Korean guerilla and infantry (1592)

[Timotheos]

During the Japanese invasion of Korea (1592), Kwak Chae-u gathered a small band of men to interdict the Japanese northeast of Pusan.  He's a national hero in Korea.

My custom has him carrying a Korean flail. 

My primary source for this is Stephen Turnbull's 2002 "The Samurai Invasion of Korea" (pictured).




Kwak with infantry.  I stand-by the tan-skinned Korean--dirt, sun, and genetics makes a lot of Far Easterners swarthy.



Ignore the can of fizzy drink... I wasn't paid for the plug...


Pictoral Sources:
For the infantry, I had to improvise due to my lack of suitable hats.
Some of the paintings depict the infantry in headbands.  Almost none are depicted barefoot (majority in white trousers, bunched at the knee, with black, tan, or white felt shoes.  I found (not included) a photo of Turtle ship artillery men in un-bunched trousers and sandals, which let my conscience rest easier about re-using the standard white trouser parts...
 




-Tim

[cheng]

very good and interesting Tim !
i hope to remain a 'watcher' (I have reseached a bit and wanted to make koreans too but could not proceed....see the hats I had in mind)
...so a playmo-child's hat-size would be very appropriate here altho it'll look funny or undersized to those not familiar  please continue Tim !!

[Timotheos]

Thanks, Cheng, I didn't think about investigating children's hats.

I don't know what the story is with those hats... according to Turnbull, they were felt, maybe padded in the dome (my guess) but likely not.

I lived in Korea for a year during the 1990s.  Those widebrimmed hats were a sort of fashion... from what I've seen in Korean museums and at recreated folkvillages, men wore a gauze, semi-transparent version of that hat, like an American cowboy hat, but flat-topped and flat-brimmed.

Other than keeping dust off the top-knot and signifying status, those hats wouldn't have been terribly pragmatic.

This costume prevailed into the early 1900s, so if you made Koreans like this, they'd still work with your 1700s-1800s Asian theme.

PS.  Do you know who "Chinese Gordon" was?  (The British engineer who took over Frederik Townsend Ward's Taiping-resistance army after Ward was killed).

I have a great idea for customizing him... will post if it works out...
-Tim

[cheng]

Thanks, Cheng, I didn't think about investigating children's hats.

.....men wore a gauze, semi-transparent version of that hat,

.....Other than keeping dust off the top-knot and signifying status, those hats wouldn't have been terribly pragmatic.

This costume prevailed into the early 1900s, so if you made Koreans like this, they'd still work with your 1700s-1800s Asian theme.

PS.  Do you know who "Chinese Gordon" was?  (The British engineer who took over Frederik Townsend Ward's Taiping-resistance army after Ward was killed).
-Tim

i've used children's hats on a few occassions...its quite a chore making the 'hole' wider for adult heads 

yes..i've seen those guaze like hats in many korean dramas (a famous one was about that girl who started out as a kitchen hand in the palace)...maybe the gauze allowed the air to flow through so that it doesnt topple over so easily 

very informative Tim ! thanks ! No, I didnt read about the Chinese Gordon...tell us more when you share your custom here! 

[henry_martini]

PS.  Do you know who "Chinese Gordon" was?  (The British engineer who took over Frederik Townsend Ward's Taiping-resistance army after Ward was killed).

I have a great idea for customizing him... will post if it works out...

I can' wait for that. I have some plans with Gordon, too.



And another great set of yours. I suggest a golden tack for Kwak Chae-u's horse.

H_M

[Timotheos]

And another great set of yours. I suggest a golden tack for Kwak Chae-u's horse.

H_M

Thanks for the suggestion.  I must have been completely colorblind when I picked red...  it's clearly golden in the paintings...  this also frees my red tack so I can return it to my Roman army...   

-Tim

[Richard]

.

PS.  Do you know who "Chinese Gordon" was?  (The British engineer who took over Frederik Townsend Ward's Taiping-resistance army after Ward was killed).

Hello, Timmy ...

I'm sure that everyone knows that "Chinese Gordon" later became "Gordon of Khartoum" ... 

[Timotheos]

Hi Richard

Thanks for the information.  I didn't know that about Gordon.

I read an American biography about Frederik Townsend Ward, which didn't go into great detail about Gordon after China.

Actually, the biography by Caleb Carr (_The Devil Soldier_) grated on me after awhile.

Carr followed the theory that in order to hold the reader's interest, the protagonist must be "likeable", so Carr took great pains to be Ward's apologist, often contorting himself into knots to persuade fans of Maya Angelou that Ward would have donated to March of Dimes and been friends with Bono if only were it not for the misfortune of chronology.

-Tim

[Richard]

Hello, Timmy ...

I have attached an old black and white photo of General Gordon on a camel.

I've also attached an old black and white photo of General Gordon meeting the Mahdi.

If you'll look closely, you'll be amazed at how much Gordon looks like Charlton Heston and how much the Mahdi looks like Sir Laurence Olivier ... 

All the best,
Richard

see attachments

[Timotheos]

On a similar note, I recently saw "Becket" (Peter O'Toole, Richard Burton) and after doing a little post-research on Becket was puzzled by the distortions.

The big theme of "Becket" was about how Thomas a Becket was a native Britoner who made big and wanted to protect his people.

But, the real Becket's father was born in Normandy, and Becket was no less "native" than King Henry.

I guess that hearkens back to the genre of Livy and Tacitus and friends...  "History as an instrument of making the author's point."

[Richard]

On a similar note ...

If you ever have an opportunity to rent the movie Khartoum, I would be very interested in reading your critique. Having grown up on Errol Flynn movies, where any historical fact was merely a coincidence, I just learned to sit back and enjoy the cinema as pure entertainment.

[customan]

bravo !