Fintsternish), she/her (talk) 20:27, 8 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, wait. That doesn't scan. Taking a look, thanks for pointing this out—I see it was also mentioned above, but I didn't see it unfortunately. Remsense ‥ 论 20:38, 8 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This is actually directly attested in the source, but it must be a case of sloppy writing:

By the time of the Han dynasty (200 BCE–220 CE), segments of the wall included more signaling towers than had earlier portions. ... The towers could use any of six different kinds of signaling techniques and predetermined codes (using lights, flag patterns, gunshots), depending on time of day and local conditions. By the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), messages could be sent up to 700 miles within one day and night.

I'll try to find another source that confirms what I suspect—that the bit about signalling methods was meant generally, not specifically the Han period—but if I can't I'll reword it. Remsense ‥ 论 20:51, 8 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

There we go, I think that's satisfactory? Remsense ‥ 论 21:33, 8 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]