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106-2930: Joseon Political leaders [REDACTED] King Seonjo [REDACTED] Prince Gwanghae [REDACTED] Ryu Seong-ryong Yun Du-su Military commanders [REDACTED] Yi Sun-sin   † [REDACTED] Yi Eokgi   † [REDACTED] Won Gyun   † [REDACTED] Gwon Yul [REDACTED] Sin Rip   † [REDACTED] Gim Si-min   † Song Sang-hyeon   † Go Gyeong-myeong   † Gim Cheon-il   † Jo Heon   † Yi Il Gwak Jae-u Jeong Gi-ryong Kim Deok-ryeong Yujeong Hyujeong Jeong Mun-bu Gim Chung-seon Ming Political leaders [REDACTED] Wanli Emperor Zhao Zhigao Wang Xijue Inspectors, generals, field commanders Li Rusong Chen Lin Song Yingchang Ma Gui (pr.) Yang Hao Li Shizhen Wu Weizhong Deng Zilong   † Toyotomi regime Political leaders [REDACTED] Emperor Go-Yōzei [REDACTED] Toyotomi Hideyoshi [REDACTED] Toyotomi Hidetsugu Military commanders [REDACTED] Ukita Hideie [REDACTED] Kobayakawa Hideaki [REDACTED] Kobayakawa Takakage [REDACTED] Kobayakawa Hidekane [REDACTED] Ishida Mitsunari [REDACTED] Katō Kiyomasa [REDACTED] Konishi Yukinaga [REDACTED] Mōri Terumoto [REDACTED] Mōri Hidemoto [REDACTED] Mōri Yoshimasa [REDACTED] Nabeshima Naoshige [REDACTED] Hosokawa Tadaoki [REDACTED] Katō Yoshiaki [REDACTED] Shimazu Yoshihiro [REDACTED] Shimazu Toyohisa [REDACTED] Shimazu Tadatsune [REDACTED] Hachisuka Iemasa [REDACTED] Ōtomo Yoshimune [REDACTED] Tachibana Muneshige [REDACTED] Tsukushi Hirokado [REDACTED] Ankokuji Ekei [REDACTED] Ikoma Chikamasa [REDACTED] Ikoma Kazumasa [REDACTED] Kuroda Nagamasa [REDACTED] Fukushima Masanori [REDACTED] Sō Yoshitoshi [REDACTED] Kurushima Michifusa   † [REDACTED] Chōsokabe Motochika [REDACTED] Tōdō Takatora [REDACTED] Arima Harunobu [REDACTED] Akizuki Tanenaga [REDACTED] Itō Suketaka [REDACTED] Kuki Yoshitaka [REDACTED] Wakisaka Yasuharu [REDACTED] Ōmura Yoshiaki [REDACTED] Ōtani Yoshitsugu [REDACTED] Hasegawa Hidekazu [REDACTED] Gamō Ujisato [REDACTED] Ōyano Tanemoto   † [REDACTED] Asano Nagamasa Joseon: 84,500+–192,000 (including sailors and insurgent fighters) 300 ships (200 scuttled in

212-429: A "sinister grin" attached to the outside. Overall, 158,800 soldiers, laborers, and transport troops (of whom a quarter had firearms) were prepared to take part in the invasion, with roughly a third of the force being armed fighting units (samurai, their attendants, and ashigaru conscripts), while the other two thirds filled a support ion (doctors, priests, secretaries, boatmen, and labourers). The following table shows

318-749: A Chinese advance at Battle of Byeokjegwan , and again tried to push the Koreans northward, but the crucial blow came at the Battle of Hangju , where General Gwon Yul defeated the Japanese with a much smaller force. The Japanese then decided to enter into peace negotiations, while both sides continued fighting. A month before he returned to Hanyang, Seonjo wrote an edict in Hangeul where anyone that either captured Japanese forces in battle, reported on invading troop movements, or rescued Korean prisoners would receive

424-716: A brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 ( 정유재란 ; 丁酉再亂 ). The conflict ended in 1598 with the withdrawal of Japanese forces from the Korean Peninsula after a military stalemate in Korea's southern provinces. The invasions were launched by Toyotomi Hideyoshi with the intent of conquering the Korean Peninsula and China proper , which were ruled by the Joseon and Ming dynasties, respectively. Japan quickly succeeded in occupying large portions of

530-487: A certain amount of wealth to take the qualification exam. Instead of being treated as a bureaucrat of a certain class and receiving a salary from the state, the military, horses, and servants' food expenses were all on their own. For this reason, the Joseon government, which had to save the budget, tried to increase the number of Gapsa by increasing the lower ranks. As a result, the number of Gapsa increases to 14000 by 1475, but

636-533: A compromise was made and one delegate from each faction was sent to Hideyoshi. When they returned to Korea, their reports only caused more controversy and confusion. Hwang Yun-gil , of the Westerners faction, reported that Hideyoshi was raising huge numbers of troops, but Kim Seong-il , of the Easterners faction, told the king that he thought these large forces were not for the war against Korea, since he

742-496: A military stalemate in the areas between Hanseong and Kaesong . The war continued in this manner for five years, and was followed by a brief interlude between 1596 and 1597 during which Japan and the Ming engaged in ultimately unsuccessful peace talks. In 1597, Japan renewed its offensive by invading Korea a second time. The pattern of the second invasion largely mirrored that of the first. The Japanese had initial successes on land, but

848-413: A position in the imperial tributary system as of 1404. This relationship ended in 1408 when Japan, unlike Korea, chose to end its recognition of China's regional hegemony and cancel any further tribute missions. Membership in the tributary system was a prerequisite for any economic exchange with China. In exiting the system, Japan relinquished its trade relationship with China. One thousand years earlier,

954-459: A samurai to pull his opponent from his horse. If samurai wished to cut his opponent rather than stab, the weapons were the ōdachi , an extremely long sword with a huge handle, or the naginata , a polearm with very sharp curved blade. The most famous of all the samurai weapons was the katana , a sword described by the British military historian Stephen Turnbull as "...the finest edged weapon in

1060-582: A significant fief in Higo (Kumamoto, 540,000 koku ), where the Hosokawa family remained until 1871. According to popular theory, in 1598, following the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the government of Japan experienced a significant incident in which seven military generals— Fukushima Masanori , Katō Kiyomasa , Ikeda Terumasa , Hosokawa Tadaoki, Asano Yoshinaga , Katō Yoshiaki , and Kuroda Nagamasa —conspired to kill Ishida Mitsunari. This conspiracy stemmed from

1166-509: A special trading position as the single checkpoint to Korea for all Japanese ships and had permission from Korea to trade with as many as 50 of its own vessels, the Sō family had a vested interest in preventing conflict with Korea, and delayed the talks for nearly two years. Even when Hideyoshi renewed his order, Sō Yoshitoshi reduced the visit to the Korean court to a campaign to better relations between

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1272-592: A tactical sense, therefore, Hideyoshi cannot be considered as one of the commanders, but, as his will drove the whole project along until he died, his political influence cannot be underestimated". The Ming Chinese army was the largest in Asia, with a total of around 845,000 troops. However, in 1592 the Imperial Army was engaged in wars with the Mongols and in crushing a rebellion in the northwest . The Ming army

1378-471: A war against China. Upon the ambassadors' return, the Joseon court held serious discussions concerning Japan's invitation, while Hwang Yun-gil reported conflicting estimates of Japanese military strength and intentions. They nonetheless pressed that a war was imminent. Kim Saung-il claimed that Hideyoshi's letter was nothing but a bluff. Moreover, the court, aware only that Japan was in turmoil with various clan armies fighting each other, substantially underrated

1484-664: Is called Keichō no eki ( 慶長の役 ) . During the Edo period (17–19th centuries), the war was also called Kara iri ( 唐入り ) ("entry into China" or, more accurately, "entry into Tang ", the dynasty whose name is synonymous with China ). Japan's ultimate purpose was the invasion of Ming China. However, during the war, as the reality that the conflict was largely confined to the Korean Peninsula seeped in, Toyotomi Hideyoshi would soon alter his original objectives. In 1592, with an army of more than 160,000 soldiers and approximately 700 ships, Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched what would end up being

1590-527: Is little reason to believe that Tadaoki was emotionally scarred by the incident, it was regarded as an appalling act of trickery, ultimately driving Tadaoki to Ieyasu's side. On October 20, 1600, at the Battle of Sekigahara , Tadaoki commanded 5,000 men in the Tokugawa vanguard, clashing with the forces of Shima Sakon . Subsequently, he was awarded a fief in Buzen (Kokura, 370,000 koku) and went on to serve in

1696-540: The Battle of Shizugatake in 1583, where samurai had fought one another mano a mano , and where Katō demonstrated his skills with a cross-bladed spear with great effect by cutting so many men, whose severed and salted heads were thereafter tied to a stalk of green bamboo and carried by one of Katō's attendants into battle. Katō was a devoted follower of Nichiren Buddhism , a type of Buddhism closely associated with militarism and ultra-nationalism in Japan, and his relations with

1802-616: The Catholic Konishi were extremely unfriendly, to the extent that the two men almost never met during the campaign in Korea. Katō's battle standard was a white pennant which carried a message alleged to have been written by Nichiren himself reading Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō ("Hail to the Lotus of the Divine Law"). The naval commander was Wakisaka Yasuharu , another of the "Seven Spears of Shizugatake", who had been named daimyō of

1908-547: The Chūgoku region , informed Terumoto of Nobunaga's plan to invade China. In 1585, Hideyoshi told the Portuguese Jesuit Father Gaspar Coelho of his wish to conquer all of East Asia. Hideyoshi asked Coelho to send a message to his master, King Philip II of Spain , who was also King Philip I of Portugal, asking that he make his navy available to help Japan (Ming China, Spain, and Portugal were

2014-597: The Seven-Year War , and the foundation of the Qing dynasty in China, both of which would lead to devastation on the Korean Peninsula. King Seonjo faced many difficulties dealing with both new threats, sending many skilled military commanders to the northern front, while contending with Japanese leaders Oda Nobunaga , Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu in the south. However, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan,

2120-531: The Sui and Tang dynasties of China had complicated political and trading relations with the Three Kingdoms of Korea . Ming China, on the other hand, had close trading and diplomatic relations with the Joseon, which remained integrated in the imperial tributary system, but also received tribute and trade from Sō clan of Tsushima , Japan. Ming China and Joseon Korea shared much in common. Both emerged during

2226-421: The daimyōs from acting on any ambitions against his rule. Fighting a war away from Japanese territory would also prevent territorial destruction, and maintain the infrastructure of the state. Such considerations would be consistent with the fact that Hideyoshi was not shōgun and had no links with the imperial bloodline. Stephen Turnbull also suggests personal ambition and megalomania of Hideyoshi as reasons for

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2332-664: The tributary states , which also included countries such as the Ryukyu Kingdom , Lan Xang , Đại Việt , and the Ayutthaya Kingdom , in return for accepting the subservient tributary role of a "younger brother". In 1402, the Japanese shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (despite not being the Emperor of Japan ) was conferred the title of "King of Japan" by the Chinese emperor and through this title had similarly accepted

2438-409: The wakō had staged a series of samurai raids into Korea, some of which were so large as to be "mini-invasions". Hideyoshi mistakenly thought his enemies were weak. Hideyoshi planned for a possible war with Korea long before he had completed the unification of Japan. He made preparations on many fronts. As early as 1578, Hideyoshi, then fighting under Oda Nobunaga against Mōri Terumoto for control of

2544-487: The "great general gun" and the folang zhi ( 佛朗支 ), the latter being breech-loaded artillery guns. One of the Chinese commanders was Li Rusong , a man who has been traditionally disparaged in Japanese accounts. In Turnbull's estimate, he was "one of Ming China's most accomplished generals". Although Li was defeated at the Battle of Pyokjeyek, his defeat was temporary. He was an able strategist who achieved his goal of forcing

2650-516: The "Second War of Jeong-yu" ( 丁酉 ). Collectively, the invasions are referred to as the "Imjin War". In Chinese , the wars are referred to as the " Wanli Korean Campaign", after the reigning Chinese emperor . In Japanese , the war is called Bunroku no eki ( 文禄の役 ) . Bunroku referring to the Japanese era name spanning the period from 1592 to 1596. The second invasion (1597–1598)

2756-464: The 14th century after the end of the Yuan dynasty , embraced Confucian ideals in society, and faced similar threats ( Jurchen raiders and wokou ). Both had competing internal political factions, which would influence decisions made prior to and during the war. Because of close trade and common enemies, Joseon and Ming had a friendly alliance. By the last decade of the 16th century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ,

2862-593: The Ansan Ahn clan ( 창빈 안씨 ). On his mother's side, Yi Yeon was also a great-great-great-grandson of Princess Jeongui, the daughter of Queen Soheon and King Sejong . Princess Jeongui's granddaughter, Lady Ahn of the Juksan Ahn clan , married Jeong Sang-jo ( 정상조 ; 鄭尙祖 ), his great-grandfather and son of Jeong In-ji through his second wife, Lady Yi of the Gyeongju Yi clan. As well as Jeong Sang-jo being

2968-399: The Chinese infantry were the crossbow and the arquebus, while the cavalry were usually mounted archers. Chinese infantry wore conical iron helmets and suits of armor made from leather or iron. According to Turnbull, "Chinese field artillery and siege cannon were the finest in the region". Chinese artillery was made from cast iron, and were divided into several types, the most important being

3074-409: The Chinese tributary system. Hideyoshi replied with another letter, but since it was not presented by a diplomat in person as expected by custom, the court ignored it. After this denial of his second request, Hideyoshi proceeded to launch his armies against Korea in 1592. At the core of the Japanese military were the samurai , the military caste of Japan who dominated Japanese society. Japanese society

3180-455: The Court). King Seonjo focused on the improvement of the lives of the common people, as well as rebuilding the nation after the political corruption during the chaotic reign of Yeonsangun and King Jungjong . He encouraged Sarim scholars , who had been persecuted by entrenched aristocrats in four different purges between 1498 and 1545 during reign of Yeonsangun and Jungjong. Seonjo continued

3286-464: The Japanese fighting troops sent into Korea were ashigaru (light infantry), who were usually conscripted peasants armed with spears, tanegashima (Japanese arquebuses), or yumi (Japanese bows). Unlike the samurai with their expensive suits of armor, the ashigaru wore cheap suits of iron armour around their chests. The ashigaru armed with arquebuses were trained to fight in the European style, with

Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3392-580: The Japanese fleet under Todo Takatora in the Battle of Myeongnyang with only 13 ships. After the sudden death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1598, the Japanese completely withdrew from Korea in 1598. The ensuing Battle of Noryang marked the end of the war, with the last Japanese units under Konishi Yukinaga leaving Korea. Despite all the efforts put in by Seonjo during the war, such as establishing army training facilities and reforming taxation laws – which awarded people with increase of social class, exemption of labor or crimes in return for payment of tax in rice –

3498-569: The Japanese manufactured muskets for many of their soldiers, mobilized warriors from across the entire country. On April 13, 1592, 700 Japanese ships carrying 18,700 troops under Konishi Yukinaga invaded Korea. Konishi burned Fort Busan and Fort Dongnae , killed commanders Jeong Bal and Song Sang-hyeon and marched northward to Hanyang. On the next day, Katō Kiyomasa and Kuroda Nagamasa with 22,800 and 11,000 troops respectively landed, also marching toward Hanyang. The Japanese fleet under Todo Takatora and Kuki Yoshitaka supported them from

3604-540: The Japanese out of Korea, and Japanese accounts focusing on his defeat at Pyokjeyek served to distract from his achievements. Another Chinese naval commander was Chen Lin , a native of Guangdong who proved pivotal in defeating Japan and defending Korea. After helping win the war, Chen was celebrated as a hero in Korea and China. Chen subsequently became the founder of the Gwangdong Jin clan of Korea, and today, his descendants are spread across China and Korea. Chen

3710-442: The Japanese soon proved themselves to be the greater threat; and many Koreans began to fear that their country would be taken over by the Japanese. Many officials concerned with the defense of the kingdom urged the king to send delegates to Hideyoshi, their major purpose being to find out whether Hideyoshi was preparing for invasion or not. However, the two government factions could not even agree on this issue of national importance; so

3816-712: The Joseon army was easily defeated in the early days of the Imjin War, the Joseon government felt limited in the Five Guard system and switched to the Five Army Camps system. Light infantry protected their chests by wearing eomsimgap ( 엄심갑 ; 掩心甲 ), which was made of leather over a cloth robe that served a similar function to the Gambeson , or by wearing Scale armour . Pengbaesu ( 팽배수 ; 彭排手 ), heavy infantry specializing in hand-to-hand combat, were

3922-510: The Joseon court, combined with the 1589 rebellion of Jeong Yeo-rip that led to the purge of more than 1,000 scholars affiliated with the Eastern faction, led to Joseon's unpreparedness against the imminent Japanese invasions. In 1591, after the delegates had returned from Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent his own delegates to visit King Seonjo, and asked permission to pass through the Korean Peninsula to invade China, in effect declaring war against

4028-499: The Joseon kingdom. The king was surprised; after refusing the Japanese request he sent a letter to Beijing to alert the Chinese that the Japanese were actually preparing for full-scale war against the Korean-Chinese alliance. He also ordered the construction of many forts in the coastal regions and sent generals Sin Rip and Yi Il to the southern coast to prepare for war. While the Koreans were busy making their preparations,

4134-520: The Korean Peninsula, but the contribution of reinforcements by the Ming, as well as the disruption of Japanese supply fleets along the western and southern coasts by the Joseon Navy , forced the Japanese forces to withdraw from Pyongyang and the northern provinces. Afterwards, with righteous armies (Joseon civilian militias) conducting guerrilla warfare against the occupying Japanese forces and supply difficulties hampering both sides, neither force

4240-402: The Korean military, Hideyoshi sent an assault force of 26 ships to the southern coast of Korea in 1587. On the diplomatic front, Hideyoshi began to establish friendly relations with China long before he had completed the unification of Japan. He also helped to police the trade routes against the wokou. In 1587, Hideyoshi sent his first envoy, Yutani Yasuhiro ( 柚谷康広 ) , to Korea, which was during

4346-458: The Koreans had come to pay a tributary homage to Japan. For this reason, the ambassadors were not given the formal treatment that was due to diplomatic representatives. In the end, the Korean ambassadors asked for Hideyoshi to write a reply to the Korean king, for which they waited 20 days at the port of Sakai . The letter, redrafted as requested by the ambassadors on the ground that it was too discourteous, invited Korea to submit to Japan and join in

Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4452-556: The Koreans to resist. Konishi had converted to Catholicism in 1583, and was known to the Spanish and Portuguese as Dom Agostinho. Katō Kiyomasa , who led the Second Division into Korea, was known in Japan as Toranosuke ("the young tiger") and to the Koreans as the "devil general", on account of his ferocity. Katō was one of the " Seven Spears of Shizugatake ", a group of seven samurai who distinguished themselves in combat at

4558-442: The Koreans. The Japanese again invaded Korea in 1597; but this time all three nations were ready for war, and the Japanese were not able to advance as easily as in 1592. The Japanese tried to take Hanyang from both land and sea routes. At first the plan seemed to work well when Todo Takatora defeated Admiral Won Gyun at the Battle of Chilchonryang , but it was eventually thwarted when the Korean navy under Admiral Yi Sun-sin defeated

4664-521: The Ming court in response to raids by Sino-Japanese pirates known as the wakō . By seeking to invade China, Hideyoshi was in effect claiming for Japan the role traditionally played by China in East Asia as the center of the East Asian international order. He rallied support in Japan as a man of relatively humble origins who owed his position to his military might. Finally, during the 1540s–1550s,

4770-728: The Northern and the Southern Faction. Yu Seong-ryong led the Southern faction while the Northerners divided even further after arguments over many issues; the greater Northern faction came to become extremely liberal in the scope of their reform goals, while the "lesser" Northern faction was less reformist but still more open to reform than the Southerners. The political divisions caused the nation to be weakened, since

4876-649: The Tokugawa faction and the anti-Tokugawa faction led by Mitsunari. Following this incident, the military figures who were at odds with Mitsunari later supported Ieyasu during the Sekigahara conflict between the Eastern army, led by Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the Western army, led by Ishida Mitsunari. Muramatsu Shunkichi, author of " The Surprising Colors and Desires of the Heroes of Japanese History and violent womens ", assessed that Mitsunari's failure in his war against Ieyasu

4982-583: The border city of Uiju just before the fall of Pyongyang. While the king was absent from the capital, many people who had lost hope in the government plundered the palace and burned many public buildings, including the Gyeongbokgung . During Seonjo's stay at Uiju, he wrote the Joseon government's first public document written solely in Hangul , rather than Hanja. Historians believe that the king deliberately chose Hangul to ensure commoners could understand

5088-580: The center for the mobilization of the invasion forces. In 1592, Hideyoshi sent a letter to the Philippines demanding tribute from the Spanish governor general and stating that Japan had already received tribute from Korea (which was a misunderstanding) and the Ryukyus. As for the military preparations, the construction of as many as 2,000 ships may have begun as early as 1586. To estimate the strength of

5194-402: The combined strength and abilities of many Japanese armies at the time. Some, including King Seonjo, argued that Ming should be informed about the dealings with Japan, as failure to do so could make Ming suspect Korea's allegiance, but the court finally concluded to wait further until the appropriate course of action became definite. In the end, Hideyoshi's diplomatic negotiations did not produce

5300-542: The conflict. In 1592, Ming China was at the height of its power. Under the rule of the Wanli Emperor , Ming China quickly interpreted the Japanese invasions as a challenge and threat to the Imperial Chinese tributary system . The Ming's interest was also to keep the war confined to the Korean peninsula and out of its own territory. They entered into the conflict by dispatching reinforcements to attack from

5406-602: The contribution of the Ming forces, as well as the Joseon navy's disruption of Japanese supply fleets, resulted in a withdrawal of Japanese forces towards the coastal regions of the peninsula. The pursuing Ming and Joseon forces, however, failed to dislodge the Japanese from their fortresses and entrenched positions in the southern coastal areas where both sides became locked in a ten-month-long military stalemate. With Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death in September 1598, limited progress on land, and continued disruption of supply lines along

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5512-400: The country enjoyed a brief era of peace. Among the scholars King Seonjo called to the government were Sim Ui-gyeom and Kim Hyowon . Sim was a relative of the queen and heavily conservative. Kim was the leading figure of the new generation of officials and called for liberal reforms. The scholars who supported King Seonjo began to split into two factions, headed by Sim and Kim. Members of

5618-538: The crown as Taejo of Joseon, thus establishing a new dynasty. In search of a justification for its rule given the lack of a royal bloodline, the new regime received recognition from China and integration into the Imperial Chinese tributary system within the context of the Mandate of Heaven . Within this tributary system, China assumed the role of a "big brother", with Korea maintaining the highest position among

5724-527: The daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide . In 1582, Akechi Mitsuhide rebelled against Nobunaga, resulting in Nobunaga's death. Akechi then turned to Hosokawa Fujitaka and Tadaoki for assistance, but they refused to help him. Mitsuhide was ultimately defeated by Hideyoshi . Tadaoki fought on Hideyoshi's side in the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute (1584) and the Odawara Campaign (1590), participating in

5830-437: The defending Joseon army at Haengju fortress . Additionally, Joseon's civilian-led armies actively waged guerrilla warfare against the Japanese forces in the south, which weakened the Japanese hold in the cities they occupied. Afterwards, with supply difficulties hampering both sides, neither the Japanese nor the combined Ming and Joseon forces were able to mount a successful offensive or gain any additional territory, resulting in

5936-443: The desired result with Korea. The Joseon Court approached Japan as a country inferior to Korea, and saw itself as superior according to its favored position within the Chinese tributary system. It mistakenly evaluated Hideyoshi's threats of invasions to be no better than the common wokou Japanese pirate raids. The Korean court handed to Shigenobu and Genso, Hideyoshi's third embassy, King Seonjo's letter rebuking Hideyoshi for challenging

6042-508: The dreams of his late lord, Oda Nobunaga , and to mitigate the possible threat of civil disorder or rebellion posed by the large number of now-idle samurai and soldiers in unified Japan. It is also possible that Hideyoshi might have set a more realistic goal of subjugating the smaller neighbouring states (the Ryukyu Islands , Taiwan , and Korea) and treating the larger or more distant countries as trading partners, because throughout

6148-406: The emperors of China as their overlords and paid tribute in exchange for being allowed to trade with China. Japan had usually resisted the demand to pay tribute to China, but shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had acknowledged the emperor of China as his overlord in return for access to the huge Chinese market. Japan's right to pay tribute and, with it, the right to trade with China was ended in the 1540s by

6254-440: The favor of the king, since Sim was related to the queen and also had larger support from wealthy nobles. However, their attitudes on reformation and Sim's indecisiveness helped the Easterners take power, and the Westerners fell out of favor. Reforms were accelerated during the first period of influence of the Easterners, but then many Easterners began to urge others to slow down the reforms. The Easterners were once again divided into

6360-401: The first of two invasions of Korea , with the intent of conquering Joseon Korea and eventually, Ming China . Initially, the Japanese forces saw overwhelming success on land, capturing both Hanseong , the capital of Korea, and Pyongyang , and completing the occupation of large portions of the Korean Peninsula in three months. The Japanese forces, well-trained, confident, and experienced after

6466-505: The forces of Gotō Sumiharu, who held the fief of Fukue (assessed at 140,000 koku ) on the Gotō archipelago . Family records show he led a force of 705, with 27 horses, 220 of which were fighting men, while 485 filled a support role. The breakdown of the fighting contingent was the following: Another daimyō whose military service quota has been preserved in a written record is Shimazu Yoshihiro , whose contribution consisted of: The majority of

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6572-555: The generals' dissatisfaction with Mitsunari, who had written unfavorable assessments and downplayed their achievements during the Imjin War against Korea and the Chinese empire. Initially, the generals gathered at Kiyomasa's mansion in Osaka Castle before moving to Mitsunari's residence. However, Mitsunari learned of their plans through a report from Jiemon Kuwajima, a servant of Toyotomi Hideyori , and fled to Satake Yoshinobu 's mansion with Shima Sakon and others to hide. When

6678-402: The history of warfare". Samurai never carried shields, with the katana being used to deflect blows. By 1592, the armor of the samurai was lamellae made from iron or leather scales tied together which had been modified to include solid plate to help protect the samurai from bullets. Samurai engaged in psychological warfare by wearing an iron mask into battle with a mustache made of horsehair and

6784-470: The importance of these other subjects. He also restored the reputations of executed scholars such as Jo Gwang-jo , who died in Third Literati Purge of 1519 , and denounced the accomplishments of corrupt aristocrats, notably Nam Gon , who instigated the purge under Jungjong and contributed greatly to the corruption of the era. These acts earned the king the respect of the general populace, and

6890-431: The incident, argued that this was more of a legal conflict between the generals and Mitsunari, rather than a conspiracy to murder him. Ieyasu's role was not to physically protect Mitsunari from harm but to mediate the complaints of the generals. Nevertheless, historians view this incident as more than a personal conflict between the seven generals and Mitsunari; it was an extension of the broader political rivalries between

6996-594: The initial phase of the war) Ming: 1st. (1592–93) 48,000 Japan 1st. (1592) 158,800 (including labourers and sailors) 700 transport ships 300 warships 2nd. (1597–98) 141,900 Joseon: 1,000,000+ civilian and military deaths (including 260,000+ troops killed or wounded) 50,000–60,000 captives The Japanese invasions of Korea , commonly known as the Imjin War , involved two separate yet linked invasions: an initial invasion in 1592 ( Korean :  임진왜란 ; Hanja :  壬辰倭亂 ),

7102-429: The invasion of Korea, Hideyoshi sought for legal tally trade with China. Hideyoshi's need for military supremacy as a justification for his rule, which lacked shōgunal background, could have, on an international level, been eventually transformed into an order with Japan's neighboring countries below Japan. Hideyoshi did not take the title of Shōgun on the grounds that he lacked the necessary Minamoto descent, but since it

7208-482: The invasion. Hideyoshi had, in a series of wars, conquered Japan and now wanted to turn to bigger things, noting that he spoke not only of his desire to "slash his way" into Korea to invade China, but also the Philippines , and India . Furthermore, for thousands of years, China had been the intellectual, economic, military, and political center of East Asia, and traditionally, the states of East Asia had acknowledged

7314-560: The island of Awaji in the Seto Inland Sea in 1585, where he learned much about seafaring as the island is located close to whirlpools which are notoriously dangerous for sailors. Toyotomi Hideyoshi never left Japan, remaining near Kyoto; however, the idea of conquering China was his obsession, and throughout the war, he refused to accept defeat, treating the war as simply a question of willpower, believing if only his samurai fought hard enough, he could take China. Turnbull writes: "In

7420-754: The main naval powers of the time). However, Philip refused Hideyoshi, preferring not to upset China. The defeat of the Odawara -based Hōjō clan in 1590 finally brought about the second unification of Japan, and Hideyoshi began preparing for the next war. Beginning in March 1591, the Kyūshū daimyōs and their labor forces constructed Nagoya Castle in Nagoya, Saga (modern-day Karatsu, Saga , not to be confused with present-day Nagoya city in Aichi Prefecture ), as

7526-400: The mainstay of early Joseon infantry, wearing Chain mail or Mail and plate armour and armed with a round shield and sword. They responded to nomadic raids with shields and knives in mountain warfare, and in the plains, they built a shield wall to deter the cavalry's attacks. The elite troops and officers, made up of noblemen's sons called Gapsa ( 갑사 ; 甲士 ), They had to have more than

7632-632: The men trained to fire their guns in formation to create a volley of fire, then to go down on their knees to reload, while the men behind them fired, and the cycle repeated over and over again. The commander of the Japanese First Division and overall commander of the invasion force was Konishi Yukinaga , a daimyō of Uto from Higo Province in Kyushu , chosen as commander of the invasion force more because of his diplomatic skills than military skills, as Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not expect

7738-426: The message and to prevent the Japanese from understanding it. Although the army continued to lose men and battles, the navy under Admiral Yi Sun-sin defeated the Japanese fleet several times and did much damage to the supply ships. With the navy blocking supplies, Ming forces arrived at the request of Seonjo and began to push the Japanese southward, eventually retaking Pyongyang. Konishi Yukinaga successfully blocked

7844-457: The most preeminent daimyō , had unified all of Japan in a brief period of peace. Since he came to hold power in the absence of a legitimate successor of the Minamoto lineage necessary for the imperial shōgun commission, he sought military power to legitimize his rule and to decrease his dependence on the imperial family. It is also suggested that Hideyoshi planned an invasion of China to fulfill

7950-400: The new governing Council of Five Elders . Final peace negotiations between the parties followed, and continued for several years, ultimately resulting in the normalization of relations. In Korean , the first invasion (1592–1593) is called the "Japanese Disturbance of Imjin" ( 倭亂 ), where 1592 is an imjin year in the sexagenary cycle . The second invasion (1597–1598) is called

8056-411: The north. In the engagements that followed, the majority of the Joseon army was focused on defending the northern provinces from Japanese offensives, while also supporting Ming army campaigns to recapture territory occupied by the Japanese. Consequently, it was the combination of these Ming-led land campaigns and Joseon-led naval warfare that eventually forced the Japanese army to withdraw from Pyongyang to

8162-614: The numerous battles and conflicts of the Sengoku period , typically held the field in most land engagements. This success on land, however, was constrained by the naval campaigns of the Korean navy which would continue to raid Japanese supply fleets in its coastal waters, hampering the Japanese advances as supply lines were disrupted along the Western Korean coast and Japanese naval reinforcements were repelled. These trends, with some exceptions on both sides, held true throughout much of

8268-424: The political reforms of King Myeongjong, and put many famous Confucian scholars, including Yi Hwang , Yi I , Jeong Cheol , and Yu Seong-ryong , in office. Seonjo also reformed the civil service examination system, particularly the civil official qualification exam. The previous exam was mainly concerned with literature, not with politics or history. The king himself ordered the system to be reformed by increasing

8374-485: The power of the arquebus greatly contributed to the failures of the Korean army early in the war. In April 1590, the Korean ambassadors, including Hwang Yun-gil and Kim Saung-il, left for Kyoto , where they waited for two months while Hideyoshi was finishing his campaign against the Hojo clan . Upon his return, they exchanged ceremonial gifts and delivered King Seonjo's letter to Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi mistakenly assumed that

8480-497: The promise of a Korean embassy to Japan in exchange for a group of Korean rebels which had taken refuge in Japan. In 1587, Hideyoshi had ordered the adopted father of Yoshitoshi and the daimyō of Tsushima Island , Sō Yoshishige ( 宗義調 ) , to offer the Joseon Dynasty an ultimatum of submitting to Japan and participating in the conquest of China, or facing the prospect of open war with Japan. However, as Tsushima Island enjoyed

8586-450: The reign of King Jeongjong in 1400, the private army system was overthrown, and during the reign of King Sejo in 1457, a unit called Five Guards ( 오위 ; 五衛 ; Owi ) was formed, which continued until the Imjin War. In the early days of the war, Joseon had a conscripted light infantry, standing army, and an elite cavalry-oriented organization, especially Horse Archer. It was specialized in dealing with nomadic looters. However, as

8692-587: The rule of King Seonjo , to re-establish diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan (broken since the wokou raid in 1555). Hideyoshi hoped to use this as a foundation to induce the Korean court to join Japan in a war against China. Yasuhiro, with his warrior background and an attitude disdainful of the Korean officials and their customs, failed to receive the promise of future ambassadorial missions from Korea. Around May 1589, Hideyoshi's second embassy, consisting of Sō Yoshitoshi , Yanagawa Shigenobu ( 柳川調信 ) , and Buddhist monk Genso ( 玄蘇 ) , reached Korea and secured

8798-444: The sea. General Yi Il faced Katō Kiyomasa at the Battle of Sangju , which was won by the Japanese. Yi Il met up with General Sin Rip and engaged Konishi's troops at the Battle of Chungju , but were defeated. Then Seonjo appointed General Kim Myeong-won as Commander-in-Chief and Field Marshal, and ordered him to defend the capita and moved to Pyongyang as the Japanese began encroaching upon the city. He later moved even further north to

8904-607: The seven generals discovered that Mitsunari was absent from his mansion, they searched the residences of various feudal lords in Osaka Castle, while Katō's army also approached the Satake residence. Consequently, Mitsunari and his companions escaped from the Satake residence and barricaded themselves in Fushimi Castle . The following day, the seven generals surrounded Fushimi Castle with their soldiers, aware that Mitsunari

9010-546: The siege of Nirayama in Izu Province before joining the main army outside Odawara . During the 1590s, he developed a friendship with Tokugawa Ieyasu , who had lent him money to help pay off debts owed to Toyotomi Hidetsugu . In 1600, Tadaoki sided with Ieyasu against Ishida Mitsunari . He was succeeded by Hosokawa Tadatoshi (1586–1641), who participated in the Siege of Shimabara (1637–1638). In 1632, Tadatoshi received

9116-588: The size of the military was also one of the issues on the reform agenda. Yi I , a neutral conservative, urged the king to increase the size of the army to prepare against future invasions from the Jurchens and Japanese . However, both factions rejected Yi's suggestions, and the size of the army was decreased further since many believed the peaceful period would last. The Jurchens and Japanese used this opportunity to expand their influence in East Asia , resulting in

9222-420: The south, where the Japanese continued to occupy Hanseong and the southern regions with the exception of the southwestern Jeolla Province . The pursuing Ming and Joseon armies attempted to advance further into the south, but were halted by the Japanese army at the Battle of Byeokjegwan . Subsequently, the Japanese armies launched a counterattack in an attempt to reoccupy the northern provinces but were repelled by

9328-488: The southern coastal regions of the peninsula. However, the pursuing Ming and Joseon forces were unable to dislodge the Japanese from these positions, where both sides again became locked in a ten-month-long military stalemate. With Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death in 1598, limited progress on land, and continued disruption of supply lines by the Joseon Navy, the Japanese forces in Korea were ordered to withdraw back to Japan by

9434-530: The standing army, which actually has to maintain a certain number, is not managed, causing a problem that most of the numbers are falsely stated just before the war. they wore Brigandine armor, which was popular in Manchuria and Mongolia at the time. This is called Dujeong-gap ( 두정갑 ; 頭釘甲 ). Seonjo of Joseon Seonjo ( Korean :  선조 ; Hanja :  宣祖 ; 6 December 1552 – 6 March 1608), personal name Yi Yeon ( 이연 ; 李昖 ),

9540-484: The succession also became a matter of contention. King Seonjo died in 1608. Consort(s) and their respective issue Hosokawa Tadaoki Tadaoki was the eldest son of Hosokawa Fujitaka . He fought in his first battle at the age of 15 while in the service of Oda Nobunaga . His childhood name was Kumachiyo (熊千代). In 1580, Tadaoki was granted the Province of Tango. Shortly thereafter, he married Hosokawa Gracia ,

9646-437: The title of government official regardless of class. During these negotiations Korean forces retook Hanseong, but the palaces had all been burnt to the ground, so Seonjo repaired one of the old royal family's houses and renamed it to Deoksugung , making it one of the official palaces. The peace negotiations between the Chinese and Japanese ended unsuccessfully, due to disagreements between the two sides and misrepresentation of

9752-425: The two countries. Near the end of the ambassadorial mission, Yoshitoshi presented King Seonjo a brace of peafowl and matchlock guns—the first advanced firearms to come to Korea. Ryu Seong-ryong , a high-ranking scholar official, suggested that the military put the arquebus (a matchlock firearm) into production and use, but the Korean court failed to appreciate its merits. This lack of interest and underestimation of

9858-526: The two factions even lived in the same neighborhood; Sim's faction lived on west side of the city while Kim's followers gathered on the east side. Consequently, the two factions began to be called the Western Faction and the Easterners  ; this two-faction based political system lasted 200 years and later helped bring about the collapse of the Joseon dynasty. At first the Westerners earned

9964-399: The war left a devastated land and starving people. After the war, his wish of reconstructing the nation was impeded by the political turmoil caused by quarrelling political factions and famine. His Crown Prince Gwanghaegun aided him in his ruling of the country. However, when the queen gave birth to Grand Prince Yeongchang (Gwanghaegun was the second son of Lady Kim, the king's concubine),

10070-478: The western and southern coasts by the Joseon navy, the remaining Japanese forces in Korea were ordered to withdraw back to Japan by the new governing Council of Five Elders . Final peace negotiations between the parties followed afterwards and continued for several years, ultimately resulting in the normalization of relations. In 1392, General Yi Seonggye led a successful coup to take political power in Korea from U of Goryeo . Seonggye's followers forced him to take

10176-412: The younger half-brother of Jo Gwang-jo . He was given the title of Prince Haseong, and was eventually adopted by Queen Insun . When King Myeongjong died young without an heir, Prince Haseong was the next in the line of succession. Then, by decision of the royal court, he was crowned king in 1567 at the age of 16. His father had the status of Grand Internal Prince (대원군, Daewongun , 'Great Prince of

10282-530: Was able to mount a successful offensive or gain any additional territory, resulting in a military stalemate. The first phase of the invasion ended in 1596, and was followed afterwards by ultimately unsuccessful peace negotiations between Japan and the Ming. In 1597, Japan renewed its offensive by invading Korea a second time. The pattern of the second invasion largely mirrored that of the first. The Japanese had initial successes on land, capturing several cities and fortresses, only to be halted and forced to withdraw to

10388-464: Was capable of considerable feats of organization, for example bringing 400 artillery guns across 480 km of harsh landscape to provide firepower against the Mongols. The core of the Ming army was the infantry, divided into five sections; those armed with guns, swords, archers with fire arrows , archers with ordinary arrows, and spearmen, backed up by the cavalry and artillery. The basic weapons for

10494-420: Was divided into four castes : samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants, in that order. The samurai caste owned most of the land in Japan, had the sole right to carry swords and to execute on the spot any commoner who was insufficiently deferential, and were allowed to own horses and ride into battle. The standard samurai weapon by 1592 was the yari , a spear meant to stab, often with a cross-blade that allowed

10600-443: Was due to his unpopularity among the major political figures of that time. In July 1600, Ishida Mitsunari attempted to gain leverage over those leaning towards Ieyasu by taking hostages from families residing in Osaka Castle . This included Tadaoki's wife, who had since converted to Christianity and was baptized as "Gracia". To avoid capture, Hosokawa Gracia ordered a servant to kill her and set fire to their quarters. While there

10706-490: Was given the nickname Guangdong Master for his naval and military accomplishments. Officers in the Joseon Army and Navy came exclusively from the aristocracy, but unlike the high militarist Japanese aristocracy trained to be soldiers from their youth onward, for the Joseon aristocracy, scholarship was valued and war was disparaged as something unworthy of a Confucian gentleman-scholar. The quality of Korean generalship

10812-563: Was hiding there. Tokugawa Ieyasu , who was in charge of political affairs at Fushimi Castle, attempted to mediate the situation. The seven generals demanded that Ieyasu hand over Mitsunari, but he refused. Instead, he negotiated, promising to allow Mitsunari to retire and to review the assessment of the Battle of Ulsan Castle in Korea, which had been a major point of contention. Ieyasu then sent his second son, Yūki Hideyasu , to escort Mitsunari to Sawayama Castle. However, historian Watanabe Daimon, drawing from primary and secondary sources regarding

10918-540: Was the 14th monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea . He was known for promoting Confucianism and attempting reforms at the beginning of his reign. However, he later gained infamy from the political discord and his incompetent leadership during the Japanese invasions of Korea . King Seonjo was born Yi Yeon in 1552 in Hanseong (today, Seoul), capital of Korea, as the third son of Prince Deokheung ( 덕흥군 ), himself son of King Jungjong and Royal Noble Consort Chang of

11024-403: Was trying to complete his reforms quickly to prevent lawlessness and quash the bandits now roaming the countryside. Since the Easterners had the bigger voice in government at the time, Hwang's reports were ignored and Seonjo decided not to prepare for war, even though the attitude of Hideyoshi in his letter to Seonjo clearly showed his interest in the conquest of Asia. The factional infighting of

11130-409: Was very common in 16th-century Japan for genealogists to "discover" that someone had illustrious ancestry for the right price, that suggests that Hideyoshi was planning on creating a new office for himself to replace the bakufu . Hideyoshi was also tempted by an external conflict to prevent internal rebellion within Japan, which would keep his newly formed state united against a common enemy, and prevent

11236-531: Was very variable, with some Korean officers being able and others being men who had not devoted much time to the study of war, preferring archery, writing, practicing their calligraphy, and reading Confucian classics. At the end of the period of chaos after the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty, Joseon was mainly focused on dealing with the looting of the Jurchen people and Japanese pirates in the north. During

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