Joseon Tongsinsa

The Joseon Tongsinsa were goodwill missions sent intermittently, at the request of the resident Japanese authority, by Joseon dynasty Korea to Japan. The Korean noun identifies a specific type of diplomatic delegation and its chief envoys. From the Joseon diplomatic perspective, the formal description of a mission as a tongsinsa signified that relations were largely "normalized," as opposed to missions that were not called tongsinsa.[1]

See also: Joseon missions to Japan

A Joseon diplomatic procession through the streets of Edo in 1748 is entitled Chōsen-jin Uki-e by Hanegawa Tōei, c. 1748
Joseon Tongsinsa
Japanese name
Kanji朝鮮通信使
Korean name
Hangul조선통신사
Hanja朝鮮通信使

Diplomatic envoys were sent to the Muromachi shogunate and to Toyotomi Hideyoshi between 1392 and 1590. Similar missions were dispatched to the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan between 1607 and 1811.[2] After the 1811 mission, another mission was prepared, but it was delayed four times and ultimately cancelled due to domestic turmoil in Japan that resulted in the establishment of the Meiji Restoration in Japan, after which Japanese relations with Korea took a markedly different tone.

History

Starting in 1392, many diplomatic missions were sent from the Joseon court to Japan. Not less than 70 envoys were dispatched to Kyoto and Osaka before the beginning of Japan's Edo period.[3] The formal arrival of serial missions from Korea to Japan were considered important affairs; and these events were widely noted and recorded.

Only the largest formal diplomatic missions sent by the Joseon court to Japan were called tongsinsa in Korean. The term tongsinsa may be misused to refer to the practice of unilateral relations, not the international relations of mutual Joseon-Japanese contacts and communication.[4] Up through the end of the 16th century, four embassies to Japan were called "communication envoys" or tongsinsa – in 1428, 1439, 1443 and 1590. After 1607, nine tonsingsa missions were sent to Japan up through 1811.[5]

The unique pattern of these diplomatic exchanges evolved from models established by the Chinese, but without denoting any predetermined relationship to China or to the Chinese world order.[6]

In the Edo period of Japanese history, these diplomatic missions were construed as benefiting the Japanese as legitimizing propaganda for the bakufu (Tokugawa shogunate) and as a key element in an emerging manifestation of Japan's ideal vision of the structure of an international order with Edo as its center.[7]

Impression of Joseon Tongsinsa mission in Japan – attributed to a Kanō school artist, circa 1655

After the Japanese invasion of the Korean peninsula (1592–1598), a new phase of diplomatic relations began. The formal embassies were preceded by preliminary negotiations which began in 1600, shortly after news of the Toyotomi defeat at the Battle of Sekigahara was received by the Joseon Court.

As an initial gesture in a process of re-establishing diplomatic relations and as an earnest of future progress, some Joseon prisoners were released at Tsushima Island. In response, a small group of messengers under the leadership of Yu Jeong were sent to Kyoto to investigate further. With the assistance of Sō Yoshitomo, an audience with Tokugawa Ieyasu was arranged at Fushimi Castle in Kyoto.[8] In 1604, Yu Jeong confirmed the Joseon interest in further developing relations; the Tokugawa shōgun reciprocated by releasing 1,390 prisoners-of-war.[9]

15th–16th century diplomatic ventures

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Joseon court labeled four large-scale diplomatic missions to Japan as "communication envoys" or tongsinsa – in 1428, 1439, 1443 and 1590.[5]

In Japan's Muromachi period (1336–1573) and Azuchi–Momoyama period (1568–1603), these Joseon-Japanese diplomatic contacts were considered important events.

Year Korean monarch Joseon chief envoy Japanese shōgun Official purpose
1428 Sejong Bak Seo-saeng[10] Ashikaga Yoshinori Condolences on the death of Yoshimochi, Congratulations on the succession of Yoshinori[10]
1439 Sejong Go Deuk-jong[10] Ashikaga Yoshinori Neighborly relations, suppression of the waegu (wakō)[10]
1443 Sejong Byeon Hyo-mun[11] Ashikaga Yoshimasa Condolences on the death of Yoshinori, congratulations on the succession of Yoshikatsu[10]
1590 Seonjo Hwang Yun-gil[12] Toyotomi Hideyoshi Congratulations on the unification of Hideyoshi[10]

Hideyoshi's invasions
Main article: Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)

Diplomacy was set aside in 1592 when Japanese armies invaded Joseon territory. The ruptured bilateral relations were not restored immediately after the death of Hideyoshi in 1598; but the invading forces gradually withdrew from occupied land on the Korean peninsula.[13]

17th–19th century diplomatic ventures

In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, the Joseon leaders sent twelve large-scale delegations to Japan, but not all were construed as "tongsinsa" envoys. The embassies consisted of 400 to 500 delegates; and these missions arguably contributed to the political and cultural development of Japan in addition to the range of ways in which bi-lateral relations were affected.[2]

The 1607, 1617 and 1624 delegations were explicitly identified by the Joseon court as "Reply and Prisoner Repatriation Envoys," which were construed as less formal than a tongsinsa or "communication envoy." The use of the term "tongsinsa" signified that relations had been "normalized;"[14]

Unlike the missions during the early Joseon era, Japan did not dispatch generals to greet the later Joseon missions, and only Joseon dispatched missions to Japan. However, this was not because diplomatic relations were unilateral or favored Japan – after Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea, Japanese envoys were forbidden from traveling to Seoul, and Japanese missions to Korea were halted at the Japanese residence in Busan (during the invasions, the Japanese invading armies had taken the route used previously by Japanese missions to Seoul from Busan); in addition, the cost of dispatching these missions was shouldered in their entirety by the shogunate in Japan (which, in the context of the three "communication" missions that served to normalize relations between Korea and Japan after 1598, seems equitable), which by some estimates equaled the annual budget of the shogunate in cost.[15]

In Japan's Edo period (1603–1868), the Joseon-Japanese diplomatic contacts were considered significant events, with the exception of the 1811 delegation. The Joseon monarch's ambassador and retinue traveled only as far as Tsushima. The representatives of shōgun Ienari met the mission on the island which is located in the middle of the Korea Strait between the Korean Peninsula and Kyushu.[16] After the 1811 mission, another mission was prepared, but it was delayed four times and ultimately cancelled due to domestic turmoil in Japan that resulted in the establishment of the Meiji Restoration in Japan.[15]

Year Korean monarch Joseon chief envoy Japanese shōgun Official purpose
1636 Injo Im Gwang[17] Tokugawa Iemitsu Celebrating prosperity.[18]
1643 Injo Yun Sunji[19] Tokugawa Iemitsu Celebrating birthday of shōgun Iemitsu.[20]
1655 Hyojong Jo Hyeong[21] Tokugawa Ietsuna Congratulations on succession of shōgun Ietsuna.[22]
1682 Sukjong Yun Jiwan[23] Tokugawa Tsunayoshi Congratulations on succession of shōgun Tsunayoshi.[24]
1711 Sukjong Jo Tae-eok[25] Tokugawa Ienobu Congratulations on succession of shōgun Ienobu.[26]
1719 Sukjong Hong Chi-jung[27] Tokugawa Yoshimune Congratulations on succession of shōgun Yoshimune.[28]
1748 Yeongjo Hong Gye-hui[29] Tokugawa Ieshige Congratulations on succession of shōgun Ieshige.[30]
1764 Yeongjo Jo Eom[31] Tokugawa Ieharu Congratulations on succession of shōgun Ieharu.[32]
1811‡ Sunjo Kim Igyo[23] Tokugawa Ienari Congratulations on succession of shōgun Ienari.[33]

‡ The 1811 tongsinsa was incomplete; the delegation did not travel beyond Tsushima, where the Joseon envoys were met by representatives of the shogunate.

See also

Notes
  1. Lewis, James Bryant. (2003). Frontier contact between chosŏn Korea and Tokugawa Japan, pp. 21–24.
  2. Sin, Hyŏng-sik. (2004). A Brief history of Korea, p. 90.
  3. Lewis, p. 269 n. 89, citing Hanguk Chungse tae-il kysōpsa yŏngu (1996) by Na Chongpu.
  4. 한일관계사연구논집편찬위원회. (2005). 통신사・왜관과한일관계 (Han Il kwangyesa yŏngu nonjip), Vol. 6, p. 29.
  5. Kang, Etsuko. (1997). Diplomacy and Ideology in Japanese-Korean Relations: from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century, p. 35.
  6. Toby, Ronald P. (1991). State and Diplomacy in Early Modern Japan: Asia in the Development of the Tokugawa Bakufu. ACLS Humanities E-Book. Stanford University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-8047-1952-0.
  7. Walker, p. 48; Guilliaume, Xavier. (2003). "Misdirected Understanding: Narrative Matrices in the Japanese Politics of Alterity toward the West," pp. 85–116 in Jahrbuch des Deutschen Instituts für Japanstudien.
  8. Kang, Jae-eun et al. (2006). The Land of Scholars: Two Thousand Years of Korean Confucianism, pp. 312–313.
  9. Kang, p. 274.
  10. Kang, p. 275.
  11. Kang, Jae-eun, and Suzanne Lee. (2006). The Land of Scholars: Two Thousand Years of Korean Confucianism, p. 241; Titsingh, p. 342.
  12. Rutt, Richard et al. (2003). Korea: a Historical and Cultural Dictionary, p. 190.
  13. Kang, p. 86.
  14. Lewis, James Bryant. (2003). Frontier contact between Chosŏn Korea and Tokugawa Japan, pp. 21–24.
  15. "Early Modern Period." Northeast Asian History Foundation, 2007 Archived 28 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Walraven, Boudewijn et al. (2007). Korea in the middle: Korean studies and area studies, pp. 359–361
  17. Toby, pp. 205–207; Titsingh, p. 411; n.b., the name Nin kwô is a pre-Hepburn Japanese transliteration and Jin kuang is a pre-McCune–Reischauer, Korean romanization devised by Julius Klaproth and Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat in 1834.
  18. Northeast Asia History Foundation: Korea-Japan relations Archived 28 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine citing Byeongja ilbon ilgi (Diary of Travel to Japan in 1636) by Im Gwang; Haesarok by Kim Seryeom; and Dongsarok by Hwang Ho.
  19. Toby, p. 105; Titsingh, p. 412; n.b., the name Inzioun si is a pre-Hepburn Japanese transliteration devised by Klaproth et al. in 1834.
  20. Northeast Asia History Foundation: Korea-Japan relations Archived 28 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine citing Dongsarok by Jo Gyeong; Haesarok by Sin Yu; and Gyemi dongsarok (Records of 1643 Mission to Japan) by an unidentified writer.
  21. Walraven, Boudewijn et al. (2007). Korea in the middle: Korean studies and area studies, p. 361; Titsingh, p. 413; n.b., the name Tcho ying is a pre-Hepburn Japanese transliteration and Tchao hing is a pre-McCune–Reischauer Korean romanization devised by Klaproth et al. in 1834.
  22. Northeast Asia History Foundation: Korea-Japan relations Archived 28 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine citing Busang ilgi (Diary of Travel to Japan) by Jogyeong; and Busangnok by Nam Yong-ik.
  23. Walraven, p. 361.
  24. Northeast Asia History Foundation: Korea-Japan relations Archived 28 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine citing Dongsa illok (Daily Records of Travel to Japan) by Kim Jinam; and Dongsarok by Hong U-jae.
  25. Kim, Tae-Jun. (2006). Korean Travel Literature. p. 119; Walraven, p. 361; Titsingh, p. 416; n.b., the name Tota Yokf is a pre-Hepburn Japanese transliteration and Tchao ta ỹ is a pre-McCune–Reischauer Korean romanization devised by Klaproth et al. in 1834.
  26. Northeast Asia History Foundation: Korea-Japan relations Archived 28 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine citing Dongsarok by Jo Tae-eok; Dongsarok by Kim Hyeon-mun; and Dongsarok by Im Su-gan.
  27. Walraven, p. 361; Titsingh, p. 417; n.b., the name Kô tsi tsiou is a pre-Hepburn Japanese transliteration and Hong tschi tchoung is a pre-McCune–Reischauer Korean romanization devised by Klaproth et al. in 1834.
  28. Northeast Asia History Foundation: Korea-Japan relations Archived 28 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine citing Haesa illok (Daily Records of Overseas Mission) by Hong Chi-jung; Haeyurok (Records of Sea Voyage) by Shin Yu-han; Busang gihaeng (Journal of Travel to Japan) by Jeong Hu-gyo; and Busangnok by Kim Heup.
  29. Walraven, p. 361; Titsingh, p. 418; n.b., the name Tcho ying is a pre-Hepburn Japanese transliteration and Tchao hing is a pre-McCune–Reischauer Korean romanization devised by Klaproth et al. in 1834.
  30. Northeast Asia History Foundation: Korea-Japan relations Archived 28 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine citing Bongsa ilbon si mun gyeonnik (Observation of the Janpanese Culture) by Jo Myeong-chae; Susa illok (Daily Records of Observations) by Hong Gyeong-hae; and Ilbon ilgi (Diary in Japan) by an unidentified writer.
  31. 염정섭 (Yeom Jeong-Seop). 조선 후기 고구마의 도입과 재배법의 정리 과정 ("The Introduction of Sweet Potatoes and the Development of Cultivation Methods during Late Joseon Korea"), 韩国史硏究 No. 134, January 2006. pp. 111–147.
  32. Northeast Asia History Foundation: Korea-Japan relations Archived 28 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine citing Haesa ilgi (Diary of Overseas Mission) by Jo Eom; Gyemi sahaeng ilgi (Diary of 1764 Mission to Japan) by Oh Dae-ryeong; and Ilbonnok (Record of Japan) by Seong Dae-jung.
  33. Northeast Asia History Foundation: Korea-Japan relations Archived 28 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine citing Dongsarok by Yusang-pil; and Doyurok (Record of Voyage to Japan) by Kim Cheong-san.

References
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