BTW, probably a dumb question, did Koreans use archers? If so how effective where they? |
Answer to First question: Since the founder's era. In fact, almost every Korean heroes had this supernatural archery skills
-Koguryo- Founder Ju Mong hunted with the bow since 8,
-General Yang Min Chun in Anshi fired a shot right at Tang Emperor's eye,
-Founder of Choson dynasty Yi Sung Gwe, while riding a horse, with a parthian move, shot right at the end tip of a Japanese Samurai leader's helmet, taking his helmet off, which was follwed by an arrow shot in his head (also shot 3 birds in air with one arrow in his youth, and in another instance distinguished left eye from right of another samurai chief and shot the one in right),
-Priest Kim Yoon Hu killed general Salitai the Mongolic general granted by Genghis Khan himself in a battle with the bow,
etc etc
Koreans were called by China as Dong Yi (). Literally meaning East Barbarian. But the Barbarian() in the context originated from the two chinese characters, Big () and bow(). From this, we can tell Koreans were good archers from the start.
Like Korea can be reflected as the asian Britons in this aspect. While in Britain, they rounded up the best longbowmen in the island, Korean nations also sponsored yearly toruments across the peninsula to find the best archers. In Shilla, they created an elite corp of archers called Yi-Goong(first korean nation to create an elite corp of Gak Goong archers). They contributed a lot to the unification of Korea.
Also, Archery was a popular sport in Korea before westernization, mainly played by nobles and armies (nowadays it has been replaced with golf - Adding a bit more fact, Golf and Archery is somewhat similar; a good shot depends on the sound upon impact; golf shot needs to sound cool, while archery shot need have the perfect "ping" sound).
The effectiveness...they mainly relied upon Gak Goong (mentioned before), seen in this pic:
the bow he's holding is Gak Goong, and he's holding it in a proper position. Compare it it a longbowmen and his holding position.
It's better than longbowmen in many perspective. Shorter, wider, and easy to use. (Though the ingredients were harder to find, and the bow itself, harder to make)
With the valid range in about 350m. Maximum, according to professional korean archers and bow makers, are said to be 500m. Added accuracy with thumb nail. Also, Koreans used a special variety of arrows, depending on situation.
Thumb Ring
Top to bottom:
Hyoshi- arrow that makes sound as it flies
Shinjun- message
Hwajun- firearrow
Bak du- probably hunting deer
Yu Yup jun- don't know
Koguryo arrow- most of them here are used in hunting
Pekjae arrow
Effectiveness: Pretty effective. It was used by Koguryo in its conquest and defense (victory in Anshi was made partly because of the bow). It was used by Shilla to conquer cavarly based Koguryo and Bekjae. It was also used to combat cavarly based Jurchens/Khitans/Mongols, and many battles were won (including Kweeju Ham Hung Jin) because of its superior range over their composite bows in horseback. It was used in Hideyoshi's invasion, where 350m range had advantage over 50m range muskets in fort defense (Hengju, Jin Ju).
Also, it was the bow that made the country ignorant about developing guns. They thought bows would still be superior.
Now, my question, sorry about rambling on, is if you learn Chinese, which I am going to attempt to do, are there good Korean historical books or classics availiable in Chinese?
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Every Korean History book in its untranslated version are in traditional chinese. But its hard to find them in the internet. To name a few, Samguksagi(߲, history of korean three kingdom era), Goryosa(, history of Koryo dynasty), Nan Joong Il Ghi(, Yi Sun Shin's Diary about Imjin war). If you like controversial history books, try this one: (Ӫͯ)
And finally, I live in South New Jersey(pretty boring, I know) |
Lol...I heard NJ was the armpit of america, if you know what I mean (look at USA's map and locate NJ)
Edited by demon