10.24.08 - Intro to Japan Through Choson

Introduction to Japan Intro: The island of Tsushima played an important role as an intermediary between the So Daimyo of Japan & the king of Choson. That relationship was regulated by important agreements ? (1433) permitted the lord of Tsushima to send 50 ships/year to 3 designated Choson ports. This agreement was responsible for the peaceful relations between the two until 1500s, which were not to be matched again for centuries. (1510) Revolt of the Three Ports: the Japanese rebelled against efforts by the Choson court to tax the Japanese residents (1512) In response, we have this agreement reducing the number & size of the ships from Tsushima and limiting the Japanese residents of those ports to three compounds. They no longer have access to the entire community. Disturbances in those compounds occurred and reoccurred until 1547, when the Choson gov?t limited Japanese residents to a Japanese compound in the port of Pusan. From 1547 on to the 19th century, Japanese residents on the peninsula were limited to here. ASHIKAGA shogunate 1536-1733: a military leader (shogun ? barbarian subduing generalissimo) *This is also known as the Muromachi period! Why? Because this is where, in the capital of Kyoto, the shogun had his palace. During the Ashikaga period, power gradually shifted away from an increasingly brutal and inept series of shoguns to the daimyo, local warlords. The shogun system gradually weakened and vanished on the islands into the Warring States period (1467-1568). Momoyama period ? 1573-1615: what is significant is that by 1573, three warlords (very powerful, individually and in unison) unified the islands by defeating all of the other daimyo. This is right about the time factionalism starts in Hanyang ? in 1573, unity on the islands, under the auspices of the three warlords? The Ming Dynasty (came into existence in 1368): the reign of the Wang Li emperor (1573-1620); his objective was to restore the finances of the Ming Dynasty ^^ Ming was on the downside; he succeeded for a while? unfortunately he eventually lost interest & was totally frustrated between the infighting between the civil servants & eunuchs. Many important positions were left open and the Ming became stagnant & bankrupt. They also experienced military setbacks in the north and east. This brings us to the rise of the Manchus under Nurhachi, the chieftain of descendants of the Jurchen. Over a period of three decades, into the 17th century, he builds a powerful state on the Chinese model. This was initially a tribal group, but he builds a powerful, potent state over thirty years on the Chinese model After 1635, these people are known as the Manchus in Chinese documents. By 1616, when Nurhachi is still the leader (aka the kan), he establishes the Jin dynasty. He becomes a major threat to security in northeast Asia. At this point, the monarch in Choson is Sonjo (1567-1608). Early on, he oversaw the triumph of the NC literati in government and politics. The next major episode in the intensification of factionalism was the succession dispute of 1591 because the monarch could not name an heir apparent. By 1591, there are three factions with power shifting back and forth. This set s the stage for the Japanese invasions. Historian: ?The warlords seek to consolidate their political gains by the implementation of country wide land surveys, a reorg?d tax system, and an attempt to conquer Korea.? Specifically, it was Hideyoshi who tried to conquer the Choson. Conventionally, we say he harbored designs on the Ming territory, and Korea was in the way. Hideyoshi to Sonjo: ?When the day comes of my invasion of the great Ming?that will be time to make our neighborly relations flourish all the more.? He was telling Sonjo that he?d better help him attack the Ming. There is even evidence that he wanted to invade India after the Ming! This megalomania resulted in devastating war in Korea in the spring of 1592. Hideyoshi was able to take advantage of the element of surprise, low morale among the Koreans in Pusan, and superior weapons (he had firearms by way of Europe). They scored a number of relatively easy victories, able to capture the capital of Hanyang in three weeks. The monarch fled to China and pled for help (remember the sadae relationship!). By January 1593, Ming forces recaptured the city of Pyongyang and gradually moved. Choson forces stiffened their resistance and scored a number of important victories on land and islands off the coast. These victories came under the leadership of Yi Sun Sin. 1597: Hideyoshi invades again. This time, Choson is ready; Admiral Yi controls the sea and disrupts Japanese efforts to move troops & supplies, surprises the better part of the Japanese fleet and destroys it. Unfortunately he was killed in 1598 as part of the process. Hideyoshi also died. The death of Hideyoshi prompted Japanese forces to withdraw. Peace between Choson and Japan under Tokugawa is restored in ____. But, those wars were costly to the Koreans: 126,000 dead, and an estimated 60,000-70,000 POWs. In Hanyang, population fell from 100,000+ to 40,000 in the 1590s. Other important changes took place: (1) a re-evaluation of its relations with the Ming court. The Ming did not equip themselves well? In Japan, after the death of Hideyoshi, a long period of peace and prosperity occurred. ^^ This is undeniable; part of the cultural fluorescence was because of the POWs, which included Korean typesetters, intellectuals, etc. As factionalism started to heat up, it was difficult for the Choson court to come to grips with the problems being generated by the invasions because of the factional strife. However, there were some efforts at reform. But very quickly, the Manchu threat had an adverse threat on the court of Hanyang. By the 1620s, Narhachi was scoring significant victories over the Ming armies. The Manchus occupied Manchuria and the ___. They decided that before the launched a full scale attack on the Ming, they had to ensure that their flank was protected ? i.e. Korean peninsula was fully theirs. In part, in response to some Choson dissonance, the Manchus captured Pyongyang quickly (ex-patriots). The court/monarch fled to Kanghwa-do, but the court agrees to recognize the superiority of the later Jin in return for withdrawal. The Manchus do withdraw without inflicting further damage until 1636. In 1636, the Choson monarch refuses to acknowledge the Manchu Qing dynasty (barbarians). the Manchus invade waste and lay vast waste to the Choson. They even managed to capture the Queen from Kanghwa! The king finally surrenders, and the Manchus also take two sons. This has a devastating effect on the economy of Choson; by the end of the 1630s, economically the Choson is on the verge of collapse ? NOT because of mismanagement, but because of those four costly wars. Revenue was difficult/impossible to generate in the 1590s because: (1) tax registers had been destroyed during the war; therefore it was difficult to determine what land was and was not taxable & who was responsible for paying the taxes; (2) a lot of taxable land was laid waste by the wars; (3)factionalism: infighting made necessary reforms difficult to enact (they did succeed in one important reform in the early 17th century, but only around the capital >_< it took years to extend it throughout the entire peninsula). Because of the disruption of society/government & governance, there were opportunities in the aftermath of the wars with Japan and the Manchus to change one?s occupation because there was no one there to enforce the law. There was also an opportunity for some upward mobility, to elevate one?s self beyond slavery (partially because of the destruction of slave records, the death of slave owners, slaves/slave owners fled, and the gov?t brought slaves into the military). After the war, a yangmin who became comrades with the slaves would protest that he not go back to slavery. MUROMACHI ODA NOBUNAGA (warlord 1) TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI (warlord 2) TOKUGAWA IEYASU (warlord 3)