17th Century Puzzle

bluelake · 22nd May 2010, 12:59 AM

I have been doing a lot of research on Korean firearms during the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) and I ran across one intriguing puzzle. In the 17th century, Korea came in contact with some type(s) of friction-type firelock firearm(s); however, that technology was never pursued and the country stayed with the Japanese-style matchlock right up to the end of the 19th century. In 1631, a Korean diplomat to China, by the name of Jeong Du-won (鄭斗源), brought back from that country some type of friction-type firelock gun. In 1658, China requested that Korea attack Russian troops in the area of Yeonhaeju (Primorye) and they captured many more of some type of friction firelock weapons. The Korean records do not go into detail and no examples of what they obtained are known to exist in Korea.

My question is, knowing the countries they were obtained from (China and Russia) and the time periods (1630s and 1650s), what would they have likely been? Snaphaunces? Miquelets? Something else? Any and all guesses are welcome (pictures are welcome, too!

). The information will help me a lot on my dissertation and I will happily attribute sources in it

22nd May 2010, 12:59 AM	#1
bluelake Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Gyeongsan, South Korea Posts: 57	17th Century Puzzle I have been doing a lot of research on Korean firearms during the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) and I ran across one intriguing puzzle. In the 17th century, Korea came in contact with some type(s) of friction-type firelock firearm(s); however, that technology was never pursued and the country stayed with the Japanese-style matchlock right up to the end of the 19th century. In 1631, a Korean diplomat to China, by the name of Jeong Du-won (鄭斗源), brought back from that country some type of friction-type firelock gun. In 1658, China requested that Korea attack Russian troops in the area of Yeonhaeju (Primorye) and they captured many more of some type of friction firelock weapons. The Korean records do not go into detail and no examples of what they obtained are known to exist in Korea. My question is, knowing the countries they were obtained from (China and Russia) and the time periods (1630s and 1650s), what would they have likely been? Snaphaunces? Miquelets? Something else? Any and all guesses are welcome (pictures are welcome, too! ). The information will help me a lot on my dissertation and I will happily attribute sources in it