Joseon Multi-Barrel Rocket Cart (Hwa-cha)

Timeline

1. 1377–1380Kaesong · GoryeoIn late Goryeo, the general Choi Mu-sun learned gunpowder formulas from Yuan merchants and repeatedly tested and improved them; in 1377 the Goryeo court established the Hwatong Dogam, developing cannons and other single-barrel firearms, marking the beginning of gunpowder weapons on the peninsula.
2. 1409–1451Hanseong · Joseon dynastyIn 1409 under King Taejong, Yi Do, Choi Hae-san, and others developed the hwa-cha; in 1451 under King Munjong an order was issued to improve it, producing a standardized hwa-cha able to volley about 100 sinigijeon or fire arrows from its barrels, deployed in Hanseong and the northern frontier. Choi Mu-sun was a precursor figure of 14th-century gunpowder and should not be listed as a 15th-century supervisor.
3. 1451–1600Hanseong and provincial military camps · Joseon dynastyThe hwa-cha and sinigijeon were thereafter incorporated into the Joseon military system and are recorded as used in the late 16th-century wars and other engagements, becoming an important early East Asian example of rocket artillery.