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The Korean Bow ((朝鮮語:각궁, Gak-gung) hanja : , literally means ''nation bow'') is a water buffalo horn-based composite reflex bow, standardized about 1900 CE from the variety of such weapons in earlier use. It uses with thumb draw. The Korean Thumb ring is different from the Manchu, Mongol, or the Turkish Thumb Ring. It comes in two styles, male and female. Male thumb ring sticks out as an extra appendage, while the female thumb ring covers the front joint of the thumb only.〔http://www.koreanarchery.org/classic/thumbrng.html〕 Also, the arrow is laid on the right side of the bow, unlike the western bow, where the arrow is laid on the left side of the bow. Gungsul, also written ''(朝鮮語:궁술, gungsul, 弓術), sometime also romanized ''goongsul'', literally means "''the Art of the bow.''" It is also called Korean traditional archery. ==History of Military Origin and Usage== The reflex bow had been the most important weapon in Korean wars with Chinese dynasties and nomadic peoples, recorded from the 1st century BCE.〔(Korean Traditional Archery )〕 Legend says the first king and founder of the Goguryeo, Go Jumong, was a master of archery, able to catch 5 flies with one arrow. Park Hyeokgeose, the first king of the Silla, was also said to be a skilled archer. Rumors of archers in Goguryeo and Silla presumably reached China; the ancient Chinese gave the people of the north east, Siberia, Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula, the name of Dongyi () (Eastern part of the Siyi (Four Barbarians) ()), the latter character (夷) being a combination of the two characters for "large" (大) and "bow" (弓).〔From English Wiktionary http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/夷〕 However, the word 夷 was first used in Chinese history referring to the people South of Yellow River over 5,000 years ago. Later, when Yi 夷 people joined the tribes of Hua Xia [] Chinese, 夷 meant outsider (in foreigner meanings) or ''exterminate''. By that time, DongYi refers to Manchurian, Tunguistic tribes in Manchuria or Korean Peninsula, Korean and Japanese as in Outsiders from the East.〔 [http://ctext.org/sanguozhi ''Records of the Three Kingdoms''] on the Chinese Text Project page〕 With the Mongol Conquest of Korea, archery became the main stay of Korean military. Sword and spear of Korea and China did nothing to stop the Mongol archery, so were quickly discarded in favor of the composite bow. Yi Seonggye, the founding king of Joseon was known to have been a master archer. In a battle against Japanese pirates, Yi Seonggye, assisted by Yi Bangsil, killed the young samurai commander "Agibaldo" with two successive arrows, one arrow unhelmeting the warrior, with the second arrow entering his mouth. In his letter to General Choi Young, Yi Seonggye lists as one of five reasons not to invade Ming Dynasty as during the monsoon season, glue holding together the composite bow weakens, reducing the effectiveness of the bow. Founding of Joseon dynasty saw the retention of the composite bow as the main stay of the Joseon military. Archery was the main martial event tested during the military portion of the national service exam held annually from 1392 to 1894. Under Joseon, archery reached its zenith, resulting in the invention of pyeonjeon, which saw great service against the Japanese in 1592 and against the Manchus in early 1600s. Until the Imjin wars, archery was the main long-range weapon system. During that war, the tactical superiority of the matchlock arquebus became apparent, despite its slow rate of fire and susceptibility to wet weather.〔Korean Traditional Archery. Duvernay TA, Duvernay NY. Handong Global University, 2007〕 However, it was the Korean composite bow, referred to as the "half bow" by the Japanese, that halted the Japanese at the Battle of Haengju as well as at the Battle of Ulsan. Although Joseon adopted the arquebus during the Imjin War, the composite bow remained the main stay of its Army until the reforms of 1894. Under King Hyojong's military reforms, an attempt was made to revive horse archery as a significant element of the military. It was also practiced for pleasure and for health, and many young males - including the king - and a some many females would spend their free time practicing it. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gakgung」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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