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Joseon Tongsinsa refers to diplomatic missions the king of the Korean kingdom Joseon officially sent to the chief ruler of Japan. How did Tongsinsa begin and what role did it perform as relations between the two countries went through change? The year of 2019 will mark the 590th year since the first Tongsinsa mission was sent in 1429, so this series called Tongsinsa Stories will review Joseon Tongsinsa as a cultural delegation representative of the Korean dynasty's diplomatic history with Japan.

As official diplomatic missions dispatched on behalf of the king of Joseon, Tongsinsa would be sent to a bakufu shogun or Toyotomi Hideyoshi to congratulate their enthronement, celebrate their peaceful reign, or resolve diplomatic issues. The phrase “Joseon Tongsinsa” is an academic term established by scholars of today, so it actually appears in historical sources under several different names like “sinsa” or “tongsinsa,” or in the case of Japanese sources from the Edo period, it is noted as "Chosen Raiheishi" (朝鮮來聘使) or "Chosen Heireishi" (朝鮮聘禮使).

In many cases, Joseon Tongsinsa today refers to missions dispatched in late Joseon after the Imjin War of 1592-1598. After relations between Joseon and Japan became shattered from the Imjin War, Tongsinsa was sent for the two countries to reconcile and become good neighbors with one another. Tongsinsa is also known for having been a means of cultural exchange that brought Joseon’s knowledge and culture over to Japan, for example by having conversations in writing or through the exchange of poems. After the fall of the Toyotomi Shogunate and the rise of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a total of twelve Tongsinsa missions were sent to Japan between 1607 and 1811.

Yet, in a broader sense, Tongsinsa missions began much earlier in the first half of the Joseon dynasty. Almost three decades after the foundation of Joseon, a total of five missions were dispatched in 1429, 1439, 1443, 1590, and 1596. What is notable is that since the mission in 1443, no more missions were sent for almost 150 years until 1590. Also notable is that the Imjin War broke out just two years after the mission in 1590 and that a mission was sent in 1596 while the two countries were still at war. What then was the historical background to launching Tongsinsa missions and what role did they serve throughout changes in Joseon-Japan relations? The approaching 590th anniversary in 2019 of the Joseon Tongsinsa’s birth seems to be an apt occasion to look back on the Tongsinsa’s significance in the Joseon dynasty’s diplomatic history with Japan.

After founding Joseon in 1392, the dynasty’s first king Yi Seong-gye sent a monk named Gakchu (覺鎚) to the Muromachi Shogunate to ask for Japanese pirates to be subdued. The Korean peninsula had been suffering from being pillaged by Japanese pirates since late Goryeo, so suppressing them naturally became a diplomatic concern during the early days of the succeeding dynasty. Requests were made to the shogun as well as daimyos all over Japan for Japanese pirates to be suppressed and for people kidnapped from Joseon to be repatriated. At the same time, Joseon also attempted to practice a policy of persuading Japanese pirates to become agents of peace between the two countries. And the Muromachi Shogunate’s third shogun Yoshimitsu readily acceded to Joseon’s request in writing and sent about 100 people kidnapped by Japanese pirates back to Joseon.

Yoshimitsu was the Muromachi shogun who brought an end to the chaotic period of Northern and Southern Courts and unified Japan in 1392. As shogun, he then sent a diplomatic document to the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Empire and became pronounced by the Chinese emperor as the king of Japan in 1402. These developments indicate that Japan had been moving away from its previous diplomatic practices to become newly incorporated into the international order of East Asia, which revolved around the Ming emperor.

As the king of Japan, Yoshimitsu dispatched an envoy to the king of Joseon in 1404 and from there on, envoys frequently traveled between the two governments. According to records from the Joseon period, nearly 60 visits were made to Joseon by Japanese royal emissaries sent by Muromachi shoguns while Joseon envoys made just as many visits to all over Japan. Missions dispatched to Japanese shoguns during the first half of the Joseon dynasty were given a number of different Korean names beside Tongsinsa such as Tongsingwan (通信官), Hoeryesa (回禮使), Hoeryegwan (回禮官), Bobingsa (報聘使), or Hoedabsa (回答使). Out of a total of 18 missions, 6 were sent under the name Tongsinsa, of which 3 traveled all the way to Kyoto and fulfilled their purpose. (Refer to the attached table.)

Rather than to the shogun who headed Japan's central government, Joseon dispatched much more envoys to feudal lords like the daimyo of Tsushima domain. So, early Joseon's diplomacy toward Japan was pluralistic for individually maintaining friendly relations not only with the head of the shogunate, but with feudal lords beyond the Japanese capital as well.

Led by a chief envoy, deputy chief envoy, and secretary, a Tongsinsa mission would typically comprise about 90 to 100 people including transporters, a doctor, an interpreter, a band, and military officers. The mission size was much smaller than the missions of 400 to 500 sent in the later years of Joseon. Missions would usually depart from Busan and stop by at Hakada, Akamagaseki, or Hyogo where they would wait for an envoy to obtain permission from the bakufu to enter the country and visit Kyoto. Once permission was granted, a mission would move on to Kyoto and deliver the Joseon king's message to the Japanese shogun. The challenging journey back and forth across land and sea would usually take 9 to 10 months to complete.

Before and after the 1429 mission, Joseon had dispatched envoys in 1422 and 1432, but they each ran into pirates and failed to achieve their mission. Since the Tongsinsa mission of 1443, the Joseon government mostly sent envoys to either the shogun or the daimyo of Tsushima domain. The reason for this seems to be because it became less necessary to send envoys to Japan once relations settled down between the two countries and pirate activities became subdued.

After successfully delivering the king's message through the 1443 mission, it took a long time before the next Tongsinsa mission could be sent to the shogun. A mission was sent in 1459 to deliver the Joseon king's reply to the then Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa and present him with the Buddhist scriptures Tripitaka and Lotus Sutra, but the mission failed to reach Japan due to a shipwreck. Twice during the reign of King Seongjong, planned missions became postponed under grounds that political instability in Japan made it difficult to ensure the safety of the Joseon envoys. Hence, the next mission to the shogun was finally able to take place 150 years later in 1590, just two years ahead of the Imjin War, for the purpose of congratulating Toyotomi Hideyoshi on unifying Japan.

The most well-known Joseon record of Tongsinsa missions during the first half of the Joseon dynasty is Haedongjegukgi (海東諸國記). Published in 1471, it was authored by Sin Suk-ju after he returned to Joseon from serving as secretary to the 1443 mission to Japan. Under orders from King Seongjong, Sin Suk-ju recorded in Haedongjegukgi details about Japan's shogun, royal family, state affairs, history of relations with neighboring countries, customs for receiving envoys, and Japanese place names. For providing such basic information about Joseon's diplomacy toward Japan and the Ryukyu Kingdom, Haedongjegukgi is now an invaluable source for studying Korea-Japan relations during the first half of the Joseon dynasty.

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