Notes from contemporary and reconstructed artwork. Listed by artwork (A-P) are from several sources. If they are not indicated, the artwork is from a series of Korean Language books which I cannot translate to provide citation material.

A. Battle of Cho-in Fort. Anti-Mongolian troops fight Mongols and pro-Mongol government troops. The guerrillas are wearing white chogaris and pants and a white headband. The white headband is a very common item worn with and without other headgear throughout the YI dynasty era. Also shown among the rebels are Buddhist monks with shaved heads and wearing dark red robes.

B. Cavalry Charge ~post 1388 ?. Unarmored horses. Red tassels on red leather bridles and red saddle blankets. Red horse hair tassel from helmet spire. Most banners are triangle flying from either a staff or crossbar. Ex.: One banner flys from a crossbar and has a red field w/ yellow border and writing. A Commander's coat-pants are yellow cloth overlaid with rectangle metal plates. He has a Conical helmet w/ neck flap. His arrows have red feathers. His Guard wear a dark blue-gray coat-pants with metal overlays. The cavalry is Advancing in a wedge formation.

C. Peasants. Poorly dressed, in solid blue or dark green tops. some no shirt only gathered at loins. No headgear with hair in top knots. A mix of swords and very long bows. Foot troops. Armed with trident pointed long spear of 9-10 ft w/ red tassel, sword, bow w/ red feathered arrows. Bronze (?) helmet with up-brim round crown and red tassel from center. White pants and Dark green or gray-green coat.

D. Earlier foot troops. royal blue coat w/ yellow borders and white pants. other items the same. Foot troops 1450s. Light blue shirt, dark blue sleeveless coat, dull gold-tan pants. Sung style hat with round crown and flat brim colored blue. Red tassel, white head band under hat, red braid around bottom of crown. Officer has a tassel of red and white intertwined. He wears a red sleeve light blue shirt and carries a long spear.

E. Peasant revolt . Peasants with no weapons but clubs and a few swords. Multi-colored clothes. Tan dominant but light blue and green can also be seen. Government troops. Foot troops wearing Dark blue boots, belt/sash and pants. Undershirt sleeves are long and show light blue, the short overcoat was an unusual shade of purple with short elbow length sleeves bordered in red at the bottom and sleeves ends. A longer piece of red cloth extended from the coat bottom. The helmet was dark blue conical w/ red tassel and red neck flap. To me the boots and purple coat may be winter cold weather garments. over the normal red choppari ?. background troops carry both a bow and trident pointed spear. Foreground troops are using a sword or spear with no bows present. Cavalry has unarmored horses, sword and bows. Dress colors same as infantry. Weapons are bow and sword or Lance. general has a knob spire w/ red tassel holding a Mid-blue triangular flag w/ red tattered borders.

F. YI-SONG-GAE in 1380. Red Helmet with a T-spire and red scale neck flaps. Unique bronze wings on the side of the helmet. Chogori and Paji are red. Gold/bronze scale shoulder and thigh armor. Other scale armor is red with white trim on the borders. Black feathered arrows. Standard. Two are shown. Red Triangle and a Yellow Triangle. Cavalry. Red armor with white trim and white sash. White chogori and paji. White tassel on a K-spire helmet. Infantry. White chogori with red trim and white paji.

G. In Transition era artwork, 1350-1400, Indications are that nobility wore clothing which reflected family heraldry?. At a training school. All pants are white but students wear various colored chogarri with matching floppy caps also in white trim. Examples are: Green with white borders, red with white borders, orange with white trim . Bow cases natural leather. Arrow feathers black.

H. A Red outfitted cadet later wore red coat trimmed in white w/ a rare white tassel from helmet trident spire. Red coat worn over armor scale armor, Red triangle banner, white undergarments, pants. Carries a bow and sword. A Rival general or a comrade wears similar outfit in olive green trimmed in white.

I. Foot troops wore Sung hats, blue-gray coats w/ white border. trident pointed spears. Later another soldier wears a Green sleeveless coats w/ white shirts, red tassel .

J. 1378 Manchurian enemy in Mongol armor reinforced skull caps red or orange clothing, green colored shields or armored breast plates (color represents iron ?)

K. 1550s Cadets are wearing Dark gray sleeveless coats and light gray or white undergarments, white headband and Sung hat w/ side feather (rare case of feather rather than tassel). Older cadets wear a red-white braid on crown's base and red tassel, instructors wear a multi-color undergarment red-blue, with bronze sung hat and gold tassel.

L. Turtle boat foot troops which were often drawn from army troops. Sung hat w/ red-white braid at crown and red tassel, white headband, gray sleeveless coat, red-orange undergarments, leather forearm wraps. Ling's guard light blue undergarment Officers. scale armor coats or studded armor coats in Red cloth. Sung style blue helmets with spires both knob and trident. all w/ red tassel (Blue colored helmet represent iron ? or colored blue since examples of Chinese Sung hats can be seen in various colors.) Admiral Yi Sun-sin is shown wearing gold scales on a red coat with light blue under garments. His conical helmet has a knob spire w/ red tassel. The helmet has a blue crown with gold symbols and three gold scale neck flaps. His arms have leather strappings on them.

M. 1598. Battle of Jeong Am Jin vs Japan. Front line of foot w/ sword and spear, supported by archers and more spear behind pavises, also supported by additional light archers on hillside. Pavises are natural wood with top notched V. They have elaborate designs etched onto the shields, including the sun, monsters, animals, etc. Foot almost all wear a white undergarment/pants, red-brown OR dark gray sleeveless coat, all have a headband, some have a Sung helmet. Red or dark yellow Banners are mostly triangular hung from a horizontal crossbar. General is on an unarmored horse w/ red tassels from bridle. he wears a red coat. Cavalry banners are rectangle long banner (General's) or triangle from side staff.

N. A War Memorial display shows three standards of the Guard Units. Based on the straps and ties, these rectangle colors are flown from a pole. However vests of similar designs may have been worn by the soldiers. (This would be similar to the Chinese practice.) Haema-gi guard unit. Royal Blue background with a brown running horse in the center and bordered by small yellow and red flowers. Ungjun-gi guard unit. Red background with natural colored hawk chasing a fleeing bird. They are 8 multi-color blue-red-yellow-green flower designs on the border. Sang-gi guard unit. Black background with a centered grey-blue elephant being lead by a soldier in a red/yellow trim hat and blue Chogori. There are eight red-yellow-blue flower designs along the border.

O. Another item in the museum's display shows cavalry bodyarmor. It is of overlapping scale and covers the upper arm and the entire leg. It also contains the unique ridged neck protector. The helmet is an open faced helm with a red tassel on a K-spire. It is in the Koryo section. P. Unknown Uniform. Approximately 1300s. Lamellar style armor of yellow cloth with small red rectangle metal. Helmet of Blue cloth and neck flaps with a red tassel on a T-spire. White horse. Red triangle banner. Infantry (Guard ?). Royal-Dark blue Chogori with yellow trim. White paji. Black boots. Long spears with red tassels. Infantry archers. Red arrow feathers. Cavalry. Black Laquered armor. Helmets with red tassels. Horses mainly brown. Red Horse blankets and horse furnishings including tassels. Cavalry banners include red , yellow and green.

Spears

Museums have on display several examples of Korean spears. The trident spear with three points was a very common spear especially in artwork. It was called the Tang-pa. I suspect that its development comes from their tactical practice of defending fortifications whenever possible. The need to push scaling ladders away from the walls of fortifications would lead to the development of a multi-use pronged spear. One example was 143 cm in length with a 40 cm long blade The Ki-chang is the term for the flag spear in particular and may have been used for all single point spears.. The flag spear was a little shorter at 134 cm in length with a small square piece of cloth right beneath the spear point. The cloth was red in color. The flag spear was carried by officers as a mark of authority. In battle they may have had aides/standard bearers carrying the flag spear. It was used to signal their troops and commanders.

Another mark of authority worn by high ranking commanders was a Chinese style black cap. It had a round front and a high vertical piece rising in the back. Still, most artwork of Generals show them wearing a metal helmet with a trident spire and an attached red tassel.

Chosun: The Isolationists of East Asia

Introduction
Military Organization and Notes
The Neighbors of Chosun Korea
Uniforms of the Yi Dynasty Era
Chronology of Military Actions in Chosun/Korea 1340-1700