The Invasions of the Joseon Dynasty
We left off discussing Admiral Yi Sunsin’s (이순신) great victory against the Japanese invasions of 1592 to 1598 A.D. Piracy was a common problem within the Korean Peninsula, where Joseon’s navy was deployed only to protect against the waegu (왜구, Japanese pirates). One evening, 7,000 Japanese troops arrived at Busan’s port. Korea saw this as suspicious, but their Right Naval Commander of Gyeongsang Province (경상도), Won Gyun (원균), misidentified them as trading vessels. 100 more vessels raised further suspicion, but the commander stayed silent once again. Little did Korea know that the daimyo, or magnates, were aboard these vessels and would lead sieges across Korea.
The Japanese Invasions (Imjin War)
Having succeeded thus far, Sō Yoshitoshi arrived alone on Busan’s (부산) shore and asked for entry to China. Korea refused, like they had previously done, but the daimyo didn’t like that and led the first siege. A Japanese bullet killed Busan’s commander Jeong Bal (정발), which led to the collapse of Korea’s entire military. Korean royals, however, continued to rebel against the daimyo, but that only irritated Japan more, ordering their army to not take any prisoners. Their military was too strong as bullets were shot from all directions and Koreans didn’t have the opportunity to hide, even slaughtering nearby animals. After Konishi, who had led the original vessels, had overtaken Dongnae (동래), he further took more places. However, he later realized that Korea’s army was now protecting Sanju (산주) further North, and so didn’t care what Konishi was doing anymore.
Simultaneously, Korean envoys arrived in Beijing’s Forbidden City to seek help against Japan. They asked the emperor to send an army to drive out Japan, but China was occupied with the Ordos campaign in Ningxia. However, the emperor assured he would send an army to help Korea, but they would have to wait. At this point, many Japanese divisions had led sieges and overthrown Korean cities, architecture, and other such places. Much of the South had been occupied by Japan, and despite Joseon’s governmental help, many citizens, leaders, and troops died.
Photo: Flickr
Depression grew as people lost hope. Joseon’s government was repeating similar strategies, and none of them worked for long. That was, until Admiral Yi Sunsin was appointed at sea. He destroyed fleet after fleet, and once the Ming arrived, both militaries worked together to conquer the battle. Hope was restored knowing Admiral Yi's strategy was working and Korea could count on the strongest military known at the time; the Ming. Although Japan had more ships and weapons, Korea was smarter and thought one step ahead; Admiral Yi’s tactic was to kill Japanese troops before they could board Korean ships, attacking them with cannons and arrows.
With only 13 ships against 333 Japanese ones, Yi Sunsin and his small army of local people and troops led one of the greatest victories of all time. Scared, Japan retreated, but Admiral Yi was not done yet. The Battle of Noryang (노량해전) was the last of the Imjin War (임진왜란). But as luck (or fate) would have it, a tragic accident occurred: a stray bullet from an enemy ship struck the admiral close to his heart. His son Yi Hoe (이회) and nephew Yi Wan (이완) were the only people to witness his death. Admiral Yi Sunsin refused to die in vain, and ordered them to lead the battle and hide his body to not cause distress.
Moments later, he passed away. The two young men carried the admiral’s body into his cabin, where Yi Wan wore his armor and beat the drum as per his uncle’s request, drawing the war to a close. Commander Chen Lin (진린) from Ming China and Admiral Yi had grown close, becoming allies throughout the battle. Once told about his friend’s death, Chen was distraught and told the emperor of Korea’s loss. Once news spread about his death, Chen Lin and Admiral Yi Sunsin were declared national heroes in Korea, and much of the country was in despair too. The admiral was brought back to his hometown Asan (아산) and buried next to his father Yi Jeong (이정).
It is not known how many lives were taken throughout these six years, but thousands of deaths were recorded. In honor of the admiral and people who fought in the Imjin war, a statue was established in Seoul (서울) in 1968, across from the statue of Sejong the Great (세종대왕), the inventor of Hangul. Furthermore, many TV and movie adaptations were created about the war and his life, such as The Admiral: Roaring Currents, and video games, literature, awards, and even comics were also created in his honor.
The Manchu Invasions
Photo: Seongbin Im
Shortly after the Japanese invasions finished, the Manchu invasions began. Korea was still rebuilding itself, as it ultimately faced many times before and would again in the future. The chieftain of the Jianzhou Jurchens, Nurhaci, was developing the tribes belonging to Manchuria, which would become a strong alliance renamed the “Manchus” and run by his son Hong Taiji. The Manchus and Ming China had a hateful relationship understood by the Seven Grievances.
The Seven Grievances are as follows:
The Ming murdered Nurhaci’s father and grandfather for no apparent reason;
Made Jianzhou an illegitimate clan, only focusing on Yehe and Hada clans;
Broke treaty agreements;
Sent troops to Yehe and protected the clan against Jianzhou;
Helped Yehe break a promise to Nurhaci;
Forced Nurhaci to give up several lands;
And their official, Shang Bozhi, harmed his people in an abuse of power.
Established by Nurhaci in 1618 A.D., this manifesto declared war between the two. After many conflicts, Nurhaci asked Korea for help, but so did the Ming. Joseon’s fifteenth king Gwanghaegun of Joseon (광해군) did not know what to do, and decided to help no one, however, his officials were angered that he did not protect Ming China as they had previously helped Korea. The king was impeached and replaced by Injo of Joseon (조선 인조). The new king openly supported the Ming, and showed it through exiling his predecessor’s supporters.
Injo became king through the help of military commander Yi Gwal (이괄). Upset by his inadequate reward and the almost-arrest of his son, the commander started a rebellion against the new king in 1624 A.D. He led 12,000 troops to Hanseong (한성, now Seoul) and demanded he be replaced by Heungangun (흥안군), his relative. However, another Joseon army led by General Jang Man (장만) won back the capital and ended the rebellion. Yi Gwal was therefore executed by his own army, but with another commander dead, Joseon’s military was weakened once again. This would impact the country’s defense against future attacks, such as the Later Jin’s invasion.
In 1627 A.D., Nurhaci’s nephew, Amin, led 30,000 troops from the Jurchen army to overthrow Joseon’s army. A short campaign, supported by officials in Gwanghaegun’s favor, resulted in a treaty that made Joseon force a friendly bond between them. As it was common knowledge that King Injo did not support the Manchus, the Qing emperor Hong Taiji sent 120,000 troops to punish the king in 1636 A.D. Another attack disgraced Joseon, leading King Injo to give up his relations with the Ming and let the Qing have partial control over Korea. This meant his two oldest sons, Crown Prince Sohyeon (소현세자) and Hyojong of Joseon (조선 효종), would be taken captive by China.
Hyojong spent his life defending his older brother from the Qing dynasty’s threats, often battling with the Mongols and Chinese Muslims. The Qing emperor asked the Crown Prince to help lead troops against their enemies, but he had no military experience. Worried for his brother, Hyojong helped him in these battles. Through an unlikely meeting with the Europeans, Hyojong learned that Joseon’s army was still weak. They needed new technology and a better military system with political support before they could even try protecting themselves or fighting back. He then realized the severity of the situation and formulated a plan to overthrow the Qing dynasty in an act of vengeance in 1636 A.D. However, he was unsuccessful in putting his plan into action as he died on the eve of the campaign in 1659 A.D. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves…
Before this, the Qing overthrew Ming China, where many people sought refuge in Joseon. Korea started to adopt Chinese ideologies that brought new culture to the country, but all was still not well. Many women were kidnapped and assaulted by the Qing, and further banished by their families who felt disgraced by their dirty, though unwanted actions. Meanwhile, in 1645 A.D., the Crown Prince returned to Joseon and planned to succeed King Injo, though was met with hostility as they often argued about Crown Prince Sohyeon’s openness of European culture and diplomatic views of the Qing dynasty.
The Crown Prince was soon found dead, thought to be killed by his father with an ink slab, and had a short funeral without further investigation. Others suspect it was poisoning due to the black spots on his body, but no one really knows the truth. Even his wife was murdered for treason after trying to investigate. When King Injo died in 1649 A.D., Hyojong became the seventeenth king of Joseon. In 1650 A.D., the king was forced to ally with the Qing once more by finding the Qing’s regent prince, Dorgon, a bride, where Hyojong later adopted a daughter, Joseon princess Uisun (의순공주). Dorgon married said princess to keep the two dynasties connected, but died months later during a hunting trip. The princess remarried Prince Bolo, Dorgon’s nephew, but he also died two years later. Is it a coincidence?
After many years, the forced alliance between the Qing and Joseon dynasties started to naturally fizzle out, especially with new political beliefs and officials changing the systems. The Qing dynasty fell in 1912 as a result of revolutions run by Southern China, which also ended their imperial system and started a truly governmental one, but that’s not our story to tell. In fact, you will have to wait until next month to find out how the Joseon dynasty fell instead.