Cotton Armor

This is a cotton armour made of many layers of cotton, employing the principle that a highly elastic textile structure can deflect bullets. Following the French invasion of Korea in 1866 (Byeongin yangyo), Heungseon Daewongun ordered the manufacture of armour capable of stopping Western bullets, and records state that the weapons makers Kim Gi-du and Gang Yun, acting on the court's orders, carried out repeated tests, confirmed that twelve layers of cotton could not be pierced by bullets, and then made the armour with thirteen layers. It was first used in actual combat during the United States expedition to Korea in 1871 (Sinmi yangyo), where it proved effective in stopping bullets but was vulnerable to heat, gunfire, and damp. This particular piece of cotton armour is made of thirty layers of plain cotton cloth, and on its inner side is written in ink the characters 孔君玉, presumed to be the name of its owner. As the only cotton armour surviving in Korea today, it is an extremely important artefact for research into the history of the development of armour, and it also carries great value from a military-historical and documentary point of view.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Yongsan-gu, Seoul

Designation

Registered Cultural Heritage · 국가등록문화유산