Medium Mortar (1986-2)

Wangu, also known as daenggu, is a type of tube-barrelled firearm said to have been made by Choe Hae-san during the reign of King Taejong of Joseon. A wangu can be divided into three main parts: the wan (bowl), the gyeongmoktong (wooden-wadding tube), and the yaktong (powder chamber). The wan is the bowl-shaped part on which the projectile, a large stone or an iron ball, was placed. In this Medium Mortar (Jungwangu), the powder chamber has two touch-holes for inserting the fuse. Between the powder chamber and the bowl lies the gyeongmoktong, which holds a wooden wad used to transmit to the bowl the force released when the gunpowder exploded. This Medium Mortar was salvaged by a diver in March 1970 from the sea off Tongyeong County in Gyeongsangnam-do; the bowl measures 20.5 cm, the powder chamber 24.7 cm, and the wooden-wadding tube 17.4 cm. Having lain submerged in the sea for a long time, it is badly corroded, so that any surviving inscription is difficult to read. However, since it is almost identical in shape and size to a previously designated treasure-class Medium Mortar, it is presumed to have been made sometime between 1575 and 1605, the eighth to the thirty-eighth years of King Seonjo. As the only such firearm to have been salvaged from the sea and to have been used directly in a naval battle, it is highly valued as historical material for research both into the development of firearms and into the history of naval warfare.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Changwon, Gyeongnam

Designation

Treasure · 보물