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Korean Envoys and Sino-Korean Exchange

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It is a well-known fact that Korea has had a long and close relationship with China, and that China has exerted considerable cultural influence on Korea. For this reason, when we talk about premodern Korea, particularly her diplomatic policies and perception of non-Koreans, China’s role and power is the first question to consider.

This class offers a general overview of Korea’s relationship with China, with a focus on the events of the Chosŏn dynasty (1392-1910), a long-enduring Confucian kingdom of Korea. It will reveal how the depth and breadth of Korea’s relationship with China affected Koreans’ lives, how their relationships changed over time, and how Chosŏn Korea’s relationship with China affected Korea’s image as a Hermit Kingdom. I will also introduce some underrepresented topics and issues related to Koreans' engagement with the West through China, as well as some representative chapters from documents on diplomatic journeys from the period.

Sahaeng and Yŏnhaengnok


Sahaeng 사행 (diplomatic journeys): envoys to Ming China (1368–1644) for annual events and special occasions based on mutual needs.


Yŏnhaengnok 연행록 (records of diplomatic mission to China): term used by officials dispatched to Qing China (1644–1911).
Yŏnhaeng map
Land route: Yalu river - Liaodong - Fenghuangcheng - Shenyang - Heishan - Jinzhou - Xingcheng - Shanhaiguan - Beijing

Journeys to China during late Chosŏn

All of the above paintings are from Yŏnhaengdo (18th century) in the collection of the Korean Christian Museum at Soongsil University. 
 

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Cultural Exchange in Beijing between Chinese and Korean Intellectuals

King Yŏngjo the Great (1724-1776) is known to be the wisest king of Chosŏn next only to King Sejong, and his reign, the longest of all Chosŏn kings, is largely remembered a time of peace and prosperity. He managed to keep factional struggles under control and implemented policies that benefited the poor. 

King Chŏngjo (1752-1800), a grandson and successor of Yŏngjo, is known as the “Enlightened Monarch” for his interest in new knowledge and science. His premature death at the age of forty is a subject of much speculation among historians, all the more because Chosŏn began its decline after his death. 

Pak Chiwŏn (1737-1805)
Jehol Diary (Yŏrha ilgi, 1790)
Record of his travel to China and satirical novels in Chinese

Pak Chega (1750-1805)
Discourse on Northern Learning (1778)
Born to a yangban's concubine, he was Pak Chiwŏn's disciple and an erudite literatus. He became an interpreter for royal emissaries to China and tried to spread the new knowledge from Qing to Chosŏn.

Chŏng Yagyong (1762-1836)
Sirhak scholar par excellence; Korea's "Renaissance man"
Writings:
-Design for Good Government (1817)
-Admonitions on Governing the People (1818)
-Toward a New Jurisprudence (1819)
-Comprehensive Treatise on Smallpox (1798)
-Treatise on Land (1799): advocates the “village land system”
-Register of Hŭksan Fish (1815): record of the names, distribution, morphology, habits, and uses of 155 varieties of marine life





Intellectual life and materials imported from China
Korean folk painting of books and antiquities













 

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