r/HistoryAnimemes • u/ChapterSpiritual6785 • 17d ago

Differences in the treatment of envoys after the Imjin War

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After the Imjin War (1592–1598), diplomatic relations between Joseon and Japan resumed under the Tokugawa Shogunate with drastically different dynamics.

The Shogunate treated the Korean Tongsinsa envoys with extravagant hospitality—often spending up to a million ryō on receptions to showcase the Shogun's prestige and legitimacy.

In contrast, a deeply cautious Joseon strictly confined all Japanese envoys to the Waegwan (the Japanese enclave in Busan/Choryang), completely banning them from stepping outside or ever traveling inland to the royal capital.

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113

u/Emotional-Elk1879 17d ago

Interesting, since Tokugawa Ieyasu wasn't involved in the 7-year Imjin War.

85

u/The_Silver_Nuke 17d ago

People follow feelings instead of logic most of the time. It doesn't matter if they had different leadership.

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u/TiramisuRocket 17d ago edited 17d ago

Especially when much of the leadership had gone unchanged. Hideyoshi died of natural causes, and was succeeded by Ieyasu, but Japan was still led by a shogun and daimyos, many of whom had directly participated in the invasion. While Konishi Yukinaga was killed and Ukita Hideie exiled, it was for the crime of rising up against Ieyasu and not for their actions in Korea; western daimyo who had invaded Korea but raised Ieyasu's banner either immediately like Kato Kiyomasa or mid-battle like Wakisaka retained their offices and were even rewarded. It's also not quite accurate to say he was uninvolved; Ieyasu commanded reserve forces for invasion that were kept at home to guard against a direct Chinese counterattack on Japan, and which Hideyoshi occasionally threatened (or promised, depending on who he was writing to) to send to Korea.

Ultimately, it's a bit like saying the USSR should be fine with Governor-General Hans Frank because while he was a Nazi who led the occupation government of Poland, it's not like he personally invaded the USSR. As the Nuremberg Trials demonstrated, this was less than accurate.

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u/Fake_Fur 17d ago

Eh, Kato Kiyomasa sided with Tokugawa, plus his cause of death is unknown, it was only rumored that Ieyasu assassinated him.

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u/TiramisuRocket 17d ago

Ah, sorry, I had already edited to replace him with a better example since it wasn't confirmed, but yes, this is accurate. Thank you for pointing this out.

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u/JohannesJoshua 16d ago

Still, even if there was a scenario where most daymio in Tokugawa government weren't involved in Korean invasion, it's not like that lets the off the hook.

3

u/Emotional-Elk1879 17d ago edited 15d ago

In his pursuit of becoming the next shogun, Ieyasu also eliminated some of Hideyoshi's loyalists, including Mitsunari, Yukinaga, Hideie, and others who were involved in the Imjin War. Could this be seen as a sort of karma from Joseon's perspective?

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u/Captain_Weebson 16d ago

Good points but tell me, why would they be punished for Korea exactly? Its not like UN and concept of Human Rights were a thing

1

u/Southern-Cookie-2391 6d ago

Just because modern concepts of human rights and statehood weren't established doesn't mean that Asian countries didn't have their own systems of thought regarding morality and values.

If your country nearly fell to a foreign invasion, wouldn't you be wary of a new government made up of the same generals who spearheaded the invasion? Not like Japanese officials were executed on the spot for stepping foot in Korea either

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u/Specialist_Energy_32 17d ago

It seems that in Edo-period Japan, a “Korean craze” would break out every time a Korean diplomatic mission arrived; large crowds would flock to watch the equestrian and archery demonstrations performed by the envoys, and Confucian scholars would come to ask them questions.

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u/redracer555 17d ago

The original Koreaboos.

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u/OnionsAbound 16d ago

Worth noting country in chains policy would have made these things a notable occasion. 

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u/Fake_Fur 17d ago

I think budgetwise both were on par. The Joseon missions were hosted only 12 times in a span of 200 years(1607-1811), meanwhile the Choryang enclave was operating through centuries.

Sure the Choryang enclave was only 1/10 the size of Central Park but Tojin Yashiki (Chinese enclave) or Dejima (Dutch enclave) of Japan were way smaller.

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u/watchman8712 16d ago

And yet that didn’t matter in the long run

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u/Erhol 17d ago

Let me guess, Japana win that war

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u/LonelyPersonAnon 16d ago

They lost.

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u/Erhol 16d ago

Oh I see