뉴스레터

"As the government troops failed to get the better of the Japanese enemy, the Great Monk raised an army of monk soldiers.
His dignity shook the distant sea, and his courage was known to heaven.
He simply said a few Zen words without bothering to come up with clever schemes.
Once he came home and reported to the king, he returned to the mountains carrying a bamboo cane like old days."
- From the poem by Taekdang Lee Sik depicting the life of Samyeong Daesa -

Samyeong Daesa (the Great Monk) was born in 1544 to a family of the Pungcheon Lim clan in Milyang, South Gyeongsang Province. His secular name was Eungkyu. At the age of 16, he became a Buddhist monk in Jigjiisa (temple) and then visited Seosan the Great Monk in Bohyeonsa in Mt. Myohyang to learn Zen principles. In 1592, when the Imjin War broke out, he raised a volunteer army of 2,000 monk soldiers and appointed himself as their commander. He achieved brilliant success in a battle to recapture the Pyeongyang Castle. From 1594, he had four rounds of peace talks with Kiyomasa Kato (加藤淸正) in Seosaengpo. Kato demanded four of Korea's provinces as Japanese territory and a son of the Korean king as a hostage. But Samyeong Daesa refused those demands and insisted that Japan should withdraw its troops and honor friendship with Korea as a neighbor. The talks ended up breaking down.

In 1598, with the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉), the ill-advised war of seven years came to an end. The Imjin War not only brought about big political changes in the three Asian countries but caused irreparable damage to Korea as the victim of the invasion. More than 2 million Koreans were killed or wounded. One hundred eighty-two of 328 towns across the country were devastated. And the arable land was reduced significantly, from 1.5 million down to 0.3 million units. Many palaces in Seoul, including Gyeongbokgung, and many temples, including Bulguksa, were burned down, and books and cultural properties plundered. The Japanese soldiers gang-raped, murdered and abducted Korean women. According to New Continued Exemplars of the Three Bonds in Korea, published after the Imjin War in 1617 to reward those who died in defense of their integrity, the Korean government recognized ninety-eight filial sons, fifty-four loyalists, and four hundred forty-three faithful women. The number of the faithful women was as many as three times greater than the numbers of the filial sons and the loyalists combined. Although the actual number of those who died such a death may have been even higher, this statistics alone gives us an idea about how much Korean women suffered. The Japanese military also abducted Korean women or children to humiliate them or sell them into slavery. Although the exact numbers are unknown, it is estimated that between 50,000 and 200,000 Koreans were abducted.

Samyeong Daesa

In the immediate aftermath of the Imjin War, the three countries were left in desperate situations. Since the war had left China's military power depleted, China couldn't stop the growing power of the Jurchen (Jin) people in Manchuria. Consequently, Ming ended up being replaced by Qing. Korea, with the whole country devastated by the war, was faced with the urgent task of postwar recovery, including the repatriation of abducted Koreans. Most importantly, Korea had to prepare against the growing power of the Jurchen people in Manchuria. Japan the invader was worried about the possible retaliation of China or Korea, while the newly established Tokugawa regime was striving to stabilize domestic politics. In particular, Tsushima. whose food supply had been cut off due to the war, was desperate to resume trade with Korea because their livelihood depended on it. While dealing with their own situations at home, the three countries sought to work toward creating a new international order.

Samyeong Daesa Appointed as a "Spy" for Peace Talks with Tokugawa

It was Tsushima that took the initiative in establishing peace between Korea and Japan. Since the annual gift of rice and beans from the Korean king as well as trade with Korea had stopped, it was only natural for Tsushima to hurry and try to contact Korea. In October 1603, the Tokugawa shogunate sent the Confucian scholar Kim Kwang back to Korea to request peace. In a letter to the king, Kim Kwang described what was going on in Japan, and said that if Korea did not accept peace, Japan was likely to invade again. To spy on the state affairs of Japan as well as have peace talks, Korea decided to send envoys. Before the envoys were sent, however, what their official name should be came into question. It was decided that the traditional title 'tongshinsa (通信使),' meaning 'an envoy through faith,' which was used in relations with Japan, couldn't be used unless and until Korea's wounds of war were healed. The alternative title was 'tamjeoksa (探賊使),' which means 'an envoy spying on a thief.' This clearly reveals the Korean sentiment toward Japan. And the appointed leader was Samyeong Daesae, who fought a battle with the Japanese army as a monk solider during the Imjin War and also had experience in peace talks.

In March 1605, Samyeong Daesa met with Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Fushimi Castle in Kyoto. In April, he marched 3,000 abducted Koreans back to Korea, and imposed three conditions of peace: a state letter from the Japanese general, the arrest and transfer of the grave robbers, and the return of abducted Koreans. These three conditions have extremely important significance in the history of relations between the two countries.

the Fushimi Castle in Kyoto

First of all, to demand for a state letter and the title of Japanese king is to demand that Japan apologize for the war. As for the title of Japanese king, Tokugawa Ieyasu could not be recognized as a supreme ruler of Japan unless and until he was proclaimed the Japanese king by Ming. It also signifies that the Korean king is on an equal footing with the Japanese king. By making such a demand, Korea intended to realign the diplomatic order in East Asia with Ming at its center.

Secondly, when the invading army of Japan reached Seoul in twenty days after landing in Busan in April 1592, one of their units robbed the royal tombs of Queen Seongjong and King Joongjong. Korea sought punishment for the tomb robbery since it was considered a felony against the state, not a personal crime.

Thirdly, one of the many sufferings that the war of aggression caused Koreans was the abduction of civilians. These "abducted Koreans" are distinguished from soldiers taken into captivity.

Samyeong Daesa Accomplishes Peace between the Two Countries and Opens an Era of Peace in the Late Joseon Period

These peace conditions were accepted earlier than expected. Within only a month, a revised state letter and the two grave robbers from Tsushima were sent to Korea. As the difficult conditions were fulfilled sooner than expected, Korea realized that they were not truthful. But Korea decided to sent envoys anyway, because its demands had been met and it could take the lead in the negotiation. But the envoys couldn't use the title tongshinsa because Japan could not be trusted. Instead, they used a title (回答兼刷還使) which meant "response to Japan's request for peace and return of abducted Koreans.' These envoys arrived at Edo in June 1607, exchanged state letters of peace, and returned to Seoul along with about 1,240 abducted Koreans. This officially resumed the diplomatic relations between the two countries which had been severed by the Imjin War. Two years later, in 1609, a treaty to resume trade was concluded. And this opened an era of peace that would last for about 260 years in the latter period of the Joseon Dynasty. This is a diplomatic accomplishment achieved by Samyeong Daesa the "Spy." Samyeong Daesa brought an end to the age of the war of Japan's aggression and ushered in an age of peace. He died in Haeinja (temple) in 1610. His achievements give us many historical messages to ponder on if we compared them with the process of concluding the 1965 Korea-Japan Basic Treaty fifty years ago which supposedly settled the 36 years of Japanese colonial rule of Korea.