What Chinese dynasty invented gunpowder, and what did they call it if they didn't use it for guns?

Dr. dig responds:

In the Chinese language, gunpowder is called "fire medicine." Pharmacists wanted to invent a medicine for immortality. However, an explosion resulted when they heated their mixture with nitrates, sulphur, and carbon (from wood charcoal). It was invented as early as the West Han dynasty (206 B.C.).

It is believed that the Chinese were the first to invent gunpowder a thousand years ago, and they used it for fireworks. The Arabs were the first to use gunpowder for guns that they made from bamboo.