The Great General Cannon of the Ming Dynasty

Bombard-type Great General Cannon (bottom right) and its various sub-types. Illustration taken from 'Si Zhen San Guan Zhi (《四鎮三關志》)'. 

The Great General Cannon, known in Chinese as Da Jiang Jun Pao (大將軍砲), stood as one of the Ming Dynasty’s most powerful indigenously developed artillery pieces. The name encompassed a class of heavy cannons that evolved over the dynasty's course, with several distinct types emerging as a result of both improvements to and evolution of the original design, and the introduction of new designs that gained popularity and adopted the same name.

The principal variants that emerged under this name are examined in the sections below:

1. Cast Bronze Great General Cannon (Bombard Type)

(Early to mid-Ming Dynasty — up to around 1584)

The bombard-type Great General Cannon was representative of the early and original variant of indigenous muzzle-loading cannon. It was typically made from cast bronze, though occasionally from cast iron, and featured a roughly bottle-shaped profile.

A cast-bronze bombard, probably a "Shorty General", preserved in Xuzhou Museum.

The cannon featured a nearly untapered profile and lacked a flared muzzle, with several reinforcing rings cast integrally along its length to strengthen the barrel against the pressures of firing, and optional lugs for lifting rings similarly cast as part of the barrel for easier handling and positioning. At the rear, a bulbous section served as an enlarged powder chamber. At the base was a flat, flared foot, which enabled the cannon to stand vertically for cleaning and reloading — a standard practice for Chinese muzzle-loaders, which were handled upright rather than horizontally.

A rare cast-iron version of the bombard-type Great General Cannon, preserved at Dingzhou Ancient City. Source

The bombard-type Great General Cannons were graded hierarchically using a typical numerical system: the largest and heaviest cannon was designated Da Jiang Jun (大將軍, lit. 'Great General'), followed by Er Jiang Jun (二將軍, lit. 'Secondary General') or Sai Jiang Jun (賽將軍, lit. 'Near-matching General'), then San Jiang Jun (三將軍, lit. 'Tertiary General') or Ai Jiang Jun (矮將軍, lit. 'Shorty General'), reflecting descending tiers of length, weight, calibre, and firepower within the class.

A cast-iron "Shorty General" bombard, preserved at Dingzhou Ancient City. Source

Regrettably, most surviving cast bronze bombard-type Great General Cannons are small to medium sized, whereas ironically a handful of large-sized cast iron examples have survived despite iron being rarer in this form. This difference likely stems from bronze being more valuable and more easily re-smelted or recycled than iron. Based on surviving examples, bombard-type Great General Cannons range from 50 cm to 180 cm in length, 35 kg to 600 kg in weight, and 6 cm to 25 cm in bore size, although written records mention some as long as 7 chi 2 cun (roughly 230 cm). Nevertheless, from the surviving cast-iron specimens, lengths around 170 cm and bore sizes around 20 cm appear typical for full-sized bombard-type Great General Cannons.

1.1 Wu Di Da Jiang Jun (無敵大將軍)

(Around 1560 — early seventeenth century)

The Wu Di Da Jiang Jun (無敵大將軍, lit. 'Invincible Great General') and its slightly smaller-bore naval/Southern China variant, the Wu Di Shen Fei Pao (無敵神飛砲, lit. 'Invincible Divine Flying Cannon'), represented a significant evolution from the original bombard-type Great General Cannon. These breech-loading designs drew direct inspiration from the Fo Lang Ji (佛朗機) guns — Portuguese-style breech-loaders that had spread from Europe to China in the early 16th century. Designed by the renowned Ming commander Qi Ji Guang (戚繼光), the Wu Di Da Jiang Jun retained much of the original barrel profile but replaced the bulbous powder chamber with an open breech to accept detachable, mug-shaped loading chambers, sacrificing some raw firepower in exchange for markedly easier handling and a substantially higher rate of fire. These chambers were typically forged from wrought iron and fitted with reinforcing hoops for added strength.

Since upright reloading was no longer necessary, the flared foot of the original bombard-type Great General Cannon was removed or, in some cases, replaced with an additional lug for lifting ring similar to those sometimes fitted on other parts of the barrel.

A Wu Di Da Jiang Jun, from 'Lian Bing Shi Ji (《練兵實紀》)'.

To date, no surviving Ming cannon has been definitively identified as a Wu Di Da Jiang Jun, even though numerous breech-loading cannons from the period — including some exceedingly heavy pieces — have survived. As a result, its precise dimensions, bore size, and shot weight remain largely unknown. Written records, however, give an approximate barrel weight of roughly 1,000 jin (about 597 kg), a chamber weight of roughly 50–150 jin (about 30–90 kg), and a powder charge of 4–6 jin of gunpowder (about 2.4–3.6 kg) per shot, indicating that it was scaled to match the heaviest class of bombard-type Great General Cannons. Unlike the earlier muzzle-loading bombard-types, the Wu Di Da Jiang Jun typically fired hundreds of iron pellets as its primary ammunition, propelled with the aid of a wooden sabot; for naval combat, it could also employ a mixed load of a single stone cannonball combined with a reduced amount of iron pellets.

2. Forged Wrought Iron Great General Cannon

(Around 1584 — end of the Ming Dynasty)

Designed by military innovator Ye Meng Xiong (葉夢熊) around 1584, the wrought-iron Great General Cannon, also called Da Shen Pao (大神砲, lit. 'Great Divine Cannon') and Ye Gong Shen Chong (葉公神銃, lit. 'Lord Ye's Divine Gun'), was created by redesigning the wrought-iron loading chamber of the earlier Wu Di Da Jiang Jun into a single, full-length standalone cannon, adapting existing expertise in forging wrought-iron guns such as the Hu Dun Pao (虎蹲砲) to a significantly heavier artillery piece.

Wrought-iron type Great General Cannon displayed atop the Great Wall at Juyongguan Pass.

Constructed entirely from wrought iron, this type of Great General Cannon featured a nearly untapered profile and lacked a flared muzzle, though a reinforcing hoop protecting the muzzle created the subtle appearance of one. Its barrel was girded along its length by a series of forged wrought-iron hoops that could optionally incorporate trunnions, lifting rings, or simple iron sights — replacing the integrally cast reinforcing rings of earlier bombard-type designs — while the breech featured a distinctive abacus-bead-shaped enlargement that formed a reinforced powder chamber. The cannon retained its characteristic flared foot — now made slightly taller — to facilitate stable upright reloading, although it was now also designed for mounting on a gun carriage and could be loaded horizontally.

3D render of a wrought-iron type Great General Cannon mounted on a Ming-style gun carriage. From 《中国古代兵器大百科》.

Cannons of this type were graded hierarchically using characters from the Thousand Character Classic and the Yijing: the largest and most powerful was designated Tian Zi Hao Da Jiang Jun (天字號大將軍), followed in descending order of size, calibre, and firepower by Di Zi Hao Da Jiang Jun (地字號大將軍) and Xuan Zi Hao Da Jiang Jun (玄字號大將軍). A fourth grade, called Ren Zi Hao Da Jiang Jun (仁字號大將軍), also existed, which was seemingly comparable to Tian Zi Hao Da Jiang Jun. Far more examples of this type have survived than of the earlier bombard-type, making it the most representative variant of the Great General Cannon. Most surviving specimens measure between 110 cm and 195 cm in length, with bore diameters ranging from 8 cm to 14.5 cm and weights from 88.5 kg to 300 kg — though written records indicate that some reached as much as 600 kg. Many surviving examples are around 140–145 cm long, with bore diameters typically in the 11–12 cm range.

The wrought-iron Great General Cannon represented a revolution in indigenous Chinese artillery technology. Unlike Western wrought-iron guns, which were typically constructed using thin longitudinal iron staves bound together by shrunk-on hoops, Chinese wrought-iron cannons employed a fundamentally different forging method: multiple curved iron plates (either two or four per layer) were forge-welded together over a solid cylindrical mandrel to form an initial tube segment, with the seams slightly overlapped rather than butted edge-to-edge for added strength and better weld integrity. Additional layers of curved plates were then applied — seams carefully offset between successive layers — until the barrel reached the desired wall thickness. Multiple shorter tubes produced in this manner were subsequently forge-welded end-to-end to achieve the full desired barrel length, after which the assembled barrel was carefully cold-worked and ground to refine the bore, smooth the interior surface, and ensure uniformity, before reinforcing hoops were added.

Left: Boxted Bombard with visible inner stave seams. Right: A Great General Cannon preserved in Korea, brazenly arrogated as a Korean invention.

Compared to the Western hoop-and-stave method — which suffered from bore inconsistencies due to stave misalignment, long continuous longitudinal seams prone to splitting under pressure, risk of hoop failure over time, and uneven stress distribution that could cause sudden catastrophic bursting—the Chinese layered-plate approach produced a more monolithic, uniform, and resilient barrel with superior resistance to hoop stress and reduced risk of longitudinal failure, while also cutting down on overall weight compared to equivalent cast bronze or cast iron guns. Despite being called a “wrought-iron” gun, the metal used in forging the barrel of the Great General Cannon can actually be considered low-carbon steel; only the reinforcing hoops were true wrought iron. This enabled the wrought-iron Great General Cannon to deliver exceptional power for its weight: typical examples (with bore diameters around 11–12 cm) could be loaded with 1.2–1.5 kg of gunpowder per shot, propelling cannonballs weighing as much as 5 kg (roughly 11 pounder), although it was more typically loaded with a bore-matching lead or iron cannonball plus smaller grapeshot and lead/iron pellets to increase the total projectile weight, combining the penetrating power of the solid ball with the wider anti-personnel spread of the scatter load. In fact, it was later discovered that the cannon was so overbuilt that its reinforcing hoops weren't even needed and had become dead weight, leading to the development of a hoopless version called the Wei Yuan Pao (威遠砲).

2.1 Long-barrelled Great General Cannon

(Probably around 1620 — end of the Ming Dynasty)

For most of the Ming period, heavier Chinese artillery typically functioned as a superheavy regimental gun: lightweight and mobile, offering firepower comparable to a full-sized field piece, yet relatively short-barrelled and short-ranged. These cannons were deployed when the enemy breached the overlapping fields of fire from matchlocks, handgonnes, and lighter anti-personnel pieces, or served as a devastating close-range counter-charge weapon against advancing forces.

By the 17th century, however, the arrival of long-barrelled Hong Yi Pao (紅夷砲) — European-style muzzle-loading smoothbore culverins (many of which also bore the title “Great General Cannon” but were not recognised as a distinct class under that name) — combined with the growing military threat posed by the rising Jurchen/Manchu forces, brought about a renewed emphasis on accurate long-range fire. This change was mirrored in native wrought-iron cannons, which increasingly adopted length-to-bore ratios approaching those of European designs. Regrettably, the Ming Dynasty fell before this evolution of wrought-iron cannons could fully mature, and as a result there were only a few surviving pieces of these later designs.

A late Ming period long-barrelled wrought iron cannon preserved at Shanxi Province Art Museum.

The long-barrelled wrought-iron cannon preserved at the Shanxi Province Art Museum (pictured above) is one of the few surviving pieces from the late Ming period. It measures 260 cm in length, with a barrel diameter of 20 cm and a bore of 9.5 cm, giving a bore-to-length ratio of approximately 27:1. It has an untapered low-carbon steel barrel reinforced with seven wrought-iron hoops, lacks the abacus-bead-shaped powder chamber found on earlier wrought-iron Great General Cannons, and has a flat wrought iron rear cap instead of the flared foot. The cannon is uninscribed, so its exact forging date and location are unknown. Due to this (and lacking some characterising features), it is uncertain whether it is truly a Great General Cannon or another type of Ming wrought-iron cannon, although it certainly has the firepower to match and a longer range than a standard wrought-iron Great General Cannon, and is treated as one by researchers.

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Military systems and hierarchies of the Ming Dynasty — Part 1: Wei-Suo System

Note: English translation of the titles are taken from Chinese-English Dictionary of Ming Government Official Titles, Third Edition, with minor modifications (For example, I prefer to translate Wei-Suo as "Guard-Garrison" rather than the more common "Guard-Battalion". I also changed the titles for some low-ranking military officers).

Note that my own translations are italicised.

The Wei-Suo System, which combined the military settlement structure of Sui and Tang Dynasty Fubing System (府兵制) with the hereditary military household system of Yuan Dynasty, was the principal military institution of the Ming Dynasty. Under this system, military households were organised into various Guards and Garrisons (from which the system derived its name) and provided with farmlands and tax exemptions to support their livelihood. In return, every military household was obligated to provide one serviceman for the military, one or more attendants for the serviceman, as well as his equipment and supplies.

In times of war, servicemen were drawn from various Guards and Garrisons and reorganised into field armies (Note: This meant Guards and Garrisons rarely deployed as cohesive units but were broken down and formed into mixed groups) to be led by commanders directly appointed by the emperor, returning to their respective Guards and Garrisons once the campaign was over. Such arrangement prevented military commanders from wielding too much power and threatening the throne, but it also undermined military effectiveness due to weakened cohesion and unfamiliarity among servicemen and their appointed commanders. To address these shortcomings, field armies were eventually made into functionally permanent formations in a new military system called the Ying Bing System (營兵制).

Wu Jun Du Du Fu (五軍都督府)/Five Chief Military Commissions

The Centre, Left, Right, Front and Rear Chief Military Commissions, collectively known as Five Chief Military Commissions, were ten military institutions (five in Beijing, five in Nanjing) that held the highest authority in the Wei-Suo System hierarchy. All Chief Military Commissions were equal in standing, and each oversaw most* Regional Military Commissions over a given geographical area, and was responsible for the command, training, management, logistics, and record keeping of all military households under its responsibility. They did not, however, possess the authority of appointment, promotion and transfer of military personnel, nor could they decide national defence policy or declare war (these were the purview of Ministry of War). After Tumu Crisis, even their original responsibilities and authorities were gradually subsumed by the Ministry of War.

Military titles of Five Chief Military Commissions included:

• Zuo Du Du (左都督)/Left Commissioner-in-chief (Rank 1a)
• You Du Du (右都督)/Right Commissioner-in-chief (Rank 1a)
• Du Du Tong Zhi (都督同知)/Vice Commissioner-in-chief (Rank 1b)
• Du Du Qian Shi (都督僉事)/Assistant Commissioner-in-chief (Rank 2a)

Every one of the Five Chief Military Commissions was co-led by Left Commissioner-in-chief and Right Commissioner-in-chief, who were of equal rank but different seniority (Left Commissioner-in-chief was the senior, Right Commissioner-in-chief was the junior). They were assisted by several Vice Commissioners-in-chief and several Assistant Commissioners-in-chief (no set number). Leadership positions of Chief Military Commission were not hereditary and must be promoted into.

*Note: Some Regional Military Commissions, for example Nurgan Regional Military Commission, directly reported to the emperor instead of Five Chief Military Commissions.

Du Zhi Hui Shi Si (都指揮使司)/Regional Military Commission

Often shortened to Du Si (都司), a Regional Military Commission oversaw the governance and operations of most** Guards and Garrisons of a given region.

Military titles of Regional Military Commission included:

• Du Zhi Hui Shi (都指揮使)/Regional Military Commissioner (Rank 2a)
• Du Zhi Hui Tong Zhi (都指揮同知)/Regional Military Vice Commissioner (Rank 2b)
• Du Zhi Hui Qian Shi (都指揮僉事)/Regional Military Assistant Commissioner (Rank 3a)

A Regional Military Commission was headed by one Regional Military Commissioner, who was assisted by two Regional Military Vice Commissioners and four Regional Military Assistant Commissioners. Like Five Chief Military Commissions, leadership positions of Regional Military Commission were not hereditary and must be promoted into.

**Note: Obviously, Palace Guards directly reported to the emperor, while Guard units stationed in and around the capital reported to Five Chief Military Commissions directly instead of going through a middleman. In addition, there were also some special Guard units that were outside the Wei-Suo hierarchy but also didn't report to the emperor. For example, Imperial Mausoleum Guards reported to Eunuch Protector-general of the Mausoleums at the Tianshou Mountain (天壽山守備太監).

Wei Zhi Hui Shi Si (衛指揮使司)/Guard Military Command

A Guard Military Command was the lowest tier administrative and command institution of the Wei-Suo System, which managed and commanded only a single Wei (衛), or Guard. A Guard was both an administrative unit and military unit, typically consisted of 5,600 personnel organised into five Garrisons, although Guards with more than five Garrisons were not uncommon either (in fact some Guards could have more than thirty Garrisons).

Servicemen belonged to a Guard were usually stationed at their respective Garrisons, although for strategically important areas entire Guard (or a significant portion of a Guard) could be stationed together at a fortress-settlement called Wei Cheng (衛城, lit. 'Guard-city'). It should be noted that not all military households linked to a particular Guard lived inside Wei Cheng—only commanders and active servicemen, as well as their attendants and direct family members lived in it.

Military titles of Guard Military Command included:

• Wei Zhi Hui Shi (衛指揮使)/Guard Commander (Rank 3a)
• Zhi Hui Tong Zhi (衛指揮同知)/Guard Vice Commander (Rank 3b)
• Zhi Hui Qian Shi (衛指揮僉事)/Guard Assistant Commander (Rank 4a)

A Guard was led by one Guard Commander, who was assisted by two Guard Vice Commanders and four Guard Assistant Commanders. Leadership positions of Guard were not hereditary and must be promoted into.

Qian Hu Suo (千戶所, lit. 'Thousand-household Garrison')/Garrison

Often shortened to just Suo (所), Garrison was the most basic building block of the Wei-Suo System, and typically consisted of 1,120 personnel organised into ten Sub-garrisons. Garrisons could generally be categorised into two types: Bei Yu Qian Hu Suo (備御千戶所, lit. 'Preparing and Warding Thousand-household Garrison') and Shou Yu Qian Hu Suo (守御千戶所, lit. 'Defending and Warding Thousand-household Garrison'). The former was not considered an independent administrative unit but a subunit that made up a Guard, although it could still be independently fielded and transferred. The latter however directly reported to a Regional Military Commission rather than being subordinated to a Guard, and was typically raised to defend against a specific threat (such as Wokou) or a specific strategic location.

Servicemen belonged to a Garrison usually lived in either their garrison or in the Wei Cheng of their parent Guard unit, although some Garrisons, usually but not always the independent Shou Yu Qian Hu Suo, had their own fortress-settlements called Qian Hu Suo Cheng (千戶所城, lit. 'Thousand-household Garrison-town') or simply Suo Cheng (所城, lit. 'Garrison-town').

Military titles of Garrison included:

• Zheng Qian Hu (正千戶)/Garrison Commander (Rank 5a)
• Fu Qian Hu (副千戶)/Garrison Vice Commander (Rank 5b)

A Garrison was led by one Garrison Commander, who was assisted by two Garrison Vice Commanders. Unlike leadership positions of higher hierarchies, the titles of Garrison Commander and Garrison Vice Commander were hereditary, although a successor still had to undergo a strict training and testing regime before he became eligible for these positions.

Bai Hu Suo (百戶所, lit. 'Hundred-household Garrison')/Sub-garrison

A Sub-garrison was a subunit of a Garrison and the smallest military unit that could still be fielded independently. It consisted of 112 personnel organised into two Zong Qi (總旗, lit. 'Chief banner'), which were further divided into ten Xiao Qi (小旗, lit. 'Small banner') of ten servicemen each. Zong Qi and Xiao Qi were too small to be fielded on their own.

Being a subordinated element of a Garrison, servicemen of a Sub-garrison obviously lived in their Garrison, although in some cases a Sub-garrison could be permanently stationed to a fort which was later developed into a fortified village, known as Bai Hu Suo Cheng (百戶所城, lit. 'Hundred-household Garrison-town').

Military titles of Sub-garrison included:

• Bai Hu (百戶)/Sub-garrison Commander (Rank 6a)
• Zong Qi Guan (總旗官)/Chief Banner Officer (Rank 7a)
• Xiao Qi Guan (小旗官)/Small Banner Officer (Rank 7b)

A Sub-garrison was led by a Sub-garrison Commander, two Chief Banner Officers, as well as ten Small Banner Officers. All leadership positions of a Sub-garrison were hereditary.

It should be noted that Chief Banner Officer and Small Banner Officer were minor officers and counted towards the total personnel of a given Sub-garrison, whereas Sub-garrison Commander and above were not.

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Brigandine armours of the Ming Dynasty (Revised 2024)

Introduction of brigandine to China

It is generally accepted that Chinese armies adopted brigandine armour due to Mongol influence, although curiously this appears to have occurred only after the fall of the Mongol-ruled Yuan Dynasty. To elaborate, there are very few records suggesting that the Yuan army made use of brigandine armour at all, and most 'evidence' seems to stem from Qing- and Joseon-era brigandines in Japan’s Mongolian Invasion Historical Museum being erroneously attributed to the Yuan period. Moreover, written records and a few armour finds from the early Ming period also indicate that the early Ming army was still predominantly equipped with lamellar armour.

The earliest written record that explicitly mentions brigandine armour comes from an armour regulation found in the Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty (《大明會典》), dated to the ninth year of the reign of the Hongzhi Emperor (1496 A.D.). However, the wording of the statute suggests that brigandine armour was already known in China for some time—albeit probably only in the not-too-distant past.

Ming soldiers wearing brigandines, from 'Zhen Wu Ling Ying Tu Ce (《真武靈應圖冊》)'.

Another possible piece of evidence for early Ming brigandine comes from its depictions in Zhen Wu Ling Ying Tu Ce (《真武靈應圖冊》), a collection of Daoist painted scrolls. Historians remain undecided on whether this scroll collection should be dated to the reign of the Yongle Emperor (i.e. early 15th century) or to the twilight years of the Ming Dynasty (i.e. 17th century). Nevertheless, since it is known that Ming brigandine underwent significant style changes during the Ming–Qing transition period, yet the armours depicted here do not reflect those changes, an earlier date is more likely to be the correct one.

Thus, given the available evidence, at best an informed guess can be made that brigandine armour was introduced to China some time in the fifteenth century.

Styles and designs of Ming brigandines

1. Brigandine coat

Many variations in designs found on Ming brigandines (click to enlarge).

A Ming brigandine was a suit of armour with iron (or low-carbon steel) plates fixed to a cloth cover from the inside using copper rivets. All Ming brigandines took the form of a loose-fitting, single-breasted coat that somewhat resembled a modern gilet, albeit with considerable variations in collar designs, sleeve designs, coat lengths, rivet patterns, and, of course, colours.

Ming infantry kitted in various types of brigandines.

Ming cavalry kitted in various types of brigandines.

Nearly all variations of Ming brigandines were used by infantry and cavalry alike, although naturally foot soldiers would have had different preferences and requirements from their mounted counterparts, causing some styles of brigandine to be more prevalent than others among certain troop types. Broadly speaking, for much of the Ming period foot soldiers preferred to wear short-sleeved, hip-length to knee-length armours alone, whereas mounted troops preferred sleeveless or cap-sleeved brigandines of either waist length or ankle length, often combined with additional armour items such as Bi Fu (臂縛) and armoured skirts.

1.1 Auxiliary armour

Common Ming period auxiliary armours of brigandine construction (click to enlarge).

Brigandine also replaced lamellar in the construction of various auxiliary armours during the Ming period. The most common brigandine auxiliary armour was the aventail of a helmet, which came in two main varieties: with or without separate cheek pieces. By the twilight years of the Ming Dynasty, brigandine throat guards, underarm protectors, and front armour attachments also came into widespread use, owing to the introduction of a new style of brigandine armour (see below).

There is also some pictorial evidence suggesting that the rectangular brigandine throat guard—of the type commonly associated with Qing armour—was actually already in use during the Ming period.

2. Composite armour

Ming cavalry kitted in composite brigandine armours.

A rarer form of Ming brigandine, seemingly reserved for mounted elite troops and guards, was the so-called 'composite armour'. It appeared to be a sleeveless, ankle-length brigandine coat reinforced with a different type of armour at the upper torso, which may have been of scale, lamellar, brigandine, or possibly mail construction. It remains unknown whether the upper-torso armour was directly integrated into the brigandine coat or was simply a separate partial armour worn over a common brigandine coat.

Various forms of armours in use during late Ming period, from 'Bing Lu (《兵錄》)'. Third and fourth armour from the left are composite brigandines.

The late Ming period military treatise Bing Lu (《兵錄》) also contains two illustrations of ankle-length composite brigandines. One depicts a brigandine coat with a lamellar skirt, while the other shows a lamellar coat with a brigandine skirt.

3. Late Ming period two-piece brigandine

Several Ming cavalry in two-piece brigandines, image cropped from 'Xing Jun Tu (《行軍圖》)', a late Ming copy of an earlier painting.

A new style of Ming brigandine largely supplanted (but likely did not completely phase out) older styles of armour during the twilight years of the Ming Dynasty. The new style consisted of a helmet with assorted brigandine aventail and a curved triangular throat guard, a sleeveless hip-length coat and an enlarged armoured skirt (often in mismatched colours), a pair of large underarm protectors, a square-shaped front armour attachment, as well as a pair of segmented Bi Fu armguards to make a whole set.

After the downfall of the Ming Dynasty, the ascendant Qing Dynasty inherited the armour design, and the style eventually evolved into the iconic Qing brigandine upon further modifications.

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Movie review: Noryang: Deadly Sea

The sequel to The Admiral: Roaring Currents and Hansan: Rising Dragon, and the epic finale of Yi Sun-sin trilogy, is finally released digitally! Being the Imjin War enthusiast that I am, of course I wouldn't pass up the chance to review what director Kim Han-min has in store for his audience!

A bit of running joke: Hey, it's commander Yi Ung-ryong (이운룡 or 李雲龍) again! Reprised by the same actor! For reasons unknown he is always the first Joseon commander I recognise.

Noryang: Deadly Sea revolves around the titular Battle of Noryang, the last major battle of Imjin War and the climax of the entire war. This makes it a much easier battle to adapt into a good story/movie, which allows the movie to be largely (albeit not completely) free of the numerous narrative problems that plagued Hansan: Rising Dragon. This is not to say Noryang: Deadly Sea is superior to its prequel, however. In many ways, it is worse.

(Major spoilers ahead, be warned!)

Production issues

The perk of Hanzi writing system: Korean and Chinese communicating by writing is both historically accurate and a great chance to have narrator and actors speak Korean without looking out of place. Unfortunately, the director insisted on using cringe Chinese even when Chinese characters are not verbally communicating. 

Production issues are the least of the movie's many problems, so I am going to mention them first. My first complaint about Noryang: Deadly Sea is that the Chinese language in this movie is atrociously cringe to a native speaker, to the point that I must pause the movie to clear my head every time anyone speaks any Chinese. To be fair, this isn't really a production issue per se (all actors are Korean so it's understandable that they can't speak Chinese), although the production team really should consider hiring some Chinese actors or just dub over the Chinese part.

Yi Sun-sin vomiting blood.

Personal gripe with the language aside, there are definitely some pacing issues with the movie. This is particularly egregious during a scene where the titular character, Yi Sun-shin (이순신 or 李舜臣) suddenly sees hallucination of his deceased son, calls out the names of his comrades one by one as if bidding farewell to them, and vomits blood out of nowhere—BEFORE he was fatally shot by a Japanese gunner. I have a sneaking suspicion that executive meddling forced the director to pad out the length of his movie to the detriment of storytelling. In any case, pacing issues will likely be fixed if the director later releases a Redux/director's cut version of the movie like he did for Hansan: Rising Dragon.

Ming soldiers beating Japanese captives to a pulp.

Thirdly, remember that I said I enjoyed the build-up portion of Hansan: Rising Dragons for all the wrong reasons? Well, the build-up portion of Noryang: Deadly Sea is largely free of the narrative issues of its prequel, but this ironically means that it now bores me to death, as I no longer have any reason, not even wrong one, to enjoy this convoluted mess. I am not even sure if the flashback and minor plot of Yi Sun-sin's dead son is really necessary when the central theme of the story isn't that of personal vendetta, but "to end the war on our terms we must pursue the enemy to the very edge of the (Japanese) archipelago.". Speaking of which, I am well aware this that this is a nationalistic movie and all, but surely such vindictive message can't be the right moral to convey to the audience?

Sea of inferno: Battle of Noryang on the silver screen

Joseon fleet splitting the Japanese fleet in two. Depiction of pre-modern naval battle of such scale, in complete darkness no less, is probably an industry's first.

Historical accounts of Battle of Noryang are rather light on finer details, which give plenty of room for creative liberty. For example, there's nothing in the historical records that describes the Koreans deploying hwacha during this battle, or the Japanese using captured cannons to sink turtle ships, but there's nothing to suggest they DIDN'T either. Thus, free from historical restrictions such as Yi Sun-sin's famous Hak Ik-jin (鶴翼陣), the director was able to let his imagination run wild, and I commend him for delivering such blood-pumping battle sequences. Moreover, barring a few exceptions all characters acted in a mostly logical and coherent manner, and the battle tactics and counter-tactics sensible and convincing, both of which make for an enjoyable watching experience. Regrettably, later portion of the naval action was overshadowed by overly drawn-out, soap opera-esque montages of Yi Sun-sin's final moments and death, although this doesn't detract from the fact that it was great while it lasted.

Nevertheless, despite the enjoyable battle scenes, there are indeed some exceptions, or one might say plot holes, that detract from the overall story. Chief among them are the war fleet of Konishi Yukinaga (小西行長), Chen Lin acting out of character, and the battle that ends at dawn. They will be elaborated below:

Konishi Yukinaga's pristine war fleet

Konishi Yukinaga's fleet.

The story begins with Konishi Yukinaga holed up inside Suncheon Castle due to a joint Ming-Joseon naval blockade, with supply running so low his soldiers were on the verge of resorting to cannibalism. If that is the case, then where did he find/hide such a massive fleet of warships? And why didn't Yi Sun-sin do something about these ships before they become a problem, i.e. destroy them during the blockade?

Chen Lin acting out of character

Chen Lin ordering Ming navy to attack.

In this film, Ming admiral Chen Lin is portrayed as a calculating coward that took bribes and spent the better part of the film trying to distance himself from Yi Sun-sin's war to avoid more bloodshed. Yet during a crucial moment he suddenly ordered Ming navy to press the attack seriously, only to end up with his own flagship boarded by the Japanese. This abrupt change of mind is entirely out of character for Chen Lin's risk-averse portrayal up until that point, and it appears that the director forcibly handed him an idiot ball for no reason other than to set up a "Yi Sun-sin heroically save the Ming admiral from danger" moment.

The battle that ends at dawn

Yi Sun-sin's plan to annihilate Shimazu Yoshihiro's fleet before dawn.

Having the epic struggle to be over by daybreak gives a nice touch of symbolism, signifying the nightmare that terrorised Korea for the past seven years is finally over, and new hope arise. Historically, the turning point of  Battle of Noryang also happened around dawn (although the battle itself continued well into the morning), so that checks out. So why is this a problem?

Shimazu Yoshihiro's subordinate urges him to retreat because "time is running out".

Konishi Yukinaga sounds the retreat, leaving Shimazu Yoshihiro out to dry.

Well, the time when the battle ended isn't a problem. It's only when Yi Sun-sin explicitly set a time limit that he must defeat the Japanese before dawn, Shimazu Yoshihiro became increasingly agitated as daybreak drew near, and Konishi Yukinaga acted as if he was too late after arriving at the scene by dawn, that it become problematic. Why? Because while the battle happens to be over by dawn, there isn't any particular reason that it couldn't, or shouldn't, go on for longer. In essence, by racing against this arbitrary time limit, the characters both good and bad are making decisions based on out-of-story knowledge they couldn't possibly know.

As to why serious plot holes like this can crop up in an otherwise fairly coherent story, this brings me to my next point...

Stolen shine: a sad attempt at ego-boosting

Yi Sun-sin beating the war drum.

At its core, Noryang: Deadly Sea is a nationalistic flick under the guise of historical movie. Attempts to shape the titular hero Yi Sun-sin into a saint among men, and to a lesser extend make the Koreans look good and heroic while everyone else either bad or helpless, permeate throughout the story, dialogues, and character portrayals, some overt, other indirect and subtle. Naturally, in such work historical realities are more of a hindrance than a boon. They are inconvenient truth that must be distorted to serve the narrative, not the other way around.

Shimazu Yoshihiro reading the secret letter sent to him by Konishi Yukinaga.

To illustrate, in a secret letter Konishi Yukinaga warned Shimazu Yoshihiro that Yi Sun-sin might counter-invade Japan after the war. This obviously untrue statement may appear to be just another off-handed chest thumping to make Yi Sun-sin look good and Joseon Kingdom appear more powerful than it really was (which is usually par of the course for a nationalistic movie but relatively harmless, although not in this case), however it actually underpins much of the history distortions that shape the movie's story, and the plot holes that come with such alterations. 

You see, in the historical version of Battle of Noryang, Konishi Yukinaga simply packed up and slipped away from Suncheon Castle while the battle raged on. However, in order to glorify Yi Sun-sin, the director made him a dangerous commander that the Japanese simply could not ignore (even after they lost the war), necessitating the antagonists to hatch a nefarious plot to defeat him, which in turn necessitating Konishi Yukinaga to conjure a war fleet out of thin air to threaten Yi Sun-sin with. Thus, a plot hole came into being. 

It also necessitates Yi Sun-sin using decoys to delay Konishi Yukinaga, rather than...you know, smash his idle fleet before he had a chance to use it.

Likewise, that Chen Lin was the supreme commander that led the allied navy to victory during Battle of Noryang, and Ming navy actually did most of the legworks during the battle, are all inconvenient historical facts to the director's story that must be written off/away. There's a reason why Battle of Noryang played out so differently from Yi Sun-sin's other naval victories, for instance the unusually heavy use of incendiary weapons, little aversion to boarding combat, and the main artillery being Chinese Hu Dun Pao (虎蹲砲) rather than the usual Joseon Chongtong (총통 or 銃筒). But nope, can't have that, Yi Sun-sin must hoard all the spotlights! So Chen Lin is portrayed as a coward that tried to avoid battle at all cost, while Chinese Huo Qiu (火毬) and Pen Tong (噴筒) are being replaced by unimaginative oil pots hand-thrown by Joseon troops then ignited with fire arrows. 

Had Chen Lin not been portrayed as a coward, the scene where his ship was boarded by the Japanese and he was saved by Yi Sun-sin would've flowed far more naturally. Unfortunately, the director wanted to have his cake and eat it too, so he forced Chen Lin to abruptly change from a coward to a Leeroy Jenkins in the span of like two scenes, so that Yi Sun-sin can look good by heroically saving his inept Chinese ally from danger, plot hole be damned. Historically, it was Yi Sun-sin's ship that got surrounded by the Japanese first, then Chen Lin charged in to save Yi Sun-sin, only to cause the Japanese to switch target and surround him instead. The freed Yi Sun-sin then returned to help Chen Lin, and the two fought side by side until dawn. Alas, such moving tale of fire-forged camaraderie, butchered into a plot hole-ridden ego boosting.

And what about the dawn?

The breaking of the dawn.

By itself, various characters in the movie subconsciously racing against an arbitrary time limit is a relatively minor problem, more of a director oversight or dialogue slip than a story-ruining plot hole. However, the fact that such oversight can exist in the first place shows that the director probably did his historical homework—but chose to discard historical events that inconvenience his narrative anyway. Why? Because one notable event did take place at dawn—Deng Zilong (鄧子龍) came in gun blazing and saved the day!

Deng Zilong, an old soldier by the time of his death (he used to be a commander but was demoted to the rank of common soldier before entering Korea), was the last of the major characters to join the fray, but the first to set fire to Japanese warships. His success prompted Chen Lin and other Ming ships to follow suit with their own incendiary weapons, and this was what caused the Japanese to finally break ranks and flee. Unfortunately, his ship was hit by friendly fire during pursuit, and the ensuing chaos allowed Japanese troops to board the vessel and kill nearly all hands aboard. Due to Deng Zilong's low rank (at the time) and relative obscurity, the Japanese didn't realise they had killed someone of significance until centuries later, so no one at the time claimed credit for his death. 

Deceased son ex machina

Drum-inflicted PTSD.

Bah, can't have that either. There's no way the director will allow another heroic sacrifice to detract from Yi Sun-sin's own, so nothing in particular happened at dawn in the film (despite everyone keeping track of the time limit). Well, nothing except Yi Sun-sin suddenly saw a vision of his deceased son who prompted him to start beating the war drum, and this inspired the good guys to fight harder while inflicting a psychological meltdown on the villain Shimazu Yoshihiro so horrid he ran to cower in his room and literally start vomiting (no really).

Deng Zilong getting his head sliced off by Shimazu Yoshihiro.

As for Deng Zilong, he was reduced by director to what can be described as "Yi Sun-sin's believer", an inferior who was "redeemed" and was so devout to the hero that he put him above all others and strove to emulate him, going so far as to confronting his own superior and attacking without order. Too bad the hero's imitator is not the hero himself, so Deng Zilong died an unceremonious death without accomplishing anything.

Chen Chan died a speed bump to Shimzau Yoshihiro's villainy.

Shen Li getting shanked by Japanese troops.

Moreover, as if Deng Zilong's death still wasn't enough to rub it in, the director then decided to kill off minor Ming commander Chen Chan (陳蠶) to re-emphasise Chinese incompetence, and make another minor Ming commander Shen Li (沈理) undergo some kind of foxhole conversion (except he didn't convert to Christianity but to Yi Sun-sin), and found redemption in valiant death—better to die fighting like a Korean than live like a coward! Never mind that both of them survived the war, and Chen Chan even stayed in Korea for two more years (he returned to China in 1600). Because why let history get in the way of the stirring tall tale of our lord and saviour Yi Sun-sin?

I know, Noryang: Deadly Sea is a nationalistic movie, so some measures of embellishment and glorifications of the titular hero are inevitable. But doing it in such blatantly denigrating manner, even to allies, it just seems so uncouth...tactless and petty.

Further reading

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Fei Long Hua Dao (飛龍化刀)

Drawing of a Fei Long Hua Dao rocket, from 'Huo Long Jing (《火龍經》)'.

Fei Long Hua Dao (飛龍化刀, lit. 'Flying dragon turning into knives') was a highly unusual and viciously designed—if not terribly effective—rocket. Recorded in famous firearm treatise Huo Long Jing (火龍經), it was a one zhang five fen long spear-sized rocket with a two chi long bamboo rocket motor as well as two Du Huo (毒火) poison smoke-cum-incendiary warheads, which by itself wasn't anything unusual. What set Fei Long Hua Dao apart from other rockets was that it was fitted with several secondary rockets designed to be engaged at the same time as poison smoke warheads detonate. Known as Hua Dao Tong (化刀筒, lit. 'Knife-changing tube'), these stickless secondary rockets were two chi five cun long gunpowder-filled tubes fitted with three poisoned blades on both ends, and were said to be able to cover an area dozens of zhang wide, literally shredding anything they hit.

Long Fei Hua Dao Zhen (龍飛化刀陣)

Layout of Long Fei Hua Dao Zhen, from 'Huo Long Jing (《火龍經》)'.

The author of Huo Long Jing also created a military formation for the rocket, called Long Fei Hua Dao Zhen (龍飛化刀陣, lit. 'Dragon flying changing into knives formation') or simply Long Fei Zhen (龍飛陣, lit. 'Dragon flying formation'). The formation was designed to inflict maximum mayhem with the rockets to create an opening that allowed a trapped unit to break out of encirclement, and was best deployed during cloudy but windless weather.

Long Fei Hua Dao Zhen consisted of thirty-two rocket teams armed with ten Fei Long Hua Dao rockets each. These rocket teams were arrayed in a checkerboard-like formation, with eight teams serving as vanguard, twelve teams as wings, four teams at the centre, as well as eight teams as rearguard. Nevertheless, it was not known what purpose such a specific formation served other than for firearms safety, as Fei Long Hua Dao had a long enough range that such arrangement wouldn't be necessary.

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Tian Bing Jian (天兵箭)

Drawing of a Tian Bing Jian, from a Qing Dynasty print of 'Huo Long Jing (《火龍經》)'.

Tian Bing Jian (天兵箭, lit. 'Heavenly soldier arrow') was perhaps one of the most ingenious weapons ever devised before the modern era. It was essentially a huge war kite, seven to eight chi long and three to four chi wide and made of straw mat nailed to a wooden frame, which carried a rocket pod containing one hundred rocket arrows as well as dozens of bombs. Specifically designed for night raid, the rocket pod and bombs on the kite were ignited by a slow-burning incense fuse that gave off minimal light, allowing ample time for the kite to be guided to its target in complete darkness and silence before it began to rain down fire and chaos, creating a scene that could be easily mistaken for divine judgement (hence its namesake).

A variant of the kite, known as Tian Lei Pao (天雷砲, lit. 'Heavenly thunder bomb'), replaced the rocket pod with a human bombardier. who was a death row convict being forcibly tied to the kite.

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Equipment of a Ming soldier — Xian Mei (銜枚)

Drawing of the flat back side of a Xian Mei, with placeholder soldier and military unit names written on it. From 'Ji Xiao Xin Shu (《紀效新書》)'.

Xian Mei (銜枚, lit. 'Bit stick') or simply Mei (枚) was a simple wooden or bamboo stick used as a gag for soldiers, both to prevent unnecessary chattering while the army was on the move, as well as an aid for observing noise discipline during special military operation such as night raid and ambush. Such device had a very long history of military use in ancient China—records of soldiers conducting night raids with Xian Mei between their teeth can be found in some of the earliest Chinese texts such as Rites of Zhou and Records of the Grand Historians. 

Ming Dynasty iteration of Xian Mei, its design largely finalised by famous commander Qi Ji Guang (戚繼光), was a 4 cun (12.8 cm/5 in) long and 5 fen (16 mm/0.6 in) wide bamboo stick that came with a lanyard so that it could be worn around the neck or hung from the side of a helmet when not in use. Qi Ji Guang also specifically preferred semi-cylindrical slip over a round rod so as to have a writable surface, as he intended Xian Mei to double as identification tag for his soldiers.

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