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Bird gun

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Bird gun
Korean bird gun, 19th century.
TypeMusket
Place of originMing China, Joseon
Service history
In service1558–1895
Used by
Wars
Production history
DesignerQi Jiguang, King Seonjo
Produced1558–1621 (in China)
1592-1895 (in Korea)
VariantsRifle
Specifications
Length104-140 cm

ActionSnap matchlock
Rate of fireUser dependent, usually 1-2 rounds a minute
Feed systemMuzzle-loaded

Bird gun (Chinese: 鳥銃; pinyin: Niǎo chòng, Korean조총; Hanja鳥銃; RRjochong; MRchoch'ong) is the Chinese and Korean name for snap matchlock muskets.[1]: 187 [2]: 206 [3]

Name

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There are multiple theories about the origin of the name for the matchlock musket in Chinese, which has been called "bird-beak gun" or "bird gun". Qi Jiguang believed that it was called the bird gun due to its accuracy and ability to hit a bird. However a modern assessment by Sun Laichen finds this unlikely. According to Sun, the Chinese almost always named things based on their shape or function and it is far more likely that this was the case for the "bird gun". The exact part of the gun that was the source of inspiration for its name is still unclear and there is no concrete evidence available. Joseph Needham speculates that it was the "cock's pecking action" that was the inspiration, but this cannot be confirmed. The muzzle and stock have also been suggested as possible inspirations for the name of the "bird gun".[4]: 138 

History

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Ming China

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The term bird gun (鳥銃) was mentioned in the Chinese military manual Jixiao Xinshu, published in 1560. The book was written by the Ming general Qi Jiguang, who encountered Japanese arquebuses during the fight against Japanese pirates in southern China (1555-1560). He stated in his Lianbing shiji of 1571-77 that Japanese arquebuses were the origin of Chinese matchlock firearms.[5]: 429  Ming forces had obtained arquebuses by 1548, when a Ming soldier named Li Guangshou wounded a smuggler using a matchlock gun. In 1548-49, Zhu Wan captured matchlock weapons from a multinational group of smugglers. In 1562, Zheng Ruozeng said that bird guns had already entered China prior to the capture of Japanese muskets in 1548 but they were unable to produce them perfectly. One source states that the Ming army captured muskets from two Portuguese ships in 1523. Around 1553, Zhao Chen suggested manufacturing bird-beak guns against pirates. The Ming encountered pirates using matchlock wielding pirates again in 1554 when a Ming soldier was wounded by one. In 1555, Ming soldiers on the walls of Nanjing fired at pirates using matchlock guns. One Chinese source credits the pirate Wang Zhi with introducing arquebuses to the Chinese government. An official asked him to manufacture arquebuses after he surrendered in 1558. By 1558, mass production of arquebuses began in Chinese state arsenals - that year the first batch of 10,000 guns was produced. In the same year, many pirates were gunned down by Ming soldiers wielding matchlock guns.[1]: 172 [4]: 121–126 [6]

By the last stage of the Ming dynasty, bird guns were used extensively, but were not the main infantry weapon. A military report from the early 1620s, during the war with the Jurchens, asked for the mobilization of 130,000 new soldiers and production of 7,000 hand cannons (three-eyed guns) and bird guns.[7]: 46  During 1618-1622 Ming Ministry of Works reported the production of 6,425 muskets, 98,547 polearms and swords, 26,214 great “horse decapitator” swords and 42,800 bows.[7]: 49  In 1629 Minister of Rites Xu Guangqi, a Christian convert under the Portugese influence, proposed the formation of new brigades consisting of 5,200 infantry each, 1,200 armed with bird guns.[7]: 51 

Kingdom of Joseon

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Though developed in Ming China, bird guns were most widely used in Joseon after 1592. As a loyal vassal of the Ming Empire (1368-1644), the Korean kingdom Joseon (1392-1897) was under the cultural and military influence of the Ming. Korea adopted the Chinese hand cannon for its small military. Since China never developed an arquebus or musket, these weapons were unknown in Korea until the early 16th century.[1]: 181  They did not adopt the new weapons until the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592. Learning the advantages of the Japanese muskets over their own bows and arrows in the first battles against the Japanese (both Korean capitals fell within the first three months of war), Koreans were quick to adopt the matchlock musket.[1]: 181–184  The first Japanese matchlocks, captured from the enemy, were adopted into the Korean military as soon as 1592, as their firepower was considered to be 5 times that of a Korean bow. Indigenous production started already in 1593, receiving some support even from king Seonjo. Admiral Yi Sun-sin and several other commanders have selected gunsmiths among the Japanese prisoners of war and put them to work, starting matchlock production in March 1593 and educating local Korean workers along the way. By the end of 1593, matchlock guns were already produced in many provincial cities.[8]: 332–333  After the war, Korea started a thorough military reform, adopting the bird gun as the main infantry weapon, leaving bows and arrows to cavalry and officers.[1]: 181–184  Korean technical expertise in manufacturing arquebuses was acknowledged by the Qing dynasty, which offered to import large numbers of arquebuses from Joseon in 1657.[8]: 332–333 

Characteristics

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3D model af a Bird gun, 17th century.
Snap-matchlock mechanism ready to fire.
Snap-matchlock mechanism fired.

Bird guns had long barrels, and were fitted with iron sights on the barrel.[4]: 127  A 17th century source recommended the barrel length of 3 chi (about 1 m). The same source considered the longest effective range to be about 100 paces.[4]: 128 

Bird guns were considered very precise and powerful weapons for the time. Qi Jiguang claimed that a bird gun, in the hands of a properly trained soldier, could hit a willow leaf from a hundred paces away, and that bird gun's accuracy was 80-90% (8-9 hits out of 10).[4]: 127 They were considered powerful enough to pierce the heavy armor.[4]: 128 

Larger muskets, known as shotguns[9] (Chinese: 鸟枪; pinyin: Niao qiang), are mentioned in a source from 1637: they were similar to bird guns, but had two times longer (2 m) barrel and used twice the amount of gunpowder. Their effective range was more than 200 paces.[4]: 128 [failed verification]

A preserved Ming report from 1596 or 1597 states that of the four known models of matchlock guns at the time (Western, Japanese, Korean, and Ottoman), the Ottoman matchlock musket, which the Chinese report called a Rumi gun,[10][4]: 122  was by far the best. They were lighter, had longer range and more firepower, also their sights were better and their lock was more convenient than that of the Japanese bird guns. After the Ottoman, the best were the European ones: they were lighter and their range was 50-60 paces longer than the Japanese.[5]: 441–444 

Use in battle

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The first use of a matchlock gun in battle by a Ming soldier dates from a military report about a battle against the Chinese and Japanese pirates in April 1548.[4]: 121  Bird guns were used regularly by the Ming units in southern China after 1553, but only in limited numbers. More widespread use of bird guns in battle is mentioned in military reports after 1558: two reports from 1558-1559 mention units of 500 and 340 Ming musketeers respectively.[4]: 125 

The first test for the Korean muskets came in 1619, when a corps of 10,000 Korean musketeers was sent to assist the Ming battle the Manchu. Although the battle was ultimately lost, Koreans inflicted heavy casualties on the Manchu cavalry.[1]: 187 

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Andrade, Tonio (2016). THE GUNPOWDER AGE: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-13597-7.
  2. ^ Peers, C. J. (2006). Soldiers of the Dragon: Chinese Armies 1500 BC-AD 1840. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84603-098-7.
  3. ^ 검색, 국립중앙박물관>소장품>소장품. "Home". 국립중앙박물관>소장품>소장품 검색 (in Korean). Retrieved 2025-05-06.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Swope, Kenneth; Andrade, Tonio (2018). Early modern East Asia: war, commerce, and cultural exchange essays in honor of John E. Wills, Jr. Asian States and Empires. London: Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-138-23522-9.
  5. ^ a b Needham, Joseph; Ho, Peng Yoke; Lu, Gwei-Djen; Wang, Ling (1986). Science and civilisation in China: the gunpowder epic. Cambridge London New York [etc.]: Cambridge university press. pp. 425–471. ISBN 978-0-521-30358-3.
  6. ^ Xiaodong, Yin (2008). "Western Cannons in China in the 16th–17th Centuries". Icon. 14: 41–61. JSTOR 23787161.
  7. ^ a b c Swope, Kenneth (2014). The military collapse of China's Ming Dynasty, 1618-44. Asian states and empires. London ; New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 978-0-415-44927-4.
  8. ^ a b Lewis, James Bryant (2015). The East asian war, 1592-1598: international relations, violence, and memory. Asian states and empires. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-78663-9.
  9. ^ Characters 鸟枪 translate as shotgun in modern Chinese.
  10. ^ Rumi was the Chinese name for the Roman Empire and Byzantine empire. Ming Dynasty scholars applied the same name to the Ottoman Empire, as their successor.
  11. ^ a b Bird guns can be seen on screen.

Literature

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  • Needham, Joseph; Ho, Peng Yoke; Lu, Gwei-Djen; Wang, Ling (1986). Science and civilisation in China: the gunpowder epic. Cambridge London New York [etc.]: Cambridge university press. pp. 425–471. ISBN 978-0-521-30358-3.
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