뉴스레터

The Edo Bakufu and Good Faith

After the Imjin War, the Toyotomi regime collapsed and Tokugawa Ieyasu rose to power to establish the Tokugawa shogunate, otherwise known as the Edo bakufu. Having seized power, Tokugawa Ieyasu requested that Joseon enter into diplomatic relations with Japan. Joseon went through lengthy discussions and negotiations before finally deciding to establish diplomatic relations and send a delegation to Japan. The delegation sent in 1607 became the first to be dispatched since the Imjin War and marked the beginning of a new relationship with the Edo bakufu.

However, instead of calling the delegation a Tongsinsa mission, Joseon chose to call it "reciprocation and prisoner repatriation envoys." The title indicates that the Joseon court's sentiment toward Japan did not coincide with the meaning of Tongsinsa, which was a mission to communicate good faith with one another. "Reciprocation" suggested that the delegation's purpose was strictly to deliver a reply to the Japanese shogun on a diplomatic matter and "prisoner repatriation" implied that Joseon intended to bring back everyone Japan took away. At the time, it was impossible for Joseon to determine whether Japan was truly making a gesture of good faith, but Joseon nevertheless wished to underscore that their foremost goal was to repatriate Joseon people that had been captive in Japan since the Imjin War. And the same title was given to subsequent delegations sent in 1617 and 1624.

Although the size of the delegations sent in 1607, 1617, and 1624 were not as large as the missions sent prior to and during the Imjin War, members who took part in them must not have been able to let their guard down as they were being sent to mend the bilateral relationship at a time when the scars from war had not yet healed. The following episodes may be able to help gain a better sense of the Joseon delegation's state of mind as they stopped by Kyoto, which had once been Toyotomi Hideyoshi's political base.

Back to Kyoto After the Imjin War

The delegation of 1607 departed on the 12th of January and arrived in Kyoto on the 12th of April. The building the delegation first witnessed was Toji Temple with an impressive five-story pagoda. The delegation's deputy chief envoy Gyeong Seom described in his notes that the tall pagoda "rising up above the clouds turned it into a blur." The delegation stayed at Tenzuiji (天瑞寺) within Daitokuji (大德寺), one of the largest complex of temples in Kyoto where the famous tea master Sen no Rikyu (千利休) was interred. While in Kyoto, the delegation visited all the famous temples and scenic spots including Tofukuji (東福寺), Sanjusangendo (三十三間寺), Kiyomizudera (淸水寺), and Chionin (智恩院). The delegation's eyes were dazzled by the lustrous statues of the bodhisattva Kannon and dizzied looking down from the veranda of Kiyomizudera's main hall perched upon a mountainside. However, the delegation did not remain blinded by scenic views. Kyoto was also the place where Mimizuka (耳塚) was located. 

Translated as "ear mound," Mimizuka was where the severed ears and noses of Joseon people during the Imjin War were buried. The sight of the mound being formed was witnessed and recorded by Gang Hang, a Joseon scholar and bureaucrat who was taken as prisoner to Japan during the 1597 Japanese invasion of Joseon. The notes left by the delegation's deputy chief envoy Gyeong Seom mention that Toyotomi Hideyoshi's son Hideyori left a gravestone engraved with the words "The blame lies not with you, but with the fate of your country." Yet, it remains uncertain as to whether Gyeong Seom personally witnessed the gravestone or not.

Facing Agonizing Scars from War

The 1617 delegation was also sent as reciprocation and prisoner repatriation envoys. It set out from Busan on the 9th of July and reached Kyoto on the 21st of August. The members first stopped by Toji Temple then headed to Daitokuji to unpack like the previous delegation. On the 26th of August, on its way back from an audience with the shogun in Fushimi to deliver the Joseon sovereign's message, the delegation was treated to a meal at Daibutsuji.

Daibutsuji was a temple built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi that also went by the name Hokoji. The original statue of Buddha created for the temple is said to have been larger than the one now at the temple Todaiji in Nara. However, the state and temple were destroyed by a huge earthquake that occurred near Kyoto in 1596 and further destroyed by a fire in 1602. The statue was recreated in 1612, but it was the phrase engraved on the temple bell created in 1614 that eventually led to the Toyotomi family's downfall. After suffering further damage from an earthquake in 1662 and a fire in 1798, the temple never recovered its former grandeur.

What the 1617 delegation saw at Kyoto was the statue and temple restored in 1612. The chief envoy Oh Yun-gyeom and diplomatic aide Yi Gyeong-jik were astounded by the magnificence of the statue and temple building, even though they were aware of how Daibutsuji was connected to Toyotomi Hideyori and the fall of the Toyotomi family. However, when Yi Gyeong-jik witnessed the ear mound nearby and heard about the gravestone Hideyori installed, he is said to have been "overwhelmed by an unbearable sense of indignation."

The last delegation to be sent as reciprocation and prisoner repatriation envoys was the one that departed Joseon in 1624. The delegation congratulated the third shogunal succession in the Tokugawa family and stopped by Kyoto in 1625 on its way back to Joseon. When the delegation members visited Daibutsuji on the 17th of January, the deputy chief envoy Gang Hong-jung was amazed not only at the large temple building but also at the fact that the statue of Buddha as well as its pedestal and the walls surrounding it were completely gilded. Gang Hong-jung included in his notes the rumor that Tokugawa Ieyasu had Daibutsuji rebuilt after suffering several fires just so he could consume all of Toyotomi Hideyori's riches.

Gang Hong-jung was also unable to overlook the ear mound. He felt embittered and angry as he heard stories from the Japanese that "Hideyoshi buried the ears and noses of Joseon people and after his death, his son Hideyori built a mound and installed a gravestone" or that "when Jinju Castle fell to the Japanese, the Japanese behead their enemy and buried the heads at the mound." Joseon Tongsinsa missions that followed later on would always be reminded of the Imjin War whenever they passed through Kyoto. And when Joseon protested about having its envoys visit Daibutsuji, the visits stopped after 1719.

The temples and historic sites the three delegations visited in Kyoto remain as famous tourist destinations to this day. Anyone who goes sightseeing to Kyoto is most likely to visit them. While its scenic attractions may make the many people visiting smile, the Kyoto area still holds tragic traces of the Imjin War and Toyotomi Hideyoshi from nearly four hundred years ago. The efforts the delegations made and the agony they felt as they tried not to forget what happened are worth remembering. We should also remember that the most important task for them was repatriation, to bring back the people of Joseon who were taken away.