Newsletter

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.

War of Nerves between the Tongsinsa and Japan

The Tongsinsa mission of 1590 was under tension even before it set out for Japan. Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) had initially demanded for the king of Joseon to personally come over to Japan and pay his respects, but Tsushima domain mitigated the demand by asking Joseon to express its congratulations to the new Japanese ruler on his enthronement. Japan thereafter made friendly gestures toward Joseon by capturing and turning over Japanese pirates who invaded Joseon's coastal areas or repatriating Joseon people who had been abducted by Japanese pirates. Yet, the Japanese envoys who came to request for a Tongsinsa mission to be sent to Japan exhibited a fairly high-handed attitude, perhaps out of a desire to subtly show off unified Japan's power. However, Joseon was well aware of Japan's intentions.

What was important to the Tongsinsa mission was to deliver the Joseon king's message to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Even if Japan were to make unreasonable demands and behave impolitely, the Tongsinsa mission tended to believe in quietly taking care of the barbarians (Japanese) rather than treating them properly so as to prevent Joseon from losing face. This meant Joseon had wanted to quietly gloss over things without strictly adhering to formalities. Nevertheless, the Tongsinsa mission's deputy chief envoy Kim Seong-il (1538-1593) believed that it was necessary to respond firmly and entered into a war of nerves with Japan at every turn.

The Impertinence of the Daimyo of Tsushima

The Tongsinsa mission that traveled to Japan followed two general guidelines. One was to avoid making an issue out of impolite acts committed by the Japanese. The other was to instead clearly point such acts out so that they may be corrected. The mission's deputy chief envoy Kim Seong-il particularly took a firm approach on observing formalities during his stay in Tsushima domain.

The Tongsinsa mission was scheduled to attend a meeting held at a temple named Kokubunji in Tsushima. However, the Tsushima daimyo So Yoshitoshi (1568-1615) responsible for escorting the mission's trip back and forth to Japan showed up in a strange manner. Instead of dismounting from his palanquin at the temple's entrance, he rode it up to the main hall inside the temple. Kim Seong-il claimed to the mission's chief envoy Hwang Yun-gil (1536-?) that they should protest by refusing to meet the Tsushima daimyo. When his suggestion went unaccepted, Kim Seong-il stormed out of the room and returned to his lodgings. Secretary Heo Seong (1548-1612) and Diplomatic aide Cha Cheon-ro (1556-1615) followed suit by leaving in the middle of the banquet. Kim Seong-il's displeased reaction also had to do with So Yoshitoshi's earlier behavior when the daimyo rode his horse right up to the tent where the mission was seated for an outdoor banquet.

Flogged Interpreter, Beheaded Palanquin Carrier

As a form of protest against Japan's impertinence, Kim Seong-il had the Joseon interpreter Jin Se-un flogged. Other members of the Tongsinsa mission suggested that Kim Seong-il was taking things too far. However, the measure Kim Seong-il took was based on the following rationale. Since members leading the mission didn't speak Japanese, it was the interpreter's responsibility to inform Tsushima domain on their behalf about any improprieties that have occurred. Of course, the interpreter couldn't be blamed for the unexpected incident that occurred that day. However, when Kim Seong-gil stormed out of the meeting, the interpreter made an excuse on his behalf by saying Kim Seong-il had to leave due to an illness instead of pointing out the disrespect So Yoshitoshi committed. Therefore, the interpreter Kim Seong-il should be punished. When a Chinese makes a mistake during a Joseon envoy's visit to China, the Joseon interpreter gets flogged, so Kim Seong-il saw no reason to not to do the same in Japan.

This alarmed the Tsushima officials. If news of the incident were to reach the ears of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he might decide to punish Tsushima domain. The action Tsushima domain took next was equally alarming. The Tsushima daimyo executed his palanquin carrier for carrying him through the temple gate and up to the main hall. Kim Seong-il was astonished to hear of the execution and order inquiries to be made on what exactly happened.

The story told by a source close to So Yoshitoshi went as follows. So Yoshitoshi had never intended to ride the palanquin inside the temple. As soon as the palanquin passed the temple gate, the daimyo told the carrier to stop, but the carrier didn't listen to his master. The angered daimyo meant to immediately slit the palanquin carrier's throat. However, the carrier ran away, which is why it took a while to capture and then kill him. The execution took place at the dock under the presence of a sailor belonging to the ship the mission had arrived in. The story's source added that So Yoshitoshi must have had the sailor witness the execution to demonstrate that the palanquin carrier rather than he was entirely to blame for disrespecting the Joseon envoys.

So Yoshitoshi later greeted the Tongsinsa mission by walking over to where he was supposed to meet them. Kim Seong-il told Cha Cheon-ro that "It's harrowing to think that our leaving the banquet early resulted in the tragedy of a person's death. Although our country and fellow envoys suffered humiliation, that humiliation has been relieved to some extent and our country's dignity has been somewhat restored now that So Yoshitoshi has apologized, put the blame on his subordinate, and went as far as killing him." It is said that although Kim Seong-il and Cha Cheon-ro were pleased to have made it out of the situation, they felt sorry for the dead man.

Other members of the mission expressed their concern toward the situation's developments and reproached Kim Seong-il. They may have felt threatened by Tsushima domain's "extreme" way of handling things. After the incident, the mood between the Tongsinsa mission and the Tsushima daimyo remained tense. Kim Seong-il kept raising formality-related issues. Toyotomi Hideyoshi postponed his meeting with the mission without bothering to reschedule and then perplexed the mission by displaying an absurd, unexpected manner of reception. Nevertheless, no further lives were sacrificed since the incident. These are episodes that occurred right before the Imjin War broke out and sacrificed countless innocent lives.