著者

久芳 崇

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = The Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.84, no.1, pp.33-54, 2002-06

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Researchers have conventionally theorized that the first firearms to reach China during the Ming Period were of Portuguese manufacture, but since the Chinese were not able to duplicate them in their complexity, Portuguese firearms would only become common after the 1548 attack on Shuang-yu 双嶼 by the Ming army, which had obtained firearms from its Japanese prisoners.In the mid-16th century generals like Qi Ji-guang 威継光 made efforts to obtain firearms, which proved useful in feuding off Japanese pirates (Wo kou 倭寇) and the defense of the northern territories.It is not very clear, however, just how common firearms really were in China during the early 17th century, and improved versions like those used by the Japanese in the invasion of Korea do not seem to have been known to the Ming dynasty.On the other hand, the thousands of Japanese taken prisoner during the War played an important part in the diffusion of firearms in Korea, and it seems reasonable to assume the same situation occurred in China.Previous research has not taken into account how the firearms obtained from the Japanese were put to use by the Ming army, and how they influenced the spread of improved firearms during the period.In this article, the author discusses how firearms the Ming army took from Japanese during the fighting in Korea were later used to suppress Yang Ying-long’s 楊応龍 revolt in Bo zhou 播州 and also examines how these improved weapons spread to Ming China, a point that has received little scholarly attention to date.