Joseon diplomacy
Joseon diplomacy was the foreign policy of Joseon Dynasty of Korea from 1392 through 1910; and its theoretical and functional foundations were rooted in Neo-Confucian scholar-bureaucrats, institutions and philosophy.[1]
This long-term, strategic policy of sadae diplomacy (serving the great) characterized the Joseon-Chinese relations in this period. This contrasts with Joseon's gyorin diplomacy (neighborly relations) in its relations with Japan and others.[2] For example, envoys from the Ryūkyū Kingdom were received by Taejo of Joseon in 1392, 1394 and 1397. Siam sent an envoy to Taejo's court in 1393.[3]
Joseon diplomacy
Taejo of Joseon established the "Kingdom of Great Joseon" in 1392-1393, and he founded the Joseon Dynasty which would retain power on the Korean peninsula for five hundred years. As an initial step, a diplomatic mission was dispatched to China and to Japan in 1302. Subsequent missions developed and nurtured the contacts and exchanges between these neighboring countries.
A diplomatic mission conventionally consisted of three envoys—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.[4]
In the 20th century, the Joseon Dynasty's bilateral relations were affected by the increasing numbers of international contacts which required adaptation and a new kind of diplomacy.[5]
Although conventionally mislabeled as the "Hermit kingdom", Joseon's sophisticated foreign policy initiatives belie the aptness of this term.
List of Joseon diplomatic envoys
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Recognition in the West
The historical significance of some of these scholar-bureaucrats were confirmed when their missions and their names were specifically mentioned in a widely distributed history published by the Oriental Translation Fund in 1834.[6]
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),[7] and in Nihon Ōdai Ichiran (published in Paris in 1834). Joseon foreign relations and diplomacy are explicitly referenced in the 1834 work; and some of the diplomats names are also identified.
See also
- Goryeo missions to Imperial China
- Joseon missions to Imperial China
- Joseon missions to Japan
- Joseon tongsinsa
- Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876 (Treaty of Ganghwa)
- Korean Empire
Notes
- ↑ Kang, Jae-eun et al. (2006). The Land of Scholars, p. 172.
- ↑ Kang, Etsuko H. (1997). Diplomacy and Ideology in Japanese-Korean Relations: from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century, p. 49.
- ↑ Goodrich, L. Carrington. (1976). Dictionary of Ming biography, 1368-1644 (明代名人傳), Vol. II, p. 1601.
- ↑ Walraven, Boudewign et al. (2007). Korea in the middle: Korean studies and area studies, p. 362.
- ↑ Kang, Woong Joe. (2005). Struggle for Identity, pp. 38-78.
- ↑ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 313-326.
- ↑ Vos, Ken. "Accidental acquisitions: The nineteenth-century Korean collections in the National Museum of Ethnology, Part 1," p. 6.
References
- Daehwan, Noh. "The Eclectic Development of Neo-Confucianism and Statecraft from the 18th to the 19th Century," Korea Journal (Winter 2003).
- Goodrich, L. Carrington and Zhaoying Fang. (1976). Dictionary of Ming biography, 1368-1644 (明代名人傳), Vol. I; Dictionary of Ming biography, 1368-1644 (明代名人傳), Vol. II. New York: Columbia University Press. 10-ISBN 0-231-03801-1/13-ISBN 978-0-231-03801-0; 10-ISBN 0-231-03833-X/13-ISBN 978-0-231-03833-1; OCLC 1622199
- (Korean) 한일관계사연구논집편찬위원회. (2005). 통신사・왜관과한일관계 (Han Il kwangyesa yŏngu nonjip, Vol. 6). 경인문화사. 10-ISBN 89-499-0308-3/13-ISBN 978-89-499-0308-8.
- Kang, Etsuko Hae-jin. (1997). Diplomacy and Ideology in Japanese-Korean Relations: from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century. Basingstoke, Hampshire; Macmillan. 10-ISBN 0-312-17370-9/13-ISBN 978-0-312-17370-8; OCLC 243874305
- Kang, Jae-eun and Suzanne Lee. (2006). The Land of Scholars : Two Thousand Years of Korean Confucianism. Paramus, New Jersey: Homa & Sekey Books. 10-ISBN 1-931907-37-4/13-ISBN 978-1-931907-37-8; OCLC 60931394
- Kang, Woong Joe. (2005). The Korean Struggle for International Identity in the Foreground of the Shufeldt Negotiation, 1866-1882. Latham, Maryland: University Press of America. 10-ISBN 0-7618-3120-7/13-ISBN 978-0-7618-3120-4; OCLC 238760185
- Lee, Sang Oak and Duk-Soo Park. (1998). Perspectives on Korea. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 10-ISBN 0-9586526-6-X/13-ISBN 978-0-9586526-6-7; OCLC 40261047
- Palais, James B. (1995). Confucian Statecraft and Korean Institutions: Yu Hyŏngwŏn and the late Chosŏn Dynasty. Seattle: University of Washington Press. 10-ISBN 0-295-97455-9/13-ISBN 978-0-295-97455-2; OCLC 214839971
- Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon (Nihon Odai Ichiran). Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691.
- Walraven, Boudewijn and Remco E. Breuker. (2007). Korea in the middle: Korean studies and area studies; Essays in Honour of Boudewijn Walraven. Leiden: CNWS Publications. 10-ISBN 978-9-057-89153-3; 13-ISBN 90-5789-153-0; OCLC 181625480
- Wiwŏnhoe, Yunesŭkʻo Hanʼguk. (2004). Korean History: Discovery of Its Characteristics and Developments. Elizabeth, New Jersey: Hollym. 10-ISBN 1-56591-177-6/13-ISBN 978-1-56591-177-2; OCLC 56107531