| Bak Hui-jung | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 박희중 |
| Hanja | 朴熙中 |
| Revised Romanization | Bak Hui-jung |
| McCune–Reischauer | Pak Hǔi-chung |
Bak Hui-jung (1364-?) was a scholar-official of the Joseon Dynasty Korea in 14th and 15th centuries.
He was also diplomat and ambassador, representing Joseon Dynasty interests in a diplomatic mission to the Ashikaga shogunate in Japan.[1]
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King Sejong dispatched a diplomatic mission to Japan in 1423. This embassy to court of Ashikaga Yoshinori was led by Bak Hui-jung.[1]
The delegation from the Joseon court traveled to Kyoto in response to a message sent by the Japanese shogun;[1] and also, the delegation was charged with conveying an offer to send a copy of a rare Buddhist text.[2]
A diplomatic mission conventionally consisted of three primary figures—the main envoy, the vice-envoy, and a document official. Also included were one or more official writers or recorders who created a detailed account of the mission.[3] In this instance, the vice-envoy was Yi Ye,[4] who would return to Japan in 1432 as ambassador.[1]
The Japanese hosts may have construed these mission as tending to confirm a Japanocentric world order.[5] The Joseon diplomats were more narrowly focused in negotiating protocols for Joseon-Japan diplomatic relations.[1]
Bak Hui-jung's historical significance was confirmed when his mission was specifically mentioned in a widely-distributed history published by the Oriental Translation Fund in 1834.[2]
In the West, early published accounts of the Joseon kingdom are not extensive, but they are found in Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu (published in Paris in 1832),[6] and in Nihon ōdai ichiran (published in Paris in 1834). Joseon foreign relations and diplomacy are explicitly referenced in the 1834 work.