Divining the Enemy: Assessment of the Four Barbarians, Part 17

Treatise on Armament Technology, Volume 219

Divining the Enemy: Assessment of the Four Barbarians, Part 17

Joseon (Korea)

This volume of the Wubizhi (1621) focuses on military intelligence and the history of neighboring states.

Their lineage originated with the Minister of Works of Silla An ancient kingdom on the Korean peninsula. Because they were regarded as the descendants of a benevolent man, they were treated with great leniency. They repeatedly petitioned the Bureau of Historiography to clear their names Referencing the "Ancestral Injunctions" dispute where the Joseon founder was wrongly recorded as the son of a high official he actually opposed. At the beginning of the reign of Shen-miao The Wanli Emperor, r. 1572–1620, this request was finally granted.

The region of Busan is a seaport that faces Japan. The people of Busan have long engaged in mutual trade and constant movement with the Japanese original: wo (倭), a term often used for Japanese pirates or traders. Some settled there for generations and intermarried; these were called "Japanese Households" or "Goryeo-Japanese."

At that time, King Yeon King Seonjo, r. 1567–1608 had been on the throne for a long time and had become negligent in government affairs. His ministers, such as Ryu Seong-ryong and Yi Deok-hyeong, gained power through sycophancy. Military preparations were neglected and fell into disarray. Consequently, the Japanese chieftain Toyotomi Hideyoshi original: Ping Xiuji (平秀吉) took advantage of this. Within less than two months of raising his army, half of the kingdom’s territory was already lost.

When the Japanese entered the capital Seoul/Hanyang, King Yeon fled to Uiju and sent an urgent plea for help to our court the Ming Dynasty. Thereupon, Song Yingchang, the Vice Minister of War, was appointed as Military Coordinator to lead troops and suppress the invaders. At that time, strategists argued that if the Japanese secured Joseon, they could cross the Yalu River at any moment to threaten the imperial capital's surrounding provinces from within, or use the territory as a shield from without.