Muyedobotongji (1790)

Muyedobotongji is an illustrated Korean manual of military martial disciplines from the Joseon dynasty. King Jeongjo ordered its compilation and, according to the Korean Wikipedia, it was completed in 1790, in the fourteenth year of his reign. Yi Deok-mu and Pak Je-ga, officials of the royal library Gyujanggak, worked on it, together with Baek Dong-su, an officer of the Jangyongyeong unit, for whose training the manual was intended. It was printed in 1795. The main text in Classical Chinese fills four volumes, and a further separate volume contains an explanation in the Korean script hangul. The work describes 24 martial disciplines in all, with weapons and without, including disciplines on horseback. It opens with an overview of the history of military techniques called Byeonggi chongseo. Muyedobotongji follows on from older Korean military manuals. Muyejebo from 1610 described six martial systems. Muyesinbo, which the English Wikipedia dates to 1758 and the Korean one to 1759, expanded their number to eighteen. Muyedobotongji builds on it and expands the collection to 24 disciplines. The English Wikipedia calls the work a source for understanding Korean military science of the 18th century and notes that many Korean documents were lost during invasions and occupation of the country. An English translation by Sang H. Kim was published by Turtle Press in January 2001.

Martial arts in this work

Contents

The manual has two layers. Four volumes consist of text in Classical Chinese, and the fifth, separate volume contains an explanation written in the Korean script hangul. In all, the work describes 24 martial disciplines, collectively called 24ban muye in Korean. They include training with the spear and other long weapons, fencing with the sword and the sabre, unarmed combat and disciplines performed from horseback. We have not been able to confirm unambiguously the itemized list of all 24 items or their division into volumes, as the sources disagree on it. The Korean Wikipedia points out two terms the text works with. The word "se" (세) denotes a single static position captured in an illustration, and the word "bo" (보) a connected sequence of positions in which attack and defence alternate.

Origin

According to the Korean Wikipedia, the compilation was completed on the 29th day of the 4th month of the lunar calendar in 1790, in the fourteenth year of the reign of King Jeongjo, who ordered the work. The text was prepared by two collators of the royal library Gyujanggak, Yi Deok-mu and Pak Je-ga, together with Baek Dong-su, an officer of the Jangyongyeong unit. The sources do not distinguish their shares and list them as joint compilers. The manual came into being as a training manual for Jangyongyeong in particular. It followed on from two older military manuals, Muyejebo from 1610 and Muyesinbo, compiled under King Yeongjo, which expanded the collection to eighteen techniques. It was printed in four volumes in 1795.

People and martial arts

• Yi Deok-muAuthor
• Pak Je-gaAuthor
• Baek Dong-suAuthor
• Sang H. KimTranslator
• JeongjoPatron

Details

Form

Printed book

Editions

• 1795 · KO · 武藝圖譜通志 · first edition
• 2001 · EN · Muye Dobo Tongji: Comprehensive Illustrated Manual of Martial Arts of Ancient Korea · Turtle Press · translation