朝鮮時代の火器

Abstract

Traditional studies of the history of firearms in East Asia have placed great importance on specifying the time when European guns were first introduced and technical comparison of guns made in each East Asian country. Although the authors differ in some respects, they have a common understanding that the gun introduced into Japan by Portuguese in 1542 or 1543 inaugurated a new epoch in the history of firearms in East Asia. However, there are few studies that discuss how guns were used on the battlefield. This article reexamines the history of the development of guns during the Joseon period of Korea history from the point of view of their tactical use. Guns had been introduced into Korea from China during the late Goryeo 高麗 period, and Joseon's King Sejong 世宗 attempted the full-fledged development of firearms, but few were used in battle as a result of their inaccuracy and a shortage of gunpowder. After the king's death, the guns were only used for fireworks. But after the pillaging of the Japanese piracy during Jiajing 嘉靖 era (1522-66), China and Korea made large-scale guns and Portuguese-style cannons that could be loaded on warships. In contrast, the harquebus spread as a battlefield weapon among the warring lords of Japan. At the beginning of the Japanese invasion in 1592, Japanese harquebus overwhelmed Korean bows, and Japanese forces were able to advance to Pyeongyang in a short time. However, after the Ming army entered the conflict, the Chinese troops fired cannons from outside the effective range of harquebus, triggering a Japanese response that revealed the weak points of the harquebus--its inaccuracy, short range and the difficulty of reloading. Japanese forces were put on the defensive. In the end, logistic superiority decided the war. After the war, the Joseon government attempted to maximize firearms by having each district supply a regular quantity of guns, powder and bullets every month, but this led to mass production of inferior goods. On the technical side, a long-range harquebus called a "thousand-step gun" was developed, but its use did not spread. As a result, the late Joseon was unable to mount a strong army, and we see that Joseon chose military tactics designed to outrange its enemies by shooting many guns from a long distance. The tactic of using guns to create a barrage and not at narrowly defined targets was used not only in Joseon but also by Western countries.