佛郎機銃是歐洲大航海時代，航海家必備的後膛火砲之一，學界多主張正德十二年葡使最初來華之後輸入中國，其後在中國獲得了廣大的應用。近二十年來，明代佛郎機銃的輸入和傳播問題受到學者們的廣泛關注，這些研究不斷地挖掘新史料，取得了不少研究成果。同時，推廣和使用佛郎機銃有關的人物如汪鋐、崔文、潘珍和胡璉的相關史實，也逐步被發掘出來。使得我們逐漸了解，明人對於佛郎機銃輸入的反應，及其最初帶給中國的軍事技術衝擊。在這些新研究中，有一部分的研究認為佛郎機銃最初輸華時間可能早於葡使初抵中國。此說大致又可以分為三個觀點：一、明初即有佛郎機銃；二、正德年間魏昇曾使用佛郎機銃；三、寧王反叛前仿製佛郎機銃。本文擬將葡使來前佛郎機銃傳入諸說予以整理，並重行考訂，以重新檢視近二十年來關於佛郎機銃輸華史事中較具爭議性的史論。

The Frankish breechloader was the weapon of choice for the sailors during Europe’s Age of Discovery. It is generally believed that the breechloader, widely used in China, was introduced by first Portuguese envoys to China in 1517 (Zhengde 12). During the past two decades, the academic circles focused on the breechloader’s introduction to China during Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Recent investigations have unearthed much from the historical sources. Previously unnoticed historical facts regarding early-adopters, such as WANG Hong, CUI Wen, Pan Zhen and HU Lian, were also discovered. We learned more and more about the reactions of Ming’s reactions to the breechloader and its impacts to China’s military technology. Among the new findings, some believed breechloader could have been introduced to China before the arrival of first Portuguese envoys in China. The new theories may roughly fall into one of the following three categories: 1. Theories that proposed the breechloader were already in China during early Ming. 2. Theories that proposed WEI Sheng had used the breechloader during Zhengde reign. 3. Theories that proposed the breechloader had been copied by Prince of Ning (ZHU Chenhao, 1499-1519) before his rebellion (1519). Here, we shall evaluate these theories in order to clarify some disputes resulted from the new theories.