Pak Hŭi-chung

Pak Hŭi-chung
Hangul	박희중
Hanja	朴熙中
Revised Romanization	Bak Hui-jung
McCune–Reischauer	Pak Hŭi-chung

Pak Hŭi-chung (Korean: 박희중; Hanja: 朴熙中; 1364–?) was a scholar-official of the Joseon Dynasty Korea in 14th and 15th centuries.

He was also diplomat and ambassador, representing Joseon Dynasty interests in a diplomatic mission to the Ashikaga shogunate in Japan.^[1]

1423 mission to Japan

King Sejong dispatched a diplomatic mission to Japan in 1423. This embassy to court of Ashikaga Yoshinori was led by Pak Hŭi-chung.^[1]

The delegation from the Joseon court traveled to Kyoto in response to a message sent by the Japanese shogun;^[1] and also, the delegation was charged with conveying an offer to send a copy of a rare Buddhist text.^[2]

A diplomatic mission conventionally consisted of three primary figures—the main envoy, the vice-envoy, and a document official. Also included were one or more official writers or recorders who created a detailed account of the mission.^[3] In this instance, the vice-envoy was Yi Ye,^[4] who would return to Japan in 1432 as ambassador.^[1]

The Japanese hosts may have construed these mission as tending to confirm a Japanocentric world order.^[5] The Joseon diplomats were more narrowly focused in negotiating protocols for Joseon-Japan diplomatic relations.^[1]

Recognition in the West

Pak Hŭi-chung's historical significance was confirmed when his mission was specifically mentioned in a widely distributed history published by the Oriental Translation Fund in 1834.^[2]

In the West, early published accounts of the Joseon kingdom are not extensive, but they are found in Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu (published in Paris in 1832),^[6] and in Nihon ōdai ichiran (published in Paris in 1834). Joseon foreign relations and diplomacy are explicitly referenced in the 1834 work.

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Kang, Etsuko H. (1997). Diplomacy and Ideology in Japanese-Korean Relations: from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century, p. 275.
^ ^a ^b Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 330.
^ Walraven, Boudewign et al. (2007). Korea in the middle: Korean studies and area studies, p. 362.
^ Kang, p. 72.
^ Arano Yasunori (2005). "The Formation of A Japanocentric World Order," The International Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 2, pp 185-216.
^ Vos, Ken. "Accidental acquisitions: The nineteenth-century Korean collections in the National Museum of Ethnology, Part 1," Archived 2012-06-22 at the Wayback Machine p. 6.

References

Daehwan, Noh. "The Eclectic Development of Neo-Confucianism and Statecraft from the 18th to the 19th Century," Korea Journal (Winter 2003).
Kang, Etsuko Hae-jin . (1997). Diplomacy and Ideology in Japanese-Korean Relations: from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century. Basingstoke, Hampshire; Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-17370-8; OCLC 243874305
Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). [Siyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652], Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 84067437
Walraven, Boudewijn and Remco E. Breuker. (2007). Korea in the middle: Korean studies and area studies; Essays in Honour of Boudewijn Walraven. Leiden: CNWS Publications. ISBN 90-5789-153-0; OCLC 181625480

External links

Joseon Tongsinsa Cultural Exchange Association (in Korean); (in Japanese)

[kang275-1] Kang, Etsuko H. (1997). Diplomacy and Ideology in Japanese-Korean Relations: from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century, p. 275.

[titsingh330-2] Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 330.

[3] Walraven, Boudewign et al. (2007). Korea in the middle: Korean studies and area studies, p. 362.

[kang72-4] Kang, p. 72.

[5] Arano Yasunori (2005). "The Formation of A Japanocentric World Order," The International Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 2, pp 185-216.

[6] Vos, Ken. "Accidental acquisitions: The nineteenth-century Korean collections in the National Museum of Ethnology, Part 1," Archived 2012-06-22 at the Wayback Machine p. 6.

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