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Ch'oe Musŏn
Ch'oe Musŏn (; 1330–1395) was a medieval Korean chemist, inventor, and military general during the late Goryeo Dynasty and early Joseon Dynasty. He is best known for enabling Korea to domestically produce gunpowder by obtaining a recipe for the China, Chinese commodity from a Chinese merchant, as well as inventing various gunpowder-based weapons in an attempt to repel the wokou pirates that plundered coastal regions of the Korean Peninsula. Life Ch'oe was born into a wealthy family in Yeongcheon, Gyeongsang Province; his father was an official in the administration. He qualified to be a military officer through civil service examination. The government's control of Goryeo was crumbling, and at the same time the pirates crossing the Korean Strait plundered much of the coastal regions. In the southern part of the nation, pirates even marched deep inland, causing havoc. The Goryeo government was not able to ensure security, despite the efforts of generals Taejo of Joseon, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goryeo
Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unification" by Korean historians as it not only unified the Later Three Kingdoms but also incorporated much of the ruling class of the northern kingdom of Balhae, who had origins in Goguryeo of the earlier Three Kingdoms of Korea. According to Korean historians, it was during the Goryeo period that the individual identities of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla were successfully merged into a single entity that became the basis of the modern-day Koreans, Korean identity. The name "Korea" is derived from the name of Goryeo, also romanized as Koryŏ, which was first used in the early 5th century by Goguryeo; Goryeo was a successor state to Later Goguryeo and Goguryeo. Throughout its existence, Goryeo, alongside Unified S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor percentages of waxes, fats, pectins, and water. Under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will increase the dispersal of the seeds. The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa, Egypt and India. The greatest diversity of wild cotton species is found in Mexico, followed by Australia and Africa. Cotton was independently domesticated in the Old and New Worlds. The fiber is most often spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable, and durable textile. The use of cotton for fabric is known to date to prehistoric times; fragments of cotton fabric dated to the fifth millennium BC have been found in the Indus Valley civilizat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jang Yeongsil
Jang Yeong-sil (; ; ? – after 1442) was a Korean mechanical engineer, scientist, and inventor during the Joseon dynasty. He was born to a mother who was a Kisaeng, government-registered courtesan () and a father of Yuan dynasty descent. Although Jang was born a nobi, Sejong the Great, King Sejong gave him a court-technician position in the royal court. Jang's inventions, such as the Cheugugi (the rain gauge) and the Irrigation#History, water gauge, highlight the technological advancements of the Joseon dynasty. Early years Jang Yeong-sil's precise date of birth is unknown and only recorded in the genealogy of the Jang family and his ancestry in the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty. According to these records, his father, Jang Seong-hwi, was the eighth generation of the Jang family. Jang Seong-hwi was the third of five brothers, all of whom previously served as ministers in Goryeo. Historical records also mention his elder brother, Jang Seong-bal, who was born in 1344 an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hwacha
The ''hwacha'' or ''hwach'a'' () was a multiple rocket launcher and an organ gun of similar design which were developed in fifteenth century Korea. It resembled a wooden cart with a launch pad attached, and it had up to 200 tiny Sin'gijŏn, singijeon arrows propelled by rockets. The former variant fired one or two hundred rocket-powered arrows, while the latter fired several dozen iron-headed arrows or bolts out of gun barrels. The term was used to refer to other war wagons or other cart-based artillery in later periods, such as that developed by Byeon Yijung in the 1590s. These weapons were notably deployed in the defense of the Korean Peninsula against the Japanese when they Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98), invaded in the 1590s. Some List of historians by area of study#History of Korea, East Asian historians believe this technological breakthrough, alongside the turtle ship in the mid-16th century, had a distinctive effect during the war. Hwachas appear in Korean museu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fire Arrow
Fire arrows were one of the earliest forms of weaponized gunpowder, being used from the 9th century onward. Not to be confused with earlier incendiary arrow projectiles, the fire arrow was a gunpowder weapon which receives its name from the translated Chinese term ''huǒjiàn'' (火箭), which literally means fire arrow. In China, a 'fire arrow' referred to a gunpowder projectile consisting of a bag of incendiary gunpowder attached to the shaft of an arrow. Fire arrows are the predecessors of fire lances, the first firearm. Later rockets utilizing gunpowder were used to provide arrows with propulsive force and the term ''fire arrow'' became synonymous with rockets in the Chinese language. In other languages such as Sanskrit, 'fire arrow' (''agni astra'') underwent a different semantic shift and became synonymous with 'cannon'. Design Although the fire arrow is most commonly associated with its rocket mechanism, it originally consisted of a pouch of gunpowder attached to an arr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Encyclopedia Of Korean Culture
The ''Encyclopedia of Korean Culture'' () is a Korean-language encyclopedia published by the Academy of Korean Studies and DongBang Media Co. It was originally published as physical books from 1991 to 2001. There is now an online version of the encyclopedia that continues to be updated. Overview On September 25, 1979, a presidential order (No. 9628; ) was issued to begin work on compiling a national encyclopedia. Work began on compiling the encyclopedia on March 18, 1980. It began publishing books in 1991. The encyclopedia's first version was completed, with 28 volumes, in 1995. It continued to be revised beginning in 1996. In 2001, the digital edition EncyKorea was published on CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ... and DVD. It launched an online version in 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ch'oe Hae-san
Ch'oe Haesan (, 1380–1443) was a Korean military officer during the Joseon dynasty. He was the son of Ch'oe Musŏn and part of the Yeongcheon Ch'oe clan. He inherited his father's weaponmaking secrets and served as a military commander. References 1380 births 1443 deaths 15th-century Korean people Yeongcheon Choe clan, Hae-san {{Korea-bio-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom was founded following the aftermath of the overthrow of Goryeo in what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul. The kingdom's northernmost borders were expanded to the natural boundaries at the rivers of Yalu River, Amnok and Tumen River, Tuman through the subjugation of the Jurchen people, Jurchens. During its 500-year duration, Joseon encouraged the entrenchment of Korean Confucianism, Confucian ideals and doctrines in Korean society. Neo-Confucianism was installed as the new state's ideology. Korean Buddhism, Buddhism was accordingly discouraged, and occasionally Buddhists faced persecution. Joseon consolidated its effective rule over the Korean peninsula and saw the he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multiple Rocket Launcher
A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple rocket launcher, launchers which are fixed to a single weapons platform, platform, and shoots its rocket (weapon), rocket ordnance in a fashion similar to a volley gun. Rockets are self-propelled in flight and have different capabilities than conventional artillery shell (projectile), shells, such as longer effective range, lower recoil, typically considerably higher payload than a similarly sized gun artillery platform, or even carrying multiple warheads. Unguided rocket artillery is notoriously inaccurate and slow to reload compared to gun artillery. A multiple rocket launcher helps compensate for this with its ability to launch multiple rockets in rapid succession, which, coupled with the large blast radius, kill zone of each warhead, can easily deliver saturation fire over a target area. However, modern rockets can use GPS or inertial guidance t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hwacha
The ''hwacha'' or ''hwach'a'' () was a multiple rocket launcher and an organ gun of similar design which were developed in fifteenth century Korea. It resembled a wooden cart with a launch pad attached, and it had up to 200 tiny Sin'gijŏn, singijeon arrows propelled by rockets. The former variant fired one or two hundred rocket-powered arrows, while the latter fired several dozen iron-headed arrows or bolts out of gun barrels. The term was used to refer to other war wagons or other cart-based artillery in later periods, such as that developed by Byeon Yijung in the 1590s. These weapons were notably deployed in the defense of the Korean Peninsula against the Japanese when they Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98), invaded in the 1590s. Some List of historians by area of study#History of Korea, East Asian historians believe this technological breakthrough, alongside the turtle ship in the mid-16th century, had a distinctive effect during the war. Hwachas appear in Korean museu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King U
U (25 July 1365 – 31 December 1389) ruled Goryeo (Korea) as the 32nd king from 1374 until 1388. He was the only son of King Gongmin. Cultural background In the thirteenth century, Mongol forces had invaded China and established the Yuan dynasty in 1271. After a series of Mongol invasions, Goryeo eventually capitulated and entered into a peace treaty with the Yuan dynasty, in which Goryeo was subordinate tributary state to Mongol Empire. The Ming dynasty in China had grown extremely powerful during the 14th century, however, and it began to beat back the Yuan forces, so that by the 1350s Goryeo had managed to regain its northern territories and took back the Liaodong region. Birth According to the records, U was reportedly born to slave girl Banya, a maid of the monk Shin Don, and King Gongmin. Because Gongmin initially denied the child as his son and refused to name him, Shin Don took it upon himself and named the boy Monino (meaning ''"servant of Buddha"''). As a resul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
