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139-406: Nowadays, Jeonggamnok is the name of a large corpus, composed of numerous works, most from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, some of the texts may have been written as early as 1390. Being targeted by a global ban during the late Joseon period, they have circulated underground, being hand-copied again and again. This process is actually under scholarly review and the current consensus

278-458: A peasant revolt that occurred between 31 January 1812 and 29 May 1812 in Joseon . It was led by Hong Gyeong-rae and the upperclass yangban of Pyeongan Province , who were unhappy with a tax regime based on government-administered high-interest loans. Impoverished farmers joined them following a year of exceptionally poor harvest, when they were forced nonetheless to contribute to a "grain fund". It

417-431: A "sinister grin" attached to the outside. Overall, 158,800 soldiers, laborers, and transport troops (of whom a quarter had firearms) were prepared to take part in the invasion, with roughly a third of the force being armed fighting units (samurai, their attendants, and ashigaru conscripts), while the other two thirds filled a support ion (doctors, priests, secretaries, boatmen, and labourers). The following table shows

556-483: A certain amount of wealth to take the qualification exam. Instead of being treated as a bureaucrat of a certain class and receiving a salary from the state, the military, horses, and servants' food expenses were all on their own. For this reason, the Joseon government, which had to save the budget, tried to increase the number of Gapsa by increasing the lower ranks. As a result, the number of Gapsa increases to 14000 by 1475, but

695-607: A crackdown on free speech. Editors of the Jeonggamnok were blamed by the Japanese government officials, not withstanding the fact that they themselves had initially promoted it.  During the Pacific War the work helped fuel hope that the Japanese would be defeated, and that Korean liberation was at hand. A lesser known aspect of the cultural clash between the Koreans and the Japanese was

834-450: A disastrous defeat on 11 February. Lee Hae-Seung led the Anju force, but he received crucial reinforcement from Lee Young-Sik. Even after the defeat of Hong's army at Pine Grove, Kim's army captured the district seat at Yeongcheon (Yongch'ŏn) and other strategic facilities. There were plans to capture the walled city of Uiju, but these failed when the military leader there who had planned to join

973-488: A few days later. While under interrogation, he claimed he was forced to join the rebellion, but evidence indicates that he was one of the masterminds. His claim was not accepted, and he was executed. Kim Sar-yong (Kim Sayong) was a yangban.  Although poor, he had many family connections with officials in Pyongan Province, which helped him recruit them to the rebel cause. He led one of the two rebel armies. His army

1112-418: A hat" text in the Jeonggamnok quoted above. Geomancy was a key element of Jeonggamnok . Hong Gyeong-nae, one of the chief leaders of the rebellion, was a professional geomancer from Pyongan province who claimed that the gravesite of his father that he had chosen was a very auspicious site that would protect him. In the end the rebellion he instigated was brutally put down. Hong Gyeong-nae was shot and killed in

1251-407: A network of yangban fifth columnists and field officers. The networks were also useful for raising money to buy materials needed by the rebels. Rank and file soldiers were recruited by advertising for gold miners. It was an effective mechanism because the famine had caused many farmers and peddlers to be desperate for a way to make a living. Even bankrupt yangban responded to the advertisement, although

1390-417: A position in the imperial tributary system as of 1404. This relationship ended in 1408 when Japan, unlike Korea, chose to end its recognition of China's regional hegemony and cancel any further tribute missions. Membership in the tributary system was a prerequisite for any economic exchange with China. In exiting the system, Japan relinquished its trade relationship with China. One thousand years earlier,

1529-481: A puzzle-like song that foretold the fall of the Joseon dynasty in 1812, which was incorporated into the Jeonggamnok. He also composed the rebel manifesto (written in literary Chinese), which was intended to justify the rebellion. After the battle of Pine Grove, he joined other rebels in a camp north of Jeongju.  When the tide was turning against the rebels, he went on a mission to recruit help from sympathizers along

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1668-456: A samurai to pull his opponent from his horse. If samurai wished to cut his opponent rather than stab, the weapons were the ōdachi , an extremely long sword with a huge handle, or the naginata , a polearm with very sharp curved blade. The most famous of all the samurai weapons was the katana , a sword described by the British military historian Stephen Turnbull as "...the finest edged weapon in

1807-567: A section of his book titled Ch'oe Cheu, the Tonghak religion, and the Chong Kam nok , Jorgensen noted that Choe Je-u was familiar with Jeonggamnok and that passages in his writings were quite similar to those found there.  At the time, Yi dynasty officials were trying to eliminate Catholicism from Korea.  Due to the textural similarities with Jeonggamnok and his use of the Catholic translation for

1946-486: A son became victims of the rebels. After his escape, he went to Jeongju to warn of the rebel threat, but it was too late. He then went to Anju, where he led reinforcements that assured victory at the nearby Pine Grove (Songlim ) battle. He also led the regional army at the Four Pine Field (Sasongra) battle and was victorious there. The loss of these two battles was disastrous for the rebels. Lee Hae-Seung (Yi Haesŭng)

2085-504: A special trading position as the single checkpoint to Korea for all Japanese ships and had permission from Korea to trade with as many as 50 of its own vessels, the Sō family had a vested interest in preventing conflict with Korea, and delayed the talks for nearly two years. Even when Hideyoshi renewed his order, Sō Yoshitoshi reduced the visit to the Korean court to a campaign to better relations between

2224-578: A tactical sense, therefore, Hideyoshi cannot be considered as one of the commanders, but, as his will drove the whole project along until he died, his political influence cannot be underestimated". The Ming Chinese army was the largest in Asia, with a total of around 845,000 troops. However, in 1592 the Imperial Army was engaged in wars with the Mongols and in crushing a rebellion in the northwest . The Ming army

2363-543: A ten-month-long military stalemate. With Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death in 1598, limited progress on land, and continued disruption of supply lines by the Joseon Navy, the Japanese forces in Korea were ordered to withdraw back to Japan by the new governing Council of Five Elders . Final peace negotiations between the parties followed, and continued for several years, ultimately resulting in the normalization of relations. In Korean ,

2502-473: A war against China. Upon the ambassadors' return, the Joseon court held serious discussions concerning Japan's invitation, while Hwang Yun-gil reported conflicting estimates of Japanese military strength and intentions. They nonetheless pressed that a war was imminent. Kim Saung-il claimed that Hideyoshi's letter was nothing but a bluff. Moreover, the court, aware only that Japan was in turmoil with various clan armies fighting each other, substantially underrated

2641-524: A war in 1914, three years after annexation. During the March First Movement of 1919, many followers of the Jeonggamnok inspired religious groups moved to Mount Kyeryong - the predicted site of the new capital of the Jeong dynasty - and built villages there to prepare themselves for a "great calamity". Their expectations were based on text such as "the flow of blood becomes a river; for a hundred leagues to

2780-484: A withdrawal of Japanese forces towards the coastal regions of the peninsula. The pursuing Ming and Joseon forces, however, failed to dislodge the Japanese from their fortresses and entrenched positions in the southern coastal areas where both sides became locked in a ten-month-long military stalemate. With Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death in September 1598, limited progress on land, and continued disruption of supply lines along

2919-519: Is also called the Gwanseo Peasant War . The rebellion was initially quite successful. At its height, the rebels controlled most of the area north of the Cheongcheon River , including the town of Jeongju , which was fortified to withstand invasions from Manchuria (then part of Qing China ). Whenever the rebels took over a district, they distributed government grain to the people. However,

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3058-617: Is generally agreed that some elements of the text were written just after the Imjin War (1592–1598) and the Qing invasion (1636), because it contains after-the-fact "predictions" of these events. Moreover, the fact that, circa 1750, "Jeonggamnok" was addressing precisely that text rather than a larger corpus can be inferred by various quotations from the Seungjeongwon Ilgy (i.e. the Crew Diary of

3197-571: Is the basis of the novel For the Emperor , by the Korean writer Yi Mun-yol who won the Republic of Korea Literature Prize for this work. The protagonist, always referred to as The Emperor, is a Don Quixote-esque hero who believes that he is ordained by heaven to found a new dynasty to replace the Yi (Joseon) dynasty and that his new dynasty would prosper for 800 years as predicted in the Jeonggamnok .  His dream

3336-537: Is to be a ruler who will free the kingdom from foreign domination, military and cultural. The latter is presented as a seemingly impossible task, a struggle that would require "madness" to sustain for a lifetime. Sol Sun-bung, author of the preface to his English translation, noted that although the Emperor's dream of becoming a ruler of the people failed in a practical sense, nonetheless at his death, he achieves "greater eminence by transcending all worldly preoccupations". ---to be developed--- According to several texts of

3475-399: Is to use another name to design the eponymous text of this corpus, e.g. "Gam's revelations" (Gam Gyeol, 감결, 鑑訣) as done by Han Sung-Hoon. These Revelations were written as a dialogue between two legendary characters, named Jeong Gam 정감(鄭鑑) and Yi Sim 이심(李沁) (shortened as Jeong and Sim in §1, and as Gam and Sim in §26). In this Gamgyeol, the fall of the Yi dynasty is predicted. The Yi dynasty

3614-585: The Battle of Shizugatake in 1583, where samurai had fought one another mano a mano , and where Katō demonstrated his skills with a cross-bladed spear with great effect by cutting so many men, whose severed and salted heads were thereafter tied to a stalk of green bamboo and carried by one of Katō's attendants into battle. Katō was a devoted follower of Nichiren Buddhism , a type of Buddhism closely associated with militarism and ultra-nationalism in Japan, and his relations with

3753-600: The Catholic Konishi were extremely unfriendly, to the extent that the two men almost never met during the campaign in Korea. Katō's battle standard was a white pennant which carried a message alleged to have been written by Nichiren himself reading Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō ("Hail to the Lotus of the Divine Law"). The naval commander was Wakisaka Yasuharu , another of the "Seven Spears of Shizugatake", who had been named daimyō of

3892-533: The Chūgoku region , informed Terumoto of Nobunaga's plan to invade China. In 1585, Hideyoshi told the Portuguese Jesuit Father Gaspar Coelho of his wish to conquer all of East Asia. Hideyoshi asked Coelho to send a message to his master, King Philip II of Spain , who was also King Philip I of Portugal, asking that he make his navy available to help Japan (Ming China, Spain, and Portugal were

4031-593: The Gambeson , or by wearing Scale armour . Pengbaesu ( 팽배수 ; 彭排手 ), heavy infantry specializing in hand-to-hand combat, were the mainstay of early Joseon infantry, wearing Chain mail or Mail and plate armour and armed with a round shield and sword. They responded to nomadic raids with shields and knives in mountain warfare, and in the plains, they built a shield wall to deter the cavalry's attacks. The elite troops and officers, made up of noblemen's sons called Gapsa ( 갑사 ; 甲士 ), They had to have more than

4170-499: The Imjin War , involved two separate yet linked invasions: an initial invasion in 1592 ( Korean :  임진왜란 ; Hanja :  壬辰倭亂 ), a brief truce in 1596, and a second invasion in 1597 ( 정유재란 ; 丁酉再亂 ). The conflict ended in 1598 with the withdrawal of Japanese forces from the Korean Peninsula after a military stalemate in Korea's southern provinces. The invasions were launched by Toyotomi Hideyoshi with

4309-524: The Jeonggamnok were apparently particularly resistant.  Kim Sa-Ryang wrote a novel ( Deep in the Grass 풀숲 깊숙이, 1940) about the Colored Clothes campaign sympathetic to the Korean perspective.  Once while staying, at a Buddhist temple, he observed a group of men and women in the front yard chanting.  This is his report of what he heard: "We the white-wearing Joseon people cannot be saved without

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4448-525: The Sui and Tang dynasties of China had complicated political and trading relations with the Three Kingdoms of Korea . Ming China, on the other hand, had close trading and diplomatic relations with the Joseon, which remained integrated in the imperial tributary system, but also received tribute and trade from Sō clan of Tsushima , Japan. Ming China and Joseon Korea shared much in common. Both emerged during

4587-422: The daimyōs from acting on any ambitions against his rule. Fighting a war away from Japanese territory would also prevent territorial destruction, and maintain the infrastructure of the state. Such considerations would be consistent with the fact that Hideyoshi was not shōgun and had no links with the imperial bloodline. Stephen Turnbull also suggests personal ambition and megalomania of Hideyoshi as reasons for

4726-644: The tributary states , which also included countries such as the Ryukyu Kingdom , Lan Xang , Đại Việt , and the Ayutthaya Kingdom , in return for accepting the subservient tributary role of a "younger brother". In 1402, the Japanese shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (despite not being the Emperor of Japan ) was conferred the title of "King of Japan" by the Chinese emperor and through this title had similarly accepted

4865-410: The wakō had staged a series of samurai raids into Korea, some of which were so large as to be "mini-invasions". Hideyoshi mistakenly thought his enemies were weak. Hideyoshi planned for a possible war with Korea long before he had completed the unification of Japan. He made preparations on many fronts. As early as 1578, Hideyoshi, then fighting under Oda Nobunaga against Mōri Terumoto for control of

5004-485: The "great general gun" and the folang zhi ( 佛朗支 ), the latter being breech-loaded artillery guns. One of the Chinese commanders was Li Rusong , a man who has been traditionally disparaged in Japanese accounts. In Turnbull's estimate, he was "one of Ming China's most accomplished generals". Although Li was defeated at the Battle of Pyokjeyek, his defeat was temporary. He was an able strategist who achieved his goal of forcing

5143-463: The 14th century after the end of the Yuan dynasty , embraced Confucian ideals in society, and faced similar threats ( Jurchen raiders and wokou ). Both had competing internal political factions, which would influence decisions made prior to and during the war. Because of close trade and common enemies, Joseon and Ming had a friendly alliance. By the last decade of the 16th century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi ,

5282-402: The Chinese infantry were the crossbow and the arquebus, while the cavalry were usually mounted archers. Chinese infantry wore conical iron helmets and suits of armor made from leather or iron. According to Turnbull, "Chinese field artillery and siege cannon were the finest in the region". Chinese artillery was made from cast iron, and were divided into several types, the most important being

5421-411: The Chinese tributary system. Hideyoshi replied with another letter, but since it was not presented by a diplomat in person as expected by custom, the court ignored it. After this denial of his second request, Hideyoshi proceeded to launch his armies against Korea in 1592. At the core of the Japanese military were the samurai , the military caste of Japan who dominated Japanese society. Japanese society

5560-522: The Colored Clothes Campaign.  Prior to colonization Korean people did not die their clothes perhaps because the cost was prohibitive.  The Japanese claimed that this practice illustrated the weakness of the Korean people and initiated a campaign to force the wearing of colored clothes.  Koreans were naturally reluctant to comply. The Japanese then viewed the wearing of white as a symbol of resistance. Those Koreans with firm beliefs in

5699-461: The Japanese fighting troops sent into Korea were ashigaru (light infantry), who were usually conscripted peasants armed with spears, tanegashima (Japanese arquebuses), or yumi (Japanese bows). Unlike the samurai with their expensive suits of armor, the ashigaru wore cheap suits of iron armour around their chests. The ashigaru armed with arquebuses were trained to fight in the European style, with

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5838-424: The Japanese forces in the south, which weakened the Japanese hold in the cities they occupied. Afterwards, with supply difficulties hampering both sides, neither the Japanese nor the combined Ming and Joseon forces were able to mount a successful offensive or gain any additional territory, resulting in a military stalemate in the areas between Hanseong and Kaesong . The war continued in this manner for five years, and

5977-526: The Japanese forces saw overwhelming success on land, capturing both Hanseong , the capital of Korea, and Pyongyang , and completing the occupation of large portions of the Korean Peninsula in three months. The Japanese forces, well-trained, confident, and experienced after the numerous battles and conflicts of the Sengoku period , typically held the field in most land engagements. This success on land, however,

6116-534: The Japanese out of Korea, and Japanese accounts focusing on his defeat at Pyokjeyek served to distract from his achievements. Another Chinese naval commander was Chen Lin , a native of Guangdong who proved pivotal in defeating Japan and defending Korea. After helping win the war, Chen was celebrated as a hero in Korea and China. Chen subsequently became the founder of the Gwangdong Jin clan of Korea, and today, his descendants are spread across China and Korea. Chen

6255-494: The Jeonggamnok corpus was originally written in Chinese script, and was not redacted to be understood at first sight. In fact it was deliberately written in code. One of the ways the meaning was partially hidden was by glyphomancy, which is deconstruction of a Chinese character into elements to form other characters or combination of elements of characters to form a phrase in a kind of cryptic crossword. For example: can be deciphered as leading to 壬申起兵 i.e. "troops will be raised in

6394-3497: The Jeonggamnok, the sipseungji 十勝地 are ten places where you can live in peace and take refuge from hunger and war. Here the names of nowadays are from the Chosun Ilbo, and the comments from the Nam Sago Secret as translated by Jorgensen. The blue line is 백두대간, Baekdu-daegan, the largest and longest mountain range on the Korean Peninsula from Mt. Baekdu to Mt. Jirisan. Imjin War Joseon Political leaders [REDACTED] King Seonjo [REDACTED] Prince Gwanghae [REDACTED] Ryu Seong-ryong Yun Du-su Military commanders [REDACTED] Yi Sun-sin   † [REDACTED] Yi Eokgi   † [REDACTED] Won Gyun   † [REDACTED] Gwon Yul [REDACTED] Sin Rip   † [REDACTED] Gim Si-min   † Song Sang-hyeon   † Go Gyeong-myeong   † Gim Cheon-il   † Jo Heon   † Yi Il Gwak Jae-u Jeong Gi-ryong Kim Deok-ryeong Yujeong Hyujeong Jeong Mun-bu Gim Chung-seon Ming Political leaders [REDACTED] Wanli Emperor Zhao Zhigao Wang Xijue Inspectors, generals, field commanders Li Rusong Chen Lin Song Yingchang Ma Gui (pr.) Yang Hao Li Shizhen Wu Weizhong Deng Zilong   † Toyotomi regime Political leaders [REDACTED] Emperor Go-Yōzei [REDACTED] Toyotomi Hideyoshi [REDACTED] Toyotomi Hidetsugu Military commanders [REDACTED] Ukita Hideie [REDACTED] Kobayakawa Hideaki [REDACTED] Kobayakawa Takakage [REDACTED] Kobayakawa Hidekane [REDACTED] Ishida Mitsunari [REDACTED] Katō Kiyomasa [REDACTED] Konishi Yukinaga [REDACTED] Mōri Terumoto [REDACTED] Mōri Hidemoto [REDACTED] Mōri Yoshimasa [REDACTED] Nabeshima Naoshige [REDACTED] Hosokawa Tadaoki [REDACTED] Katō Yoshiaki [REDACTED] Shimazu Yoshihiro [REDACTED] Shimazu Toyohisa [REDACTED] Shimazu Tadatsune [REDACTED] Hachisuka Iemasa [REDACTED] Ōtomo Yoshimune [REDACTED] Tachibana Muneshige [REDACTED] Tsukushi Hirokado [REDACTED] Ankokuji Ekei [REDACTED] Ikoma Chikamasa [REDACTED] Ikoma Kazumasa [REDACTED] Kuroda Nagamasa [REDACTED] Fukushima Masanori [REDACTED] Sō Yoshitoshi [REDACTED] Kurushima Michifusa   † [REDACTED] Chōsokabe Motochika [REDACTED] Tōdō Takatora [REDACTED] Arima Harunobu [REDACTED] Akizuki Tanenaga [REDACTED] Itō Suketaka [REDACTED] Kuki Yoshitaka [REDACTED] Wakisaka Yasuharu [REDACTED] Ōmura Yoshiaki [REDACTED] Ōtani Yoshitsugu [REDACTED] Hasegawa Hidekazu [REDACTED] Gamō Ujisato [REDACTED] Ōyano Tanemoto   † [REDACTED] Asano Nagamasa Joseon: 84,500+ –192,000 (including sailors and insurgent fighters) 300 ships (200 scuttled in

6533-466: The Joseon Dynasty (Jeongjo sillok) explicitly mentions the so-called Mun Inbang treason case (Jeongjo 1782). The conspirators led by Mun Inban tried to incite a insurrection by "deceiving the people" through dissemination of Jeonggamnok The Hong Gyeong-nae (Hong Kyŏngnae) rebellion (December 1811 to April 1812), was one of the largest and most serious during the Yi dynasty up to that point.  It

6672-505: The Joseon Dynasty). As emphasized by Han Seung-Hoon, Jeonjo describes this source as Questions and Answers from start to end. The Jeonggam Record was addressing the grievances of the Korean people due to the failure of the government to prevent foreign invasions and to the widespread corruption among the ruling class. Concurrently, other texts of the same kind appeared, often attributed to historical people. Among these "secrets" ( 비결 ) are

6811-406: The Korean military, Hideyoshi sent an assault force of 26 ships to the southern coast of Korea in 1587. On the diplomatic front, Hideyoshi began to establish friendly relations with China long before he had completed the unification of Japan. He also helped to police the trade routes against the wokou. In 1587, Hideyoshi sent his first envoy, Yutani Yasuhiro ( 柚谷康広 ) , to Korea, which was during

6950-459: The Koreans had come to pay a tributary homage to Japan. For this reason, the ambassadors were not given the formal treatment that was due to diplomatic representatives. In the end, the Korean ambassadors asked for Hideyoshi to write a reply to the Korean king, for which they waited 20 days at the port of Sakai . The letter, redrafted as requested by the ambassadors on the ground that it was too discourteous, invited Korea to submit to Japan and join in

7089-547: The Koreans to resist. Konishi had converted to Catholicism in 1583, and was known to the Spanish and Portuguese as Dom Agostinho. Katō Kiyomasa , who led the Second Division into Korea, was known in Japan as Toranosuke ("the young tiger") and to the Koreans as the "devil general", on account of his ferocity. Katō was one of the " Seven Spears of Shizugatake ", a group of seven samurai who distinguished themselves in combat at

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7228-559: The Ming court in response to raids by Sino-Japanese pirates known as the wakō . By seeking to invade China, Hideyoshi was in effect claiming for Japan the role traditionally played by China in East Asia as the center of the East Asian international order. He rallied support in Japan as a man of relatively humble origins who owed his position to his military might. Finally, during the 1540s–1550s,

7367-475: The Ming. In 1597, Japan renewed its offensive by invading Korea a second time. The pattern of the second invasion largely mirrored that of the first. The Japanese had initial successes on land, capturing several cities and fortresses, only to be halted and forced to withdraw to the southern coastal regions of the peninsula. However, the pursuing Ming and Joseon forces were unable to dislodge the Japanese from these positions, where both sides again became locked in

7506-461: The Yi dynasty. However, the Korean people continued to be inspired by its revolutionary ideology which led to acts of resistance (many incited by religious sects) and these movements began to alarm Japanese officials. Among the religious sects inspired by the Jeonggamnok , the Cheongnimgyo (founded in 1900) was of greatest concern.  Its leader had predicted that the Japanese rule would end with

7645-502: The battle of Four Pine Field on 21 February. Kim's rebel army suffered a disastrous defeat. Continued attacks from government forces caused Kim's army to disintegrate, and his soldiers were dispersed. He then joined the rebels at Jeongju, where the defense of the fortress-like town was underway. 15 February to 29 May 1812 : The siege of Jeongju began with the regional army's arrival under Lee Hae-Seung's command on 15 February 1812, during which seven provincial companies joined Pyongyang and

7784-456: The border region near the Amnok (Yalu) river. However, while on the way, he was beheaded as he slept. The betrayer sold his head to another who attempted to get a reward from the government; however, both men were executed. Lee Young-sik (Yi Yŏngsik) was the magistrate of Gwaksan (Kwaksan).  He was captured by the rebels but escaped with the aid of a loyal military officer. His two brothers and

7923-567: The center for the mobilization of the invasion forces. In 1592, Hideyoshi sent a letter to the Philippines demanding tribute from the Spanish governor general and stating that Japan had already received tribute from Korea (which was a misunderstanding) and the Ryukyus. As for the military preparations, the construction of as many as 2,000 ships may have begun as early as 1586. To estimate the strength of

8062-410: The central government pacification army from Seoul. Park Ki-pung led the pacification army and took control of the siege. The government forces totaled over 8,000 throughout the blockade. The population within the town was about 4,000, including children and elders. There were about 360 trained rebel soldiers. They witnessed the destruction of the regional force and arriving conscripts, and the population

8201-403: The combined strength and abilities of many Japanese armies at the time. Some, including King Seonjo, argued that Ming should be informed about the dealings with Japan, as failure to do so could make Ming suspect Korea's allegiance, but the court finally concluded to wait further until the appropriate course of action became definite. In the end, Hideyoshi's diplomatic negotiations did not produce

8340-528: The crown as Taejo of Joseon, thus establishing a new dynasty. In search of a justification for its rule given the lack of a royal bloodline, the new regime received recognition from China and integration into the Imperial Chinese tributary system within the context of the Mandate of Heaven . Within this tributary system, China assumed the role of a "big brother", with Korea maintaining the highest position among

8479-429: The danger posed by the tunneling efforts of the government forces, which was used to place a gunpowder charge under the wall. After Jeongju fell, he was captured and executed. Kim Chan-si was a yangban who had passed the lower-level civil service exam. Government reports indicated that he was in debt, which led him to join the rebels. He was popular among the local yangban, which helped in recruiting others. He composed

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8618-452: The defenders, but these also failed. While rebel morale was high initially, it began to falter as food and supplies dwindled. Hong Gyeon-Rae tried to lift spirits by claiming Qing troops were on their way to break the siege. He declared that they would arrive on 29 May. Meanwhile, there was a change in the leadership of the government forces. Yu Hyowon was named the new leader of the pacification army. The army planned to dig two tunnels (on

8757-445: The desired result with Korea. The Joseon Court approached Japan as a country inferior to Korea, and saw itself as superior according to its favored position within the Chinese tributary system. It mistakenly evaluated Hideyoshi's threats of invasions to be no better than the common wokou Japanese pirate raids. The Korean court handed to Shigenobu and Genso, Hideyoshi's third embassy, King Seonjo's letter rebuking Hideyoshi for challenging

8896-430: The district office welcomed the rebels, but the magistrate refused to submit and was killed along with his son. The following day Hong's army moved to Bakcheon (Pakch'on) by way of the ferry station downstream and set up its basecamp there. A dispute over strategy led to an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Hong Gyeong-rae and a delay in the further advance of Hong's army. The dissidents had hoped to move swiftly to Anju,

9035-504: The dreams of his late lord, Oda Nobunaga , and to mitigate the possible threat of civil disorder or rebellion posed by the large number of now-idle samurai and soldiers in unified Japan. It is also possible that Hideyoshi might have set a more realistic goal of subjugating the smaller neighbouring states (the Ryukyu Islands , Taiwan , and Korea) and treating the larger or more distant countries as trading partners, because throughout

9174-448: The early stages of the rebellion, the rebels appeared to be quite successful. The starting date had been set for 1 February, but the campaign had to be launched on 31 January because district leaders had become suspicious. The first district town to be captured was Kasan, located only a few miles from their secret base at Dabog. The attack was led by Hong Chong-gak, who led a force of 30 to 40 cavalrymen and about 150-foot soldiers. A clerk of

9313-588: The east and north sides of the town) under the wall and plant gunpowder charges there. The rebels were fatally dismissive of the tunnels. On 29 May, the same day the rebels expected Ming troops, a gunpowder charge exploded in the north tunnel. The army breached the wall, finally allowing the government forces to enter the city. Hong Gyeong-rae was killed in the fighting. Other rebel leaders, including Wu Kun-cheok and Hong Chong-gak, were captured and executed. In addition, nearly 3000 people were arrested, and about 2000 were executed, including boys as young as 10. The rebellion

9452-407: The emperors of China as their overlords and paid tribute in exchange for being allowed to trade with China. Japan had usually resisted the demand to pay tribute to China, but shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had acknowledged the emperor of China as his overlord in return for access to the huge Chinese market. Japan's right to pay tribute and, with it, the right to trade with China was ended in the 1540s by

9591-462: The fifth column was able to take over. The armies of Kim and Hong converged on Jeongju from 2 to 4 February. The combined force of the two rebel armies under the command of Kim took over Seongcheon on 4 February after it surrendered without a fight. However, the walled town of Guseong ( Kusŏng ) did not surrender to the rebels. Hong replenished his forces at Jeongju and marched northeast to take over Tacheon on 7 February. The town fell easily because

9730-517: The fighting along with most other leaders who either died in battle or were captured and executed. Thousands of others were also arrested and executed including boys as young as 10 years. Nevertheless, it provided momentum for other popular armed uprisings in different parts of Korea seeking a more just society. Choe Je-u (Ch'oe Cheu; 1824–1864) was the founder of the Donghak religion (Eastern Learning) that opposed "Western Learning" (Catholicism).  In

9869-488: The first invasion (1592–1593) is called the "Japanese Disturbance of Imjin" ( 倭亂 ), where 1592 is an imjin year in the sexagenary cycle . The second invasion (1597–1598) is called the "Second War of Jeong-yu" ( 丁酉 ). Collectively, the invasions are referred to as the "Imjin War". In Chinese , the wars are referred to as the " Wanli Korean Campaign", after the reigning Chinese emperor . In Japanese ,

10008-419: The following example: "where the high-flying dragon arrives, the fallen wild goose will have regrets" was interpreted to mean that rulers who have risen to the heights of power need to be careful lest they lose their throne and become filled with regret.  However, some passages appear impenetrable, e.g., "in one pitcher, a heaven (paradise) will be built and the hunting horse still loves". Furthermore, much of

10147-504: The forces of Gotō Sumiharu, who held the fief of Fukue (assessed at 140,000 koku ) on the Gotō archipelago . Family records show he led a force of 705, with 27 horses, 220 of which were fighting men, while 485 filled a support role. The breakdown of the fighting contingent was the following: Another daimyō whose military service quota has been preserved in a written record is Shimazu Yoshihiro , whose contribution consisted of: The majority of

10286-434: The goods he took after the battle. His troops also ransacked and burned recaptured rebel-held towns. They also took part in the siege of Jeongju. Other important government officers included: Pak Kip'ung (Park Ki-pung), the supreme field commander of the central government pacification force. He arrived at Jeongju on 15 February 1812, and took overall charge of the siege. Yu Hyowon replaced Pak due to his inability to put down

10425-578: The government were interrogated and often forced to admit they were wronged by some sort of prophecy. An early example of such an event occurred in 1739. Another one is the 1782-12-10 art.3 entry of the Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty (Jeongjo sillok), which made it clear that the Jeonggamnok was banned. Also, at that time it appears that copies in Korean script were circulating and were disseminated to groups by reading it out loud. The first full compilation (handwritten) of this galaxy of texts

10564-533: The height of its power. Under the rule of the Wanli Emperor , Ming China quickly interpreted the Japanese invasions as a challenge and threat to the Imperial Chinese tributary system . The Ming's interest was also to keep the war confined to the Korean peninsula and out of its own territory. They entered into the conflict by dispatching reinforcements to attack from the north. In the engagements that followed,

10703-405: The history of warfare". Samurai never carried shields, with the katana being used to deflect blows. By 1592, the armor of the samurai was lamellae made from iron or leather scales tied together which had been modified to include solid plate to help protect the samurai from bullets. Samurai engaged in psychological warfare by wearing an iron mask into battle with a mustache made of horsehair and

10842-399: The initial phase of the war) Ming: 1st. (1592–93) 48,000 Japan 1st. (1592) 158,800 (including labourers and sailors) 700 transport ships 300 warships 2nd. (1597–98) 141,900 Joseon: 1,000,000+ civilian and military deaths (including 260,000+ troops killed or wounded) 50,000–60,000 captives The Japanese invasions of Korea , commonly known as

10981-498: The intent of conquering the Korean Peninsula and China proper , which were ruled by the Joseon and Ming dynasties, respectively. Japan quickly succeeded in occupying large portions of the Korean Peninsula, but the contribution of reinforcements by the Ming, as well as the disruption of Japanese supply fleets along the western and southern coasts by the Joseon Navy , forced the Japanese forces to withdraw from Pyongyang and

11120-431: The invasion of Korea, Hideyoshi sought for legal tally trade with China. Hideyoshi's need for military supremacy as a justification for his rule, which lacked shōgunal background, could have, on an international level, been eventually transformed into an order with Japan's neighboring countries below Japan. Hideyoshi did not take the title of Shōgun on the grounds that he lacked the necessary Minamoto descent, but since it

11259-477: The invasion. Hideyoshi had, in a series of wars, conquered Japan and now wanted to turn to bigger things, noting that he spoke not only of his desire to "slash his way" into Korea to invade China, but also the Philippines , and India . Furthermore, for thousands of years, China had been the intellectual, economic, military, and political center of East Asia, and traditionally, the states of East Asia had acknowledged

11398-554: The island of Awaji in the Seto Inland Sea in 1585, where he learned much about seafaring as the island is located close to whirlpools which are notoriously dangerous for sailors. Toyotomi Hideyoshi never left Japan, remaining near Kyoto; however, the idea of conquering China was his obsession, and throughout the war, he refused to accept defeat, treating the war as simply a question of willpower, believing if only his samurai fought hard enough, he could take China. Turnbull writes: "In

11537-524: The magistrate fled before Hong's army arrived. Kim's army was also successful. By 10 February, the rebels captured an important granary south of Guseong and the district seat at Cheolsan ( Ch'ŏlsan ). At that point, the rebels controlled much of the Pyeongan Province north of the Cheongcheon River. Whenever rebels took over a district, they opened the government granaries and distributed the grain to

11676-735: The main naval powers of the time). However, Philip refused Hideyoshi, preferring not to upset China. The defeat of the Odawara -based Hōjō clan in 1590 finally brought about the second unification of Japan, and Hideyoshi began preparing for the next war. Beginning in March 1591, the Kyūshū daimyōs and their labor forces constructed Nagoya Castle in Nagoya, Saga (modern-day Karatsu, Saga , not to be confused with present-day Nagoya city in Aichi Prefecture ), as

11815-429: The majority of the Joseon army was focused on defending the northern provinces from Japanese offensives, while also supporting Ming army campaigns to recapture territory occupied by the Japanese. Consequently, it was the combination of these Ming-led land campaigns and Joseon-led naval warfare that eventually forced the Japanese army to withdraw from Pyongyang to the south, where the Japanese continued to occupy Hanseong and

11954-619: The men trained to fire their guns in formation to create a volley of fire, then to go down on their knees to reload, while the men behind them fired, and the cycle repeated over and over again. The commander of the Japanese First Division and overall commander of the invasion force was Konishi Yukinaga , a daimyō of Uto from Higo Province in Kyushu , chosen as commander of the invasion force more because of his diplomatic skills than military skills, as Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not expect

12093-453: The most preeminent daimyō , had unified all of Japan in a brief period of peace. Since he came to hold power in the absence of a legitimate successor of the Minamoto lineage necessary for the imperial shōgun commission, he sought military power to legitimize his rule and to decrease his dependence on the imperial family. It is also suggested that Hideyoshi planned an invasion of China to fulfill

12232-459: The north. During the reign of King Jeongjong in 1400, the private army system was overthrown, and during the reign of King Sejo in 1457, a unit called Five Guards ( 오위 ; 五衛 ; Owi ) was formed, which continued until the Imjin War. In the early days of the war, Joseon had a conscripted light infantry, standing army, and an elite cavalry-oriented organization, especially Horse Archer. It

12371-465: The northern provinces. Afterwards, with righteous armies (Joseon civilian militias) conducting guerrilla warfare against the occupying Japanese forces and supply difficulties hampering both sides, neither force was able to mount a successful offensive or gain any additional territory, resulting in a military stalemate. The first phase of the invasion ended in 1596, and was followed afterwards by ultimately unsuccessful peace negotiations between Japan and

12510-421: The numerous rebellions against the throne in Joseon, over its five centuries, were justified with references to fortune-telling. Consequently, there were attempts from the central power to suppress such works. One notable event in this regard was the order by King Sejo in 1458 that books of prophecy be collected and incinerated.  Nevertheless, such works continued to circulate. Those suspected of resistance to

12649-445: The people to gain support. They also took government funds to use as payment for their peasant soldiers. The walled town of Yeongbyeon (Yŏngby'ŏn), a natural fortress, was a notable exception to the success in the east. Government forces discovered a rebel network in the town before an attack by the rebels could be mounted, and the rebel leaders were executed. Government troops from Guseong (Kusŏng) also arrived and successfully defended

12788-487: The possibility of rallying supporters for a rebellion. When the rebels launched their first attack, he dressed in a crane-like robe and carried a white feathered fan. He appears to have been the director of a gold mine that raised money for the rebellion. He also mastered martial arts and personally commanded rebel forces in some battles. At the end of the rebellion, he escaped from Jeongju, where Hong Gyeong-rae and other rebels were besieged by government troops but were captured

12927-410: The power of Jeong-gam-rok. That book foretells, it's not difficult to understand it at all. According to Jeonggamnok , if one wears white clothes and chants a spell . . .  he or she could be saved....". Even after liberation from Japanese colonial rule, belief in the predictions of Jeonggamnok continued to be influential.  Prominent politicians claimed to be destined for high office based on

13066-484: The power of the arquebus greatly contributed to the failures of the Korean army early in the war. In April 1590, the Korean ambassadors, including Hwang Yun-gil and Kim Saung-il, left for Kyoto , where they waited for two months while Hideyoshi was finishing his campaign against the Hojo clan . Upon his return, they exchanged ceremonial gifts and delivered King Seonjo's letter to Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi mistakenly assumed that

13205-520: The predominately uneducated army or even most of its leaders. He suggested that perhaps its primary purpose was to legitimize the rebellion and seek the support of those members of the educated elite that had not already joined the rebels. His work emphasized the importance of the ideologies espoused in the prophetic works. However, in the end, he concludes that the relative importance of the various potential causes remains. Hong Gyeong-rae (a geomancer) travelled extensively to find and create support for

13344-435: The promise of a Korean embassy to Japan in exchange for a group of Korean rebels which had taken refuge in Japan. In 1587, Hideyoshi had ordered the adopted father of Yoshitoshi and the daimyō of Tsushima Island , Sō Yoshishige ( 宗義調 ) , to offer the Joseon Dynasty an ultimatum of submitting to Japan and participating in the conquest of China, or facing the prospect of open war with Japan. However, as Tsushima Island enjoyed

13483-523: The purported prophecies of the Silla monk Doseon (827-898) §8, the Koryo-Choson monk Muhak (무학, 1327–1405) §5, and the Joseon period seers Nam Sago (1509–1571) §10,§11 and Yi Ji-ham (이지함, 李之菡, 1517–1578) §23,§24. Taken together, they can be described as some Jeonggamnok galaxy. These Jeonggamnok prophecies appear to have played an important role in various revolutionary movements. Furthermore, many of

13622-540: The rebellion, seeking for geomantically auspicious sites and to fully understand the discontent and to spread a revolutionary ideology. He relied on two basic arguments to gain supporters for the revolution: Wu Kun-cheok (U Kunch'ik) was a professional geomancer and used his knowledge of secret prophecies to recruit sympathizers to the rebel cause. He first met Hong Gyeong-rae at the Blue Dragon Temple, where they had studied. They met again in 1801 when they discussed

13761-403: The rebellion, these troops were referred to using a term that implied that they were Ming soldiers (i.e., descendants of the previous Chinese Ming dynasty subjects), which would have been viewed more favorably by the Korean yangban. This promise did not materialize, but it was useful for recruiting purposes. The rebel family used connections and friendships within yangban organizations to recruit

13900-439: The rebellion. Among those considered by Sun Joo Kim, author of a treatise on this topic, include: Sun Joo Kim favored this last cause (Discrimination against those from Pyongan Province) as the primary cause. She noted key evidence for this conclusion was the manifesto posted by the rebels in the early stage of the rebellion, which begins: The central government abandoned (Pyeongan) Province as one abandons rotten earth. Even when

14039-415: The rebellion. Yu arrived at Jeongju on 9 April. The force surrounding Jeongju also included a large contingent of Pyeongan provincial troops. There were over 8,000 government troops deployed throughout the siege. December 1810 to January 1812: The material preparations for the rebellion appeared to have begun in 1810 when Hong Gyeong-rae and Wu Kun-cheok met again at the Blue Dragon Temple. Hong Gyeong-rae

14178-419: The rebels changed his mind and even executed his wife and son, who were rebel sympathizers. Moreover, prospects for the rebels diminished following a battle between Kim's army and that of Lee Young-Sik. As previously noted, Lee was the magistrate of Gwaksan who had escaped. He was able to reorganize an army and provided crucial reinforcements at the battle of Pine Grove. The battle between Kim and Lee occurred at

14317-406: The rebels normally disdained menial work. They established a secret base at Dabog (Tabok) village. Hong Gyeong-rae moved his family there, including his mother, wife, sons, brothers, and nephews. As noted above, two armies were constituted there and equipped with uniforms and weapons: one under the leadership of Kim Sar-yong and the other under Hong Chong-gak. 31 January to 15 February 1812: In

14456-442: The rebels suffered defeats in the battles of Pine Grove and Four Pine Field, which caused them to withdraw to Jeongju. There, they came under siege by government forces. The rebellion was put down a few months later, on 19 April, when the government forces breached the town wall with a gunpowder charge. Hong Gyeong-rae was killed in the fighting. Other rebel leaders were also killed in battle or executed. Thousands of people caught up in

14595-593: The rule of King Seonjo , to re-establish diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan (broken since the wokou raid in 1555). Hideyoshi hoped to use this as a foundation to induce the Korean court to join Japan in a war against China. Yasuhiro, with his warrior background and an attitude disdainful of the Korean officials and their customs, failed to receive the promise of future ambassadorial missions from Korea. Around May 1589, Hideyoshi's second embassy, consisting of Sō Yoshitoshi , Yanagawa Shigenobu ( 柳川調信 ) , and Buddhist monk Genso ( 玄蘇 ) , reached Korea and secured

14734-451: The second queen of King Yeongjo , ruled as queen regent and wielded power over state affairs. Despite King Sunjo's efforts to reform politics, the fundamental principles of government deteriorated. The state examination became disordered, and corruption in the government personnel administration prevailed, resulting in disorder in society and riots among the people. Many social, political, economic, and intellectual factors potentially led to

14873-429: The slaves of powerful families saw men from (Pyeongan) Province, they always called them "the common rabble from (Pyongan). How unfair and what a source of resentment this is for the people of (Pyeongan) Province!. Another scholar of the rebellion, Anders Karlsson, disagreed with this assessment and offered counterarguments. He considered that the manifesto, written in classical Chinese, would have been incomprehensible to

15012-445: The south of the Han [River] there will be no sounds of chickens and dogs, and the shadows of people will be eliminated forever."  Non-religious people also moved to the area and as a result the population there was doubled.  Some newspapers dispatched undercover reporters to the area to investigate what were viewed as heretical sects.  After the March 1st demonstrations, there was

15151-495: The southern regions with the exception of the southwestern Jeolla Province . The pursuing Ming and Joseon armies attempted to advance further into the south, but were halted by the Japanese army at the Battle of Byeokjegwan . Subsequently, the Japanese armies launched a counterattack in an attempt to reoccupy the northern provinces but were repelled by the defending Joseon army at Haengju fortress . Additionally, Joseon's civilian-led armies actively waged guerrilla warfare against

15290-454: The standing army, which actually has to maintain a certain number, is not managed, causing a problem that most of the numbers are falsely stated just before the war. they wore Brigandine armor, which was popular in Manchuria and Mongolia at the time. This is called Dujeong-gap ( 두정갑 ; 頭釘甲 ). Hong Gyeong-rae%27s Rebellion Government Victory Hong Gyeong-rae's Rebellion was

15429-569: The text includes far more arcane codes based on geomancy, divination, and the like. The Korean scholar Kim Tak documented many instances in which the work was an important component of new religious and insurrectionist ideology. and Jorgensen referenced many of Kim Tak's textural interpretations in his English language translation. Religious sects with various ideologies inspired by the Jeonggamnok include: Bocheongyo  (Poch'ŏn'gyo), Jeungsangyo (Chŭngsan'gyo), Baekbaekkyo (Paekpaekkyo), and Cheongnimgyo (Ch'ŏngnimgyo). The Veritable Records of

15568-482: The texts.  Those making such claims include: former Presidents Roh Tae-woo, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, and a former governor of the Nationalist Party Chung Ju-young. In popular culture, Gyeogam Yurok , a book with a prophetic theme was published in 1977. Similar to Jeonggamnok , it utilized the technique of after-the-fact "prediction" to help establish fake authenticity. The Jeonggamnok

15707-408: The town. In addition, the failure to move swiftly to Anju allowed time for a regional force to be organized there. When Hong's army moved to attack Anju, they were met by the regional government forces assembled from surrounding districts and forces who had fled from rebel-captured areas to the east. The battle occurred at Pine Grove, about 10 ri (4 kilometers) north of Anju, where the rebels suffered

15846-426: The two countries. Near the end of the ambassadorial mission, Yoshitoshi presented King Seonjo a brace of peafowl and matchlock guns—the first advanced firearms to come to Korea. Ryu Seong-ryong , a high-ranking scholar official, suggested that the military put the arquebus (a matchlock firearm) into production and use, but the Korean court failed to appreciate its merits. This lack of interest and underestimation of

15985-489: The uprising, including boys as young as 10, who were also executed. Although it failed, Hong Gyeong-rae's rebellion may have provided momentum for other popular armed uprisings in different parts of Korea seeking a more just society.  The culmination of these was the Donghak Rebellion in 1894, centered in southern province of Jeolla . As king Sunjo ascended the throne at a young age, Queen Dowager Jeongsun ,

16124-421: The walled city south of the Cheongcheon River before the government had a chance to prepare for an attack, but they never put their plan into action. Meanwhile, the rebel army led by Kim captured Gwaksan ( Kwaksan ), where the fifth column greeted them. The wounded magistrate escaped first to the fortified town of Jeongju , where he warned of the impending attack on the town. The warning was of no avail because

16263-535: The war is called Bunroku no eki ( 文禄の役 ) . Bunroku referring to the Japanese era name spanning the period from 1592 to 1596. The second invasion (1597–1598) is called Keichō no eki ( 慶長の役 ) . During the Edo period (17–19th centuries), the war was also called Kara iri ( 唐入り ) ("entry into China" or, more accurately, "entry into Tang ", the dynasty whose name is synonymous with China ). Japan's ultimate purpose

16402-478: The western and southern coasts by the Joseon navy, the remaining Japanese forces in Korea were ordered to withdraw back to Japan by the new governing Council of Five Elders . Final peace negotiations between the parties followed afterwards and continued for several years, ultimately resulting in the normalization of relations. In 1392, General Yi Seonggye led a successful coup to take political power in Korea from U of Goryeo . Seonggye's followers forced him to take

16541-565: The word God, the authorities became suspicious of Donghak. Choe Je-u and other leaders were arrested and executed and the Donghak religion was banned. These actions further enflamed the peasant followers of the religion and helped to instigate the Donghak Revolution . The Japanese considered the Jeonggamnok as an example of what they viewed as the backward, superstitious nature of the Korean people. They initially promoted its distribution because it seemed to them to condone their overthrow of

16680-478: The year of imsin". This interpretation was used during the 1812 rebellion led by Hong Gyeong-nae 홍경래 洪景來, to legitimate the movement (1812 was an imsin year). As noted by Jorgensen, any slight alteration of the text by a copyist would undermine any interpretation. The Hosoi text has 聖諱横入 instead of 聖諱加八, leading to "the sage will cross into". Another method of partially hiding meaning was by use of allegorical references.  Baker in his review of Jorgensen noted

16819-429: Was accompanied by a man named Jeong Chem-in (Chŏng Chemin), who was the figurehead leader of the rebellion, thus fulfilling the prophecy in the Jeonggamnok that a man named Jeong would lead an army that would overthrow the Joseon dynasty. Hong Gyeong-rae also stated that thousands of Ming dynasty troops were secretly stationed in the area and would join the rebels once the rebellion began. In the manifesto written to justify

16958-447: Was appointed head of the second rebel army which led the first attack at Kason on 31 January 1812. He captured several important towns/strategic locations east of Jeongju, but a delay in his planned advance on Anju due to an internal rebel dispute allowed the organization of a regional government army that defeated his army at Pine Grove. He then joined the rebel force at Jeongju, where he aided in its defense. However, he failed to recognize

17097-568: Was brought back to Korea but a Korean compilation by Kim Yongju (金用柱) came out two weeks after the Hosoi version was published and was far more popular in Korea. According to Pratt, this period was the moment when these various elements were taken as an interrelated corpus. The Hosoi compilation contained 35 titles; the Kim Yougju compilation contained 51 titles. The English edition provided by Jorgensen mostly follows Hosoi and contains 32 titles. Most of

17236-751: Was by the Japanese scholar Ayukai Fusanoshin 鮎貝房之進 which he transcribed in 1913. The name chosen for this compilation was "Jeonggamnok", enlarging the meaning of the Gamgyeol's title. For this work, Ayukai consulted manuscripts held by the Japanese Governor General of Korea. These are now part of the Kyujanggak Archive.  His transcription was subsequently printed in Japanese by Hosoi Hajime in February 1923. The Japanese version, first distributed in Tokyo,

17375-461: Was capable of considerable feats of organization, for example bringing 400 artillery guns across 480 km of harsh landscape to provide firepower against the Mongols. The core of the Ming army was the infantry, divided into five sections; those armed with guns, swords, archers with fire arrows , archers with ordinary arrows, and spearmen, backed up by the cavalry and artillery. The basic weapons for

17514-489: Was committed to the defense; they presumably assumed they had no other choice. Initially, morale was high, and the defenders repulsed many attempts by government troops to scale the walls or breach a gate. Major attacks occurred on 17 and 19 February. An attack on 27 February included a cart loaded with gunpowder intended to destroy the gate, but it got stuck and never reached the gate. Attacks on 16 March and 6 April included battle carts designed to allow soldiers to fire down on

17653-456: Was constrained by the naval campaigns of the Korean navy which would continue to raid Japanese supply fleets in its coastal waters, hampering the Japanese advances as supply lines were disrupted along the Western Korean coast and Japanese naval reinforcements were repelled. These trends, with some exceptions on both sides, held true throughout much of the conflict. In 1592, Ming China was at

17792-421: Was divided into four castes : samurai, peasants, artisans, and merchants, in that order. The samurai caste owned most of the land in Japan, had the sole right to carry swords and to execute on the spot any commoner who was insufficiently deferential, and were allowed to own horses and ride into battle. The standard samurai weapon by 1592 was the yari , a spear meant to stab, often with a cross-blade that allowed

17931-444: Was followed by a brief interlude between 1596 and 1597 during which Japan and the Ming engaged in ultimately unsuccessful peace talks. In 1597, Japan renewed its offensive by invading Korea a second time. The pattern of the second invasion largely mirrored that of the first. The Japanese had initial successes on land, but the contribution of the Ming forces, as well as the Joseon navy's disruption of Japanese supply fleets, resulted in

18070-490: Was fueled by a deep resentment by the people of the corrupt rulers. Its ideology took inspiration from Jeonggamnok , in its claim that the True Man Jeong would lead an army to establish a new dynasty. Hong Gyeong-nae propaganda claimed that their army was his vanguard force. In preparation for the rebellion the instigators spread the "song foretelling the future" which had lines nearly identical to "the gentleman will wear

18209-486: Was given the nickname Guangdong Master for his naval and military accomplishments. Officers in the Joseon Army and Navy came exclusively from the aristocracy, but unlike the high militarist Japanese aristocracy trained to be soldiers from their youth onward, for the Joseon aristocracy, scholarship was valued and war was disparaged as something unworthy of a Confucian gentleman-scholar. The quality of Korean generalship

18348-424: Was over. The rebellion was of great concern to the Joseon government. It concluded that the main causes of the rebellion were corrupt officials and excessive taxation during the famine. Lee Hae-Seung was identified as a prime example of a corrupt official. The government enacted relief measures for the province. These included: the cancelation of taxes until there was a good harvest, forgiveness of loans, and holding

18487-510: Was specialized in dealing with nomadic looters. However, as the Joseon army was easily defeated in the early days of the Imjin War, the Joseon government felt limited in the Five Guard system and switched to the Five Army Camps system. Light infantry protected their chests by wearing eomsimgap ( 엄심갑 ; 掩心甲 ), which was made of leather over a cloth robe that served a similar function to

18626-469: Was the army inspector of Anju military headquarters. He led the regional government force at Pine Grove. After it appeared that the rebels had the upper hand, reinforcements led by Lee Young-sik assured victory for the regional force. A report by a central government army officer indicated that he was cowardly and had to be driven out of the gate to participate in the battle. However, after the victory, he became vicious and greedy. It took 30 horses to carry away

18765-466: Was the first to enter Jeongju and captured the district seats, garrisons, and other strategic locations west of Jeongju. However, his army was defeated at the Battle of Four Pine Field and subsequently dispersed by government forces. He then joined the remaining rebels in Jeongju, where he fell in battle. Hong Chong-gak (Hong Ch'onggak), also known as Hong Bong-ui, was a poor peddler and famously strong. He

18904-470: Was the invasion of Ming China. However, during the war, as the reality that the conflict was largely confined to the Korean Peninsula seeped in, Toyotomi Hideyoshi would soon alter his original objectives. In 1592, with an army of more than 160,000 soldiers and approximately 700 ships, Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched what would end up being the first of two invasions of Korea , with the intent of conquering Joseon Korea and eventually, Ming China . Initially,

19043-448: Was to be succeeded by the Jeong (Chŏng) dynasty, destined to last 800 years. This would be accomplished by a messianic "True Man" (眞人 i.e. awakened) who would lead an army from a sea island. The Jeong dynasty would establish a nearly utopian political order, but it was not to be everlastingly utopian. In the end, like all dynasties, it was predicted to become weak and corrupt. It was to be followed by other dynasties (Jo, Beom and so on). It

19182-409: Was very common in 16th-century Japan for genealogists to "discover" that someone had illustrious ancestry for the right price, that suggests that Hideyoshi was planning on creating a new office for himself to replace the bakufu . Hideyoshi was also tempted by an external conflict to prevent internal rebellion within Japan, which would keep his newly formed state united against a common enemy, and prevent

19321-503: Was very variable, with some Korean officers being able and others being men who had not devoted much time to the study of war, preferring archery, writing, practicing their calligraphy, and reading Confucian classics. At the end of the period of chaos after the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty, Joseon was mainly focused on dealing with the looting of the Jurchen people and Japanese pirates in

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