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| A typical San Yan Chong. |
Perhaps the most iconic handheld firearm of Ming army, San Yan Chong (三眼銃, lit. 'Three-eyed gun') was an iron handgonne that had three short barrels arranged in a triangular layout. It allowed the gunner to discharge three shots in quick succession before needing to reload, thereby compensating for its short range and lack of accuracy somewhat. San Yan Chong was the preferred firearm of Northern cavalry, particularly those from Liaodong Defense Region.
During mid-Ming period, adoption of matchlock firearms had rendered older handgonnes largely obsolete. Nevertheless, Ming army never phase out handgonnne from its arsenal entirely. On the contrary, use of handgonne, particularly San Yan Chong, somewhat increased towards the end of Ming Dynasty.
Hi. Would you happen to know the Korean term for these weapons?
ReplyDeleteSorry to bother but I found it. http://younghwan12.tistory.com/3623
ReplyDeleteI am actually quite surprised to learn that Joseon Koreans inherited so many Ming-style firearms.
ReplyDeleteYes. Seungjachongtong. This is probably the most iconic handgun type which became the base for several other variants. http://data.kdata.kr/page/Mallyeogeulmyomyeongseungjachongtong
ReplyDeleteThe Seungjachongtong is similar to some early Ming Dynasty (one-barreled) handgonne, but there are not exact match AFAIK. Probably a Korean indigenous design.
ReplyDeletehow can they shoot while riding on horse back?
ReplyDeleteTBH I have no idea. Historical sources only tell us these weapons were used on horseback, but do not teach us how to do so.
DeleteMy guess is that the gunner slow down his horse (or stop altogether) before he fire the gun. Alternately, maybe a long fuse can be used.
they probably fired them the way horse archers were able to use their bows
Deleteit is weird because arquebus-like firearms without matchlock trigger are attested in joseon before the imjin war:
ReplyDeletehttp://contents.history.go.kr/front/nh/view.do?levelId=nh_027_0030_0030_0040_0010_0030
related:
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRg2URQQMrGBJ7pwQPG8Xy-RbCDqIl3ZSPdunTNdlLFBsPmPWLX
https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=a1k1&logNo=220083679086&proxyReferer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com.br%2F&view=img_27
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSxKuAJVlfAivkrPzaGLHu5CmwkpvphDG3U1wPef4VvrAAdVvrg
http://museum.khu.ac.kr/contents/bbs/bbs_content.html?homepage_id=khmuseum&bbs_cls_cd=002001&cid=10032921032047&bbs_type=G
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a0/d4/72/a0d4723111179e7f2fdc5d4b4dbe66c2.jpg
do you think they look like anything from the ming arsenal?
I can read Korean. The stocks of those guns look like they are inspired by the stock of Japanese matchlock, so I believe at least some of them are "bootleg" arquebus rushed into service to counter Japanese gunners during Imjin War.
Delete*can't
Deletebasically the existence of arquebus-like handgonnes are attested by written records (described next to an image) and archaeological finds (inscription on the barrel - 1588), at least 4 years before the imjin war:
Deletehttp://premium.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2014/02/12/2014021205059.html
which is quite contrary to the belief: "hand cannons converted to Japanese style matchlock early in Imjin war after Koreans realized the superiority of the Japanese matchlock musket, many hand cannons were converted"
about this:
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRg2URQQMrGBJ7pwQPG8Xy-RbCDqIl3ZSPdunTNdlLFBsPmPWLX
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a0/d4/72/a0d4723111179e7f2fdc5d4b4dbe66c2.jpg
these wooden stocks are just a modern invention " what they might have looked like"
my guess these korean arquebus-like handgonnes could share the same family of these guys:
http://greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/2015/11/zhui-feng-qiang.html
http://greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/2015/11/jian-qiang.html
http://greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/2015/11/yi-hu-pao.html
https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/31465744
but correct me if i am wrong they are in the handgonne category due to lack of matchlock?
What exactly are the upgrades done on Xin Gai Ma Bu Xiang Yi San Yan Qiang? I think I can see a spear/blade attachment, but I don't know what other modifications are for.
ReplyDeleteOn top of blade attachment, the improved gun switches out the older, cruder handgonne barrel with more refined matchlock-like gun barrel, which increases durability and decrease weight. It also uses three separated barrels (rather than three barrel welded together like normal San Yan Chong), which prevents the gun barrel from heating each other and allows damaged barrel to be swapped out.
DeleteHow do you think handgonne could have evolved and improved if their usage were continued, either by the hypothetical surviving Ming dynasty or by Qing?
Delete@John Able
DeleteHandheld firearms naturally advance towards more precision， more power, and more user-friendly. Matchlock (and it's more advanced development) basically fulfilled all that. I think the Chinese would've developed matchlock on their own sooner or later even if they never met the Portuguese.
A different question - what caused the increase of handgonne usage at the end of Ming dynasty, despite the adoption of matchlock? I am assuming something about cost.
Delete@John Able
DeleteI am not sure if handgonne really did become more common towards the end of Ming Dynasty. Certain types of handgonne (like three-eye gun) maybe, in comparison to other handgonnes, but overall everyone was trying to adopt matchlock in increasing numbers.
What about fire lance?
DeleteStill used for creating smoke screen and set fire on stuffs (those functions were not replaceable by better guns).
Delete