Korea and the Mongols

“The fields were covered with the bones of the dead; the dead were so many, they could not be counted.” Inhabitants' homes were burned. As Korean historians of the era described Mongol ferocity, "not even dogs and chickens remained.” Koreans fought the Mongols stubbornly, first denying them tribute in 1224, then being pushed further south by continued military attacks in 1232, 1233, 1247-8, and 1269. The final result was Mongol occupation from 1270-1356. Though the Mongols, for a time, thought to bring Korea into their Yuan Dynasty as a province, Korean protests convinced them that overseeing Korea would be sufficient. Yi Chehyon had spoken for many Koreans when he protested, “Now for no reason, Korea, a small country for more than four hundred years, will be extinguished in one morning.”

Since Mongol armies were stretched enough controlling China, and Korean resistance promised to be on going, the Yuan Dynasty developed a “son-in-law” relationship with Korea. The Korean ruling dynasty, the Kory ŏ, was forced to marry Mongol elite women. Kory ŏ princes were taken as “guests” to the Yuan court where they learned Mongol customs and Chinese culture. Then they were married to Mongol princesses; there were some eight generations of these marriages. Mongol women were often independent and known to have “minds of their own.” In the eyes of the Yuan court, they outranked their husbands and they often coordinated policies with their relatives.

One story about one of these Kory ŏ /Mongol queens illustrates their power. The Mongols instituted a “woman tax” on Korea, forcing Korean women to go to China and marry into Mongol families. Some even became concubines to the emperor, as Korean women were known for their beauty and virtue—one was an empress of China. Many Korean families, however, tried to prevent their daughters from being taken. One father shaved the head of his daughter to make her too ugly to be chosen. The Kory ŏ queen, however, was the great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan, and was furious at this evasion. She ordered the father tortured, family property confiscated, and the daughter beaten with chains and married to a lowly Mongol soldier.

Other heavy taxes on Korea included a “horse tax” to provide mounts for Mongol cavalry, grain for the army, and paper for records. One of the most devastating Mongol demands—for its deprivations then and further history—was the forced participation in the Mongol invasion of Japan. Korean ship builders and sailors were pressed into service. The invasion attempts, 1274 and 1281, were not successful and thousands of Korean troops and sailors were lost at sea. The power of the Kory ŏ Dynasty was diminished by its participation in these Mongol demands and factional disputes about them led to internal conflict.

Some positive changes for Korea came out of the era. Linking into the “Pax Mongolica,” Korea became aware of new ideas and products. Korean princes brought back Chinese books from Beijing and encountered some of the Jesuit priests from Europe and the traders from the Middle East for a wider sense of the world. They received new ideas in astronomy and gunpowder as well as cotton was introduced. Cotton later became one of

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Korea’s major exports. Kory ŏ’s ceramic celadon became more widely traded. Even though the woman tax was a terrible burden for Korea, the Mongols did not challenge Kory ŏ laws toward women, which were more lenient than those in China.

Yet much of Korea’s culture, the temples and palaces burned, suffered a major loss in this era. These losses may have encouraged Koreans to write more histories and to restore the printed words of Buddha in the major project of Tripitaka Koreana, and for them to become more nationalistic. As the Yuan Dynasty weakened, Korean unrest grew. Yi Song-gye (T’aijo) led forces against the Kory ŏ Dynasty in 1393, calling it corrupted by the Mongols. He formed the Chos ŏn Dynasty, which lasted until 1910. Reacting against the Mongols, the general aims of the Chos ŏn rulers were:

Supporting the Ming Dynasty as a “younger brother” under their protection from Central Asian forces like the Mongols (or later the Manchu)

Adopting Confucian policies as state policies to show the Ming that they deserved their support and also to maintain a stable society free of Mongol Influence.

Keeping out foreigners and limiting trading to only immediate neighbors. The Korean navy would be curtailed, even though at one time, under Silla rulers, the Korean fleet that dominated trade.

Building forts on the northern frontier and stressing defense as a military policy. Emphasis would be on archery, the use of mountain fortresses, and not on mobile armies and cavalry.

Removing those of Mongol blood from office and influence. Past land records were burned and land redistributed to supporters of the Chos ŏn Dynasty.

The term “hermit kingdom” often used to describe Korea during the Chos ŏn Dynasty is misleading because of its central role in Northeast Asian history. Yet it did take almost 300 years into the Chos ŏn Dynasty before the first Europeans, mainly Dutch sailors washed up on its banks, would make their way back to Europe to describe Korea to the West.

Points to Consider

1. Why didn’t the Mongols take over Korea and put their own khan in power as they had done so in many other places?

2. Why is this era seen as such a devastating one in Korean history?

3. What difficulties might Kory ŏ princes have had in their sense of loyalties as they came back from Beijing to Korea?

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4. Do you see any problems with Korea linking its defenses to the Ming? Did the advantages outweigh these risks?

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Neo-Confucian Thought

The Confucian philosophy that shaped much of Chinese life was developed not only by Confucius, (551-479 B.C.E.) His disciples presented his sayings in the Analects and Mencius (c.370-300 B.C.E.) and Xunzic (c 310-215 B.C.E.) developed them further. Their work became the focus of examination study texts for future government officials.

Some of the major principles of Confucian thought were that the world may be rationally understood and that humans were basically good. Mencius said, “Everyone has a heart sensitive to the sufferings of others.’ Humans had, however, according to Confucius, a hierarchy of leadership—the ruler over the subject, the father over the son and the husband over the wife. Honoring these hierarchies, showing “filial piety,” was the duty of everyone. But the higher-level person also had a duty to act wisely and to the benefit of society. Further, there were class hierarchies, with the ruler and scholars heading society, farmers supporting it, and soldiers and merchants handling lesser things. At the bottom of the social scale were entertainers, tanners, and anyone dealing with “unclean things.”

During the Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi (1130-1200) expanded some of these Confucian ideals in what became known as Neo-Confucian thought. Thousands of his conversations, ranging from discussions about the force behind nature to whether the light in the moon reflected in water goes back to the moon to mourning rites for parents were written down. One of the major points of Zhu Xi’s thought was that it is not just the ruler or scholar who needs to act according to Confucian ideals, but all people should conform. (The chart in the Sidebar suggests these differences.).

The Ming and Chos ŏn Dynasties had been shaken by Mongol invasions, by rulers who seemed to upset Confucian ideas. Military ability was prized more than scholarship. Mongol women took an active role in politics, even calling the clans together at the death of the Great Khan and ruling until a new Khan was chosen. Central Asian groups were often more attracted to Buddhist ideas of a world of spirits rather than the “rational” universe posited by Confucian scholarship. In Japan, the Bakufu was leery of a philosophy that elevated the scholar over the soldier. It would take a settling down into relative peace before the Tokugawa shogunate would foster Neo-Confucian ideals.

Points to Consider

1. In what ways might the acceptance of Neo-Confucian thought create a more stable society?

2. What problems do you see with the hierarchy of people listed?

3. According to Zhu Xi, “A person’s nature consists in humanity, righteousness, propriety and wisdom. They find expression in feelings of sympathy, shame, difference, and the ability to distinguish right from wrong. ” Is this view of human nature one that might be found in non-Chinese writers as well?

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Sidebar: Confucian and Neo-Confucian Ideas

The study of Confucian philosophy is a complex one—particularly since scholarship has been a central part of Confucian ideas. Two early writers, Confucius (551-479 B.C.E. and Mencius (371-289 B.C.E.), are referred to as the First and Second Sages and are considered central to Confucian thought. But later scholars have also contributed much. One of these Zhu Xi (1130-1200 C.E.) is credited with founding a school of thought known as “Neo-Confucianism.” After the shock to many Chinese of the Yuan Dynasty, founded by so-call “barbarians,” Chinese scholars wished to go back to the dynasty before and saw Zhu Xi’s ideas as one of the ways to prevent further turmoil. Though many of the basic ideas of Confucian and Neo-Confucian thought are similar, there are some possible differences. This chart presents a simplified version of later interpretations.

Confucian Neo-Confucian

1. Human Nature: Basically good, humans 1. Human Nature: good, but in troubled have 4 innate virtues: compassion, times need to stress loyalty and decorum righteousness, decorum, wisdom. The especially, (proper behavior emphasized) world was once a community of people.

2. Universe: There is an underlying 2. There is an underlying moral force in the principle to the universe and a ruler who universe and all people, not just ruler and goes against it will lose the “Mandate of officials, must adhere to it. Heaven.”

3. Religion: Scholars will focus on this 3. Less tolerance for religions like world to create a better society. Other Buddhism as other-worldly, shamanism for classes may need the comfort of religion, superstition, religion may interfere with relatively tolerant worldly duties to family, state and Confucian studies.

4. Society: The welfare and protection of 4. The welfare and protection of the people the people is the major duty of the ruler and is the major duty of all by proper behavior. scholars.

5. Family: Filial piety is important and may 5. Filial piety important and more and more be shown by all family members. complex rules govern actions with increased penalties for unfilial behavior.

6. Ancestor Rites: The ruler has the main 6. Every family should perform ancestral responsibility for rites at a national shrine. rites and have own shrine. But expensive ceremonial rites performed by eldest son who, therefore, inherits bulk of family wealth and power to do so.

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Sidebar: Neo-Confucian and Buddhist Thought

Both of these philosophies are very complex and there are many variations within the beliefs. This chart only gives a glimmer of the relationship.

Neo-Confucian Philosophy Buddhism

1. Rational universe 1. Flashes of knowledge possible, but humans often know little

2. Sage ruler leads country 2. Power is suspect, forces beyond our understanding may shape our world

3. Human nature basically good 3. Humans must strive to be good

4. Stable, balanced world 4. Life is constantly changing

5. Scholarly study brings wisdom 5. Wisdom arrives in many forms often through nature

6. Filial piety is basis of society 6. Monks and nuns leave home

7. Rituals to Ancestors a duty 7. Duty to worship Buddha

8. Burial, grave site especially chosen 8. Cremation, spirit important not body

9. Eldest son most important in carrying 9. Priest and nuns lead rituals out rituals

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Test Cases: Neo-Confucian Thought and Reality

1. The Rational Universe

Background: Confucian scholars believe that the universe was understandable, but that as Zhu Xi put it, “Eighty percent of what ordinary people say is nonsense.” It was the duty of scholars to sort through different theories to find the truth. As Zhu Xi told one of his students, “Start with an open mind and then read one theory. Read one new before reading another…” and truth would eventually come out. Confucian scholars, for example, were not much interested in the Christian faith that Portuguese Jesuits were trying to introduce to China in the 1500’s. But they were certainly interested in the new insights they brought about astronomy and mathematics.

Their major quarrel was not, however, with Christianity, but with Buddhism. The Yuan Dynasty had supported Buddhism and Kublai Khan’s wife, Chabi, had several temples built. Not only did Confucian leaders resent the funds siphoned off by such support, they also opposed many of the ideas of Buddhism. (See chart in Sidebar). It was a religion, Confucians thought, placing an emphasis on other worldliness, challenging filial piety by having monks and nuns leave home, and encouraging superstitious customs. While Confucian scholars opposed many Buddhist measures, the religion was strong in all three countries, China, Japan, and Korea.

Wives of emperors in China or queens in Korea often supported Buddhist temples with their own money when officials removed state funds. In Japan, Zen Buddhism was very important in the warrior tradition for its emphasis on discipline and flashes of insight rather than book learning. In Japan, also, the Shinto religion emphasized life beginning with Amaterasu being the mother of the first Japanese emperor and princesses as priestesses at the goddess’ shrine at Ise. In Korea, a strong shaman tradition saw both men and women acting as intercessors between the worlds of humanity and nature.

Test Case: Queen Mother’s Burial

Following a particularly strong Neo-Confucian Korean king—Songjong—the new king Yonsan was having trouble with the court. He resented scholars telling him constantly what he could or could not do. When the Queen Mother Mujong died, he decided to follow her dying wishes. She was a Buddhist and wanted to be buried as one. This meant Buddhist monks would lead the service and she would be cremated, not buried. Her ancestral bones then would not be available for ancestor worship.

Scholars were in an uproar. Zhu Xi had written that mourning garments and a few monks praying might be “all right” if that’s what the parent really wanted. But cremation cannot be practiced.” That would destroy the remains and be again the rule of filial piety. Further, having a Buddhist public funeral of a ruler’s wife might seem that the ruler approved of Buddhist ideas. Yonsan countered that these were the Queen Mother’s own wishes and as a filial son, he had to carry them out.

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What would you see as the proper Confucian decision? Would it be the right one in your own view?

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2. The Sage: Ruler: Test Case

Background: In a hierarchical Confucian society the role of the “sage” monarch was crucial. He—no question that the ruler would be male—had the responsibility of governing his country in harmony with a rational, orderly universe. Women were not supposed to rule since the wife was considered subservient to the husband. A single woman ruler, like Queen Elizabeth I of England, would not be possible since all respectable women were supposed to be married. The ruler was thought to have a “mandate from heaven” to rule and would be well advised by scholars of Confucian thought.

It was particularly important for the ruler to be good, wise, and a follower of proper rituals. He was also supposed to avoid the use of violence. Confucius had this advice to a king, “You are the government. Why employ killing? If you want what is good, the people will be good. The virtue of a gentleman is like the wind, the virtues of a small person like the grass. When the wind blows over it, the grass must bend.”

What about a bad ruler? Some Confucians saw natural disasters as indicators that the mandate of heaven had moved and it was time for another ruler. One of the early Ming emperors, Yongle, had moved the capital to Beijing and built the elaborate Forbidden City, spending huge amounts of money and forcing thousands to labor. When fires lashed through the palace, scholars reminded Yongle of heaven’s displease at such extravagance.

Should government official go so far as to remove an emperor? Yes, according to the ancient writer Mencius. “When a king makes an error, they (scholars) point it out. If he does not heed their repeated remonstrations, they quit their posts. When a ruler makes a major error, they (kings’ ministers) point it out. If he does not listen to their repeated remonstrations, then they should put someone else on the throne.”

But going this far would not be usual. Also according to Mencius, “Bringing order to the realm is as easy as moving an object in your palm when you have a sensitive heart and put into practice compassionate policies.” For most Ming rulers, however, politics were much more complicated and few of them were known for their compassion.

Test Case: The Captured Emperor

The Ming emperor Zhengtong (1436-1449) saw himself as a military leader as well as a “sage ruler.” When Mongols threatened north of Beijing, he and his eunuch minister Wang Zhen set out to bring security to the northern border. Zhengtong said, “We have no choice but to lead a great army in person.” His generals were against the emperor’s expedition, particularly since Wang had no real military experience. Wang was even forcing the army to march out of their way just so his lands would not be disturbed by their march.

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Confucian scholars were also dismayed. Zhentong was illustrating “Mongol” values, preferring fighting to governing. One minister threw himself in front of the emperor’s horse as protest to his leaving for war. But the minister was removed and the army proceeded. The campaign was a disaster, a show of military incompetence and wasted lives. Zhentong himself stayed in his tent while his guards were all killed around him. The Mongols captured him and sent word to Beijing. For a huge ransom, they would send him back.

Should the Ming family and ministers pay the ransom? Loyalty to a ruler was a primary virtue of Confucius thought. Zhentong had been endangered while trying to defend his country. On the other hand, his ministers had warned him repeatedly that the expedition was likely to fail. Was his capture a sign that the mandate of heaven had shifted? Could they leave a Chinese emperor in the hands of the Mongols?

What do you see as the proper Confucian decision? Would it be the right one in your view?

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3. The Dutiful Scholar: Test Case

Background: Crucial to good government, according to Confucian thought were capable and courageous scholars. “When a king makes an error,” in Mencius view, “They point it out. If he does not heed their repeated remonstrations, they quit their posts.” The system for gaining such governmental assistants was designed to get scholars who knew Confucian ideas well and who were bright and disciplined. They had to pass a series of examinations on Chinese culture that were so difficult that years of study might pass without achievement.

If a scholar passed some beginning tests, he might be awarded some minor position in an outlying province. But becoming a jeonsi (highest rank) brought not only high governmental position, but also extreme honor to the family. Flags could be flown before his residence and his family married to more prestigious groups. The scholar’s life would be honored for generations.

These were high stakes for young men beginning their studies. In Korea, if the clan did not produce a son passing the highest test in three generations, the clan would no longer be considered yangban with all the privileges of the upper class. They would have to pay taxes and have only limited entry to governmental positions. There could be corruption in the system. Tutors who later became examiners were bribed to pass their former students.

Whole classes of people were excluded from taking the examinations—women, the sons of slaves, entertainers, butchers, felons, and, in Korea, the sons of concubines or widows who had remarried. The long tutoring necessary and limited availability of books meant that it was primarily the wealthy who could afford such educational costs. Further, when scholars achieved positions, they often found the pay so low that they began to take bribes rather than see their families starve.

Another problem with the system was fitting of the scholar’s knowledge to the actual tasks of government. Their classical educational reading was over 1500 years old, not always good preparation for current issues. A young man questioned the founder of Neo- Confucianism, Zhu Xi on “whether studying for the examination would interfere with his efforts at real learning?” Zhu Xi essentially told him to do both. By the later Ming, however, when printing presses made all sorts of scientific works, novels, plays or histories more available, the examination system looked more and more dated to wealthy young men. Zhang Dai was one of those who wrote, “The system was designed to discourage ambitious men and just left men submissive in manner, limited in scope, stale in words, poor in attire, with internal feeling rolled away.” Others characterized scholars as “quiet crickets,” so entangled with different theories that they could not see injustice. Japan did not have a similar examination system in this era.

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Despite all these limitations, the system also produced officials who kept the government running, tried to provide justice as judges, and often did stand up to the emperor. When a later emperor, Wanli, refused to show up for an audience or attend to state business, Jude Lo Yu-jen sent him a candid petition to straighten up. He criticized Wanli wanting “to dine on delicacies…and indulge in drinking and feasting and all day and night carousals to reflect your Majesty’s over fondness for the bottle.” Judge Lo also told of other abuses, unnecessary beatings, killings without trials and wasting of money. Wanli was furious at the petition and only the intercession of another minister prevented Lo’s execution. Lo was dismissed and made an ordinary citizen. What scholars gained, however, from such dangerous confrontation were a sense of duty fulfilled and knowledge that their actions gave them a place in Confucian annals. Lo would live in the light of history.

Test Case: The Emperor versus the Scholar

Looking at the Ming Dynasty, many historians see Yongle as the most dynamic emperor whose sea explorations, building of the Forbidden City and restoration of the Grand Canal were major achievements. But Fang Xiaoro wrote an essay bitterly opposing him. Yongle had rebelled against his nephew, the designated heir, to the throne. Fang found this to be a violation of the Confucian ideal of the eldest son role in the family. The nephew was the oldest son of the eldest prince who had died. Yongle, on the other hand, was a talented warrior and fierce organizer, but only a third son.

Fang’s essay was against the “illegitimate” ruler. There were, he claimed, three kinds of these—“usurper, empresses, and barbarians. Barbarians bring disorder to Chinese culture. Usurpers and power seeking empresses bring disorder to fundamentals of human relations.” Yongle told Fang to withdraw his essay. Fang refused. The emperor threatened he would not only kill Fang, but his relatives to the ninth degree of relations, (nephews, cousins, etc). Fang told him to go do it to the tenth degree; he would not withdraw the essay.

Here is Yongle’s dilemma. Does he wish to begin his reign by killing a scholar whose reputation will now go down in history for his defiance? Or will later scholars see Fang’s action to the threats as extreme endangerment of his family and therefore a violation of filial piety? The former emperor, the nephew, was dead. Was Fang being disloyal to the current, more talented emperor?

What do you think a Confucian scholar would decide about Yongle’s decision concerning Fang? Would you agree with that decision?

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4. Agrarian Society: Test Case

Background: Honda Masanobu, a Japanese scholar of the early 1600’s, agreed with Chinese and Korean Confucian ideas that, “The peasants are the foundation of the State.” He urged officials to make clear boundaries, realistic taxes, and proper release from outside work. “For if they (the peasants) are fatigued their crops will be poor.” In Confucian thought, peasant farmers produced real wealth and fed the nation. Staying in one place, they added to the stability of the family and governmental life. They were “good” people and their welfare should be a primary aim of the ruler.

King Sejong of Korea illustrates the ideal of a ruler concerned with peasants and agriculture. Among his reforms were: a wide spread use of rain gauges to plan better for drought conditions and fairer taxes; producing easily read books for farmers, like “Plain Words on Agriculture;” reducing taxes; experimenting with crops fields on his personal land; keeping better meteorological records; and improving irrigation channels. The expansion of different crops not only provided food for the nation, but also stability since peasants would have no cause to revolt.

The farmers would also have no need to become merchants. Becoming a merchant was down the list of Confucian admirable occupations. When one family ordered a younger son to restore the family fortune by going into business, he pleaded to study with his two older brothers. “Am I not human, that you wish me to be a merchant?” Warnings to the emperor that peasants were in famine conditions included statements that people were eating grass. “And there are even those who have become merchants.” Merchants, in Confucian views, traveled, focused on material wealth, and could corrupt government with their wealth. They came in contact with foreigners and could be contaminated by different ideas. How much better was an agricultural society in which everyone stayed in their own place.

The era 1350-1650 saw, however, frequent peasant revolts. Rapacious tax collectors, natural disasters like floods or droughts created famine, and powerful landlords forced peasants to work on their projects for long hours. In theory, the government was supposed to put aside grain resources for emergencies, but corruption often meant little was left for peasants. In Korea peasants had to have an identification tag to keep them on lands instead of escaping to the city. Japanese peasants were also restricted, even from local travel for weddings unless granted special permission. In China, in the late Ming era, conditions among the peasants were so terrible that many joined armies rebelling against the dynasty.

While scholars praised the peasantry as a basis for a good life, the reality of existence was often harsh. Sabura Sogoras found out how harsh. As a village headman in Japan, he made a direct appeal to the Japanese Shogun Hotta Masanoku. The local lord had over taxed the villagers and used violence when they tried to protest. The Shogun investigated, found the charges true, and ordered a righting of the tax situation. But for approaching the Shogun personally in his requests, Sogoro, his wife and their children

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Test Case: Grain or Horses?

Confucian schools came to Chabi, Kublai Khan’s empress. The Mongol Emperor wanted to turn western lands into pastures of grass to maintain the vast herds of horses so important to their military. Could Chabi interfere with the emperor’s plans and convince him that China was primarily an agricultural nation and that peasants needed more land? The empress told the scholars to pick up their courage and go talk to the emperor themselves. The incident suggests the strain between Chinese military and agricultural needs.

The first Ming emperor, Hongwu, was presented with this dilemma. How much support should he give to agriculture? Accepting Confucian ideals, he should try to help farmers as much as he could, lowering taxes, cutting back on military spending, and taking land away from Buddhist temples for more peasant use.

Should, however, Hongwu go further with massive irrigation programs, repair of dikes, and settlement of soldiers as part time farmers on drier frontier lands? While these policies would expand available land for farming, he still needed cavalry troops. Pasture for horses might be a problem. Could he rely on Central Asian traders or Koreans to supply him with the needed animals? What was his responsibility as the “sage ruler” in planning China’s future agricultural policy?

What do you think the proper Confucian answer would be to Hongwu’s decision? Would you see it as the right choice?

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5. Filial Piety: Test Case

Background: Filial piety—being loyal to the hierarchy within the family—might take many forms. Chinese and Korean books on proper decorum for women contained stories of daughters slashing their arms for blood to mix with medicines for ailing parents. Or of a wife fighting off a tiger to save her husband. When it was considered unlucky for an individual to remove a corpse from the household, a daughter-in-law might do it so the rest of the family was spared. Even an emperor as dissolute as Wanli would kneel before his mother. A major rule of Confucian behavior was, “Do not offend your parents.” “When your parents are alive, serve them according to the rules of ritual and decorum. When they are deceased, give them a funeral and offer sacrifices to them according to the rules of ritual.” This filial piety was fundamental, it was thought, to good government. “Look for the loyal subject at the gate of the filial son,” the saying went.

Family structure was clear. The father ruled the household, on the male side; the mother on the female side. Concubines might be present, but they were also ranked in order and considered below the first wife and her children. Since the ideal upper class Confucian household was at least four generations under one roof, parental authority lasted well beyond a person’s adolescence. Marriages were arranged by parents or grandparents. Elder brothers took over the role of leadership when parents became impaired.

Neo-Confucian writers spelled out the rules for proper behavior in even more elaborate form with lists of how long to mourn, which relatives, or could be spoken to and who not, (like sister-in-laws to brothers-in-law). There were some exceptions. The classic case being that a younger brother might rescue his sister-in-law if she were drowning, as long as he did not speak to her in the process.

These expectations of proper respect might cause other dilemmas. The Koreans faced issues over mourning rituals. On the death of a father or mother, a son was expected to leave office and go into mourning for three years. He would stay home, observe rituals, wear shabby clothes, and keep to a vegetarian diet with no alcohol. Korean Chol Choi, traveling home for his father’s funeral was shipwrecked. Accused of being a pirate by the Chinese, he might have impressed them by donning his official robes. Though the ship’s crew urged him to do so to protect them as well as himself, he refused to change his coarse apparel. Eventually, his being able to write in the Chinese script prevented the Korean’s execution as pirates. The crew, however, remained furious at him.

Another Korean faced a dilemma concerning mourning. Admiral Yi Sunsin is one of the great heroes of Korean history, defeating the Japanese fleet in the Imjin War. In the midst of the war, his mother died. According to tradition, he should have resigned to go into mourning. But his diary reveals his anguish. His mother had sent him off without a tear, telling him to “Fight gallantly and wipe out the national disgrace.” When she died, Yi knew his duty was to stay with the navy, but guilt consumed him. “What a price to pay!” To make up for his absence for the funeral rituals, Yi wore coarse clothes, fasted, and refused meat. His staff was so concerned that they contacted the king of Korea,

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Sonjo, about Yi’s failing energy. The King ordered Yi to change his diet. Yi was later killed, taking risks by being above deck in heavy fighting.

Whether it was the day-to-day care of a cranky mother-in-law or the sleepless nights of weaving to support a family or the youngest son’s marriage to an heiress to redeem the family fortune, the point of Confucian stable life was filial obedience.

Test Case: Family or Daimyo?

Japan, in this era, was not a Confucian state, but loyalty for a samurai household was a major virtue. Family members were expected, if needed, to die for the leader of the clan, the lord or daimyo. Marriages were arranged to fit the needs of military alliances. At times, however, personal loyalties clashed with daimyo loyalties. One history-changing example is Akechi Mitsuhide’s assassination of his lord Nobunaga. Though Nobunaga trusted Akechi , he had endangered his vassal’s mother. Using her as a hostage, Nobunaga betrayed a peace agreement, which led to the mother’s torture and death. In this case, Akechi bided his time, pretending loyalty, and later assassinated Nobunaga.

Another incident involving loyalties to Nobunaga is the story of his younger sister. Known as one of the great beauties of the era, Oichi was married off to Azai Nagamasa to cement an alliance. But Nagamasa planned a secret attack on Nobunaga and, according to the story, Oichi informed her brother about it. She sent a sack full of beans tied at both ends as a warning that a two-front attack was the attack strategy. Nobunaga surrounded her husband’s castle and a long siege occurred. Towards the end of the fighting, Nobunaga asked for the return of his sister and her three daughters. Oichi’s husband agreed to let them go and, defeated, he committed suicide.

After her brother’s assassination, Oichi was remarried to Shibaita Katsuie at her nephew’s orders. Katsuie was attacked by Hideyoshi—one of the avengers of Nobunaga’s death—and Oichi was urged to leave the castle with her daughters. Hideyoshi had been one of her brother’s chief supporters. Should she stay with her second husband in the flame-engulfed castle or go to Hideyoshi who had been loyal to Nobunaga?

What would a Confucian expect Oichi to do? Would you agree with this decision?

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Final Results of the Five Cases:

1. Yonsan won the immediate battle by purging the main scholars who opposed him. But later, for this dispute and his dissolute regime, he was deposed and exiled.

2. The Ming ministers sent back a message to the Mongols saying that the welfare of the national was of “great importance,” while that of a ruler was “unimportant.” They refused to pay the ransom and installed a new emperor. The Mongols treated Zhentung relatively well and eventually sent him back to China. Then the ministers had to figure out what to do with two emperors. Zhentang was kept in confinement for six and a half years, but eventually became emperor again. He had most of the ministers who had refused the ransom executed.

3. Yongle took Fang’s defiance seriously and had Fang and his relatives to the tenth degree executed. Some Confucians used Fang as a model for their later defiance against the Manchu Dynasty. Other scholars questioned whether the sacrifice of his extended family was worth the futile opposition to a successful emperor.

4. Hongwu supported the expansion of agricultural lands over pasture and about one fourth more land was added in crops. Some of this land, however, proved to be marginal and settling peasants on it became a problem when droughts set in. The provinces most likely to revolt often were part of this expansion. Getting horses for Ming cavalry was a continual problem and led to the hiring of mercenary cavalry troops from the Mongols and Manchu.

5. Oichi decided to remain with her second husband and died with him in the destruction of their castle. Again, however, she sent her daughters to safety. Through her daughters, Oichi’s grandson Tokugawa Iemitsu later became the Shogun of Japan and her great- granddaughter was Empress Meisho. Many Japanese stories and plays have references to her.

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Politics: Profiling Rulers: One and Three

Background: One theory of leaders is that the first generation of famous leaders deals with war, but by the third generation, rulers find their success in other fields in a “golden age.” After the fourth generation, however, stagnation sets in and most of the rest are mediocre. In Russia, for example, Peter the Great forced Westernization that flourished later under Catherine the Great. As one way of looking at the major Chinese, Japanese, and Korean rulers in this era, students are asked in Part A to test this theory. In Part B, some of the limitations on these rulers are discussed.

Procedure: In Part A, the class should be introduced to the Charts on Ruler’s Characteristics. The teacher should remind students that history is complex and no one theory can fit every situation. The class is then divided into groups and students read the biography they are assigned. Then they should place on the chart where the actions fit the pattern and note where the evidence does not support the generalization. Each group reports back on the major issue:

“Does this leader fit the profile?”

The teacher may also wish to summarize the reading and have the whole class consider the profiling. After the entire chart is filled in, the class may consider which of these six rulers best fits the profile and which not. Part A is a quick reading done in class to suggest that even these rulers had restrictions on their power.

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Chart on Rulers

The First Ruler

Moves the Capital-Reverses Religion-Reforms Military-Purge-Trade Change-Women

Hongwu

Nobunaga

T’aejo

Third Ruler

Buildings-Encourage Literature-Open Trade-Economic Rise-Religion Open-Women

Yongle

Ieyasu

Sejong

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King T’aejo: Starting the Chos ŏn Dynasty

Korea, in 1392, was tense. There were pirate attacks on the coast; Red Turban rebels from China attacking from the north, and the Yuan Dynasty of China was falling apart. The Mongols who had created the Yuan era had also forced the Kory ŏ (Korean) princes to marry royal Mongol women. Orders went out to Kory ŏ generals to join the Mongols even as the Ming Dynasty was consolidating its power. The Kory ŏ general Yi Seong gye—later designated T’aejo—decided to ignore his orders to attack the Ming. Instead he brought his army into the Kory ŏ capital of Kaesang and overthrew the government.

He had many supporters. Koreans resented the Mongol families who had tried to influence Korean royalty and imposed Mongol taxes and customs. On the other hand, Koryŏ had a flourishing cultural life and its celadon porcelain, influenced by Buddhist symbols, was widely admired. Followers of the concept of loyalty, statesmen like Yi Bang, refused to serve T’aejo. Loyalist Ch-onsok wrote a poem with the lines, “fortune determines rise and fall...a traveler cannot keep back his tears in the setting sun.” Despite these loyalists, T’aejo had the support of the army, and, after some puppet kings, he took the throne of Korea for himself in 1392. Most of the former royal family was killed; other Kory ŏ officials were exiled and their lands taken from them.

T’aejo knew, however, that Korea had a long subordinate relationship with China as a tributary state. It was vitally important that the Ming government support him. Ming advisors were somewhat reluctant to give him recognition—T’aejo was, after all, a general and had shown disloyalty to his king. T’aejo presented himself as a reformer who would create a Confucian state and diminish the power of Buddhism. He set up Confucian schools, confiscated Buddhist temple lands, and killed some Buddhist leaders. To further limit Mongol influence, he had the land records burned so the old aristocracy could not prove ownership. This land could now be considered state property, which he could distribute to his supporters. In another act meant to gain Ming support, he negotiated with Chinese officials about a proper name for his new dynasty. The term “Chos ŏn” was selected, an ancient name for Korea.

T’aejo tried to make clear the split with the Kory ŏ Dynasty more apparent by moving the capital from Kaesang to Hanyang [Seoul] in 1395. Only a small town then, his capital was transformed as T’aejo brought in over 100,000 workers to build Kyongbok Palace and other sites. He organized the government along Confucian Chinese lines, with six ministers, eight provinces and three examination systems for civil, technical, and military scholars. Peasants were restricted to the land, but the tax rates, under the new land system, were intended to be fairer.

T’aejo, however, had two major problems. Not in good health, he abdicated in 1298, and spent the rest of his life slowing traveling around the countryside with a small retinue. His other problem was that he had eight sons by two different queens. He appointed the eldest son of the second queen to replace him as king. The sons of the first queen rebelled. After killing some of his stepbrothers, the fifth son—Panwon—became the king known as T’aejong. T’aejo had built a dynasty that would last until 1910 and

Bingham, Marjorie 20 shifted Korea to a Confucian state. But the family royal strife foreshadowed the tumult of the royal family.

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Sejong of Korea: “Renaissance” King

The term “renaissance” is usually applied to Europe, particularly Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as a time for a rebirth in learning and art. But the term “renaissance man” is also used to describe a person of talent and wide spread interest. While Sejong saw his role as a Confucian ruler concerned for the welfare of his people, he also went beyond the scholars to encourage science and literature in a “renaissance” era.

There must have been something exceptional about Sejong. He was only the third son in a Confucian court that stressed the primacy of the eldest son. Often the only route to power for a third son was to kill off his brothers in a civil war. But Sejong’s two older brothers stepped aside in his favor, one living in the mountains and the other becoming a monk. Well read and militarily trained, Sejong took the throne when his father, Taejong, abdicated. Then he began a long list of accomplishments.

Militarily he strengthened coastal line defenses against pirates and even ordered an attack on the island of Tsushima, often their haven. Trade with Japan became more secure. Forts built to the north offered more protection from the Mongols as General Kim Jong- seo led a 1433 campaign. Sejong encouraged advancements in cannon and gunpowder researches.

Sejong’s interest in science went beyond the military. He was particularly interested in agriculture and increasing food productions. Rain gauges, invented by Chang Yangsi, were used to figure out crop yields and fair taxation. When court officials assured him rice production was fine, he went to the fields to see for himself. As recorded by a chronicler, Sejong said, “When I saw the fields today, it brought tears to my eyes. How dry are Yongsoyok and Hongjewon.” To help farmers, he had “Straight Talk on Farming” published to encourage crop rotation and better plowing methods.

As a student of Confucian thought, Sejong sponsored the Hall of Assembled Scholars. The idea was to bring together the most brilliant Confucian scholars, to pay for their support and to encourage creative thought. From this group came new books on medicine, water surveys, and history. In the early parts of his reign, he had supported Confucians against Buddhists by limiting the number of temples and the branches of Buddhism taught. He took an active interest in the examination system, even writing some of the questions himself.

But he could also make Confucian scholars reel. Sejong enjoyed associating with curious, intelligent people no matter what their background. Chang Yansil, the inventor, was a commoner and scholars berated Sejong for his financial support of Chang. Astronomy was another interest and he spent long hours discussing and observing with non-yangban scientists. When Sejong promised them government positions, the Royal Secretary sent Sejong a petition. “Your Highness, there is no one who is not shocked by the prospect of several important provinces falling under the governance of a vulgar rabble such as these men are.” Sejong continued with their appointments.

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He also, particularly after the death of his beloved wife Queen Sohan, became more sympathetic to Buddhist beliefs. He took consolation in some of the religion and wrote a poem, “The Moonlight on Ten Thousand Waters” with Buddhist overtones. Her death and that of a much beloved daughter, and a later divorce of one wife saddened his life.

The most controversial—and greatest—achievement of Sejong’s reign was his encouragement of a new alphabet for Korea—hangul. He had set scholars the task of developing an alphabet that reflected the Korean language. Using Chinese ideograms meant the memorization of at least 4000 characters to become literate. Sejong wanted a written language that common people could learn quickly and use for farming and medicine. Some Confucian schools resisted. Hangul would be just a “woman’s language,” commoners might rebel if educated; Korea would lose its prestige in Chinese eyes—the arguments went on and on. But Sejong persisted and later, during the Imjin War, the need for a written language for all became increasingly apparent. Korea’s unique alphabet has been praised as a major cultural achievement. Sejong is usually considered the best of the Chos ŏn rulers.

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The Worst Time for Women

Poor thing! What is the purpose behind turning out to be a woman?” Korean poet Chong Ch’ol (1536-1593)

Traditional China was not an easy place for women. Issues of the Confucian emphasis on males above women in hierarch, female infanticide, foot binding, and widow remarriage were present in much of China’s history. But historians suggest that the Ming era, with its later influence on Korea and Japan, was the “worst time for women” in Asian culture. The chart below gives some of the changes that occurred in this era. Some background information may be needed, however, to understand some of the customs mentioned on the chart.

Female infanticide: Chinese proverbs like, “Ten daughters are not equal to one son” or “Girls are goods on which one loses” illustrate prevailing cultural views. With dowries needed for marriage, family “lost” money on its daughters and their children would only be counted in lineage lines of the husband’s family. Some families prided themselves on raising no daughters for four generations. Girl babies might be abandoned, fed less, or killed. The sex ratio of male to female has been an issue throughout much of China’s history. Whether it was worse in the Ming era is not clear.

Foot binding: The Yuan and later Manchu dynasties tried to outlaw the practice of foot binding. Neither Korea nor Japan adopted the practice. In China the ideal was to bind a girl’s feet so that her small, slipper covered feet would measure three to four inches. The process was brutal. Little girls, about four or five years old, were wrapped so tightly to force the toes under the soles of the feet. It was a process of successive wrappings that lasted for two terribly painful years and left the girl with life-long wobbly attempts to walk. Often infection set in and pus needed to be removed; about 10% of all little girls died. The Ming emphasis on turning away from Mongol customs meant an increasing emphasis on foot binding as a “Chinese” national custom. In some areas of China, particularly in the south were women rice workers were needed; the custom was not so accepted. Minority groups and peasants also did not bind their daughter’s feet. But in Ming families wishing to “marry up,” the so-called “lotus foot” was considered a marriage asset.

Widow Remarriage and Widow Suicide: According to traditional Confucian thought, the husband had power over his wife. Her role was to serve him and be loyal. What if he died? The emphasis in Neo-Confucian thought on loyalty was interpreted to mean she should remain a widow—not serving two masters. The widower, however, was allowed to remarry and to have concubines during marriage. How easy was it to remain unmarried? One saying was that it was like a lifetime of “drinking vinegar.” Even if the widow had been only 16 when her husband died, she was expected to remain “virtuous” and live in her deceased husband’s household. If she did manage to refrain from a second marriage and sexual activity, at age 50 she could be nominated for a Ming

Bingham, Marjorie 24 governmental award. Her family could place a special shrine outside their gates and she would receive a small monetary allowance.

In the Ming era this concept of loyalty became even more stressed. Further recognition was give to widows who committed suicide at their husband’s death. The Ming government compensated thousands of female suicides' families for their deaths by erecting arches and exempting their families from taxes.

As a later Manchu emperor, Qianlong, pointed out, the custom was subject to abuse. Families eager for the dead husband’s wealth would make the widow’s life so miserable she might kill herself. Another Manchu emperor, Kangxi, referred to it as a “cowardly” custom as the family needed the widow’s labor and wisdom. During the Ming era, however, widow suicide was considered one way a “lowly” woman could bring honor to her family.

In Korea and Japan such widow suicide was not generally practiced, though it was expected in extreme conditions. When women’s husbands were killed in the Imjin War and the wives released from capture, King Sonjo of Korea ruled that the women had a right to return to their families. Neo-Confucian scholars protested. The writer Cheng Yi had approved of suicide in such cases. “Starving to death is a small matter, but the loss of one’s honor is grave indeed.” For Japanese women the concern for loyalty stemmed from samurai military values. In an era of civil wars, Japanese wives and daughters often chose death with their families rather than capture.

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A Shift in Women’s Position: From Kory ŏ to Ming/Chos ŏn

After the Mongol (Yuan Dynasty) era in Chinese history, Korean leaders sought to model themselves after the Ming Dynasty. Turning away from Kory ŏ views of women, Chos ŏn officials substituted different laws and customs based on Ming law. Examine the following chart and answer these questions:

1. Under which system would women be more economically secure? Would all women

benefit in that system or some see a possible decline?

2. Under which system would wives be more likely to be protected from abuse?

3. In which system would children of the family be more likely to be equal?

4. Which of these customs or laws do you see as most damaging to women? Most

beneficial?

5. Would Kory ŏ or the Chos ŏn era allow most physical freedom for women?

6. Comparing these two eras, how would you characterize the shift to Ming values?

(Sources for Chart: Martina Deuchler. The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology . Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992, Michael J. Seth. A Concise History of Korea . New York: Rowan & Littlefield, 2006, Yung-Chung Kim. Women of Kore a. Seoul: Ewha University Press, 1976.)

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Position of Women in Korea

Kory ŏ Dynasty: 918-1392 Chos ŏn Dynasty: 1392-1910 (Influenced by Ming Law)

1. Residence: matrilocal or uxorilocal 1. Patrilocal: bride lives with husband’s Groom lives with bride’s family or family couple sets up own household

2. Inheritance: Daughters and sons 2. Eldest son inherits bulk of family inherit equally fortune, daughters not generally unless no sons

3. Dowry: Little expense as groom will 3. Dowry expected: female a “robber be supported by bride’s family female” as she takes money out of her family

4. Multiple wives: man may marry more 4. Multiple wives, but upper class: first than one; one is primary but no order wife must be yangban (upper class) and or ranking in rest of wives the rest ranked

5. Children: Of all wives, considered 5. Only wives of primary wife legitimate, may serve in government considered legitimate and eligible for exams and government

6. Divorce possible, for both males and 6. Primary wife difficult to divorce. females divorce hard for women to gain, secondary wives easy to divorce

7. Children in divorce: Often stay wit h 7. Children stay with husband’s family mother’s family

8. Names: Women keep own name 8. Women become known as “the wife of” or “mother of”

9. Widows: Can remarry, keep children 9. Widow remarriage discouraged; or stay with own family, no restrictions children of second marriage not eligible on children’s employment for government jobs. If not re-married, still have to live with former husband’s family.

10. Mourning Death of Parent: mother 10. 3 years or 1 if father alive and father each 3 years

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11. Freedom of Movement: not 11. No horse riding, travel in palanquins, restricted, visit temples, stay overnight no overnights, restricted temple visits, only walk in Seoul after curfew (in evening)

12. Veiling 12. Veils for upper class

13. House design: family lives together 13. Inner quarters for women

14. Chastity: Not major issue 14. Bride presented with “suicide knife” to protect “honor.” Ming also encouraged shrines to widows who did not remarry and to widows who committed suicide at husband’s death

15. Buddhist nun, female shaman 15. Confucians see shamans as acceptable roles for women “superstitious” and nuns as avoiding family roles

16. No foot binding 16. No foot binding (Ming did)

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Exceptions and Exceptional Women

While the era 1350 to 1650 is generally seen as an era of declining status for women, there were some exceptions. Lower class women often had much more freedom to remarry, pursue professions like medicine or wet-nursing, or even have their feet unbound for physical freedom. Further, there were also some roles primarily open to women, like being a nurse, merchant or shaman, to the male restricted “inner quarters” of the household. There were other exceptions as well.

1. Family Status

The Confucian family was built upon two ideas, respect for elders and female subordination to males. If the “elder” was the mother, then did the son defer to her or should she to him as the eldest son? Mother and son relationships were probably the most equal in the family and often offered the best chance for family affection. Even the Chinese emperor was expected to pay homage to his mother: Wanli knelt before his mother on ceremonial occasions. More than one Chinese or Korean monarch got into trouble with Confucian scholars when they supported their mothers’ Buddhist projects. Even warlike sons were in turmoil over their mothers’ health. Korean Admiral Yi Sunsin’s diary is filled with concern for his ailing mother—with no mention of his wife’s troubles as their home is attacked. Though known for his brutality, the Japanese ruler Hideyoshi wrote long letters of encouragement to his mother O’Mando Koro. In the midst of the Imjin War, he asked his wife to tell his mother, “Go to some place and there amuse yourself—and please become young once again. I beg you to do this.”

The Ming and Chos ŏn governments also enforced such respect. When a Korean stepson disputed the legal status of his father’s first wife, whom he should have considered his “mother,” the court ordered him to get 100 strokes of a bamboo stick. He was judged as an “unfiilial son.” Confucian law codes had guidelines for divorce and if a wife had obediently filled her duties to her in the home, produced a son, and followed proper mourning practices, her place in the family was often protected. In another Korean lawsuit, a man received 80 strokes for expelling his wife without due cause.

Human affection also played its part. Though young daughters were way down the scale of importance in a Confucian family, there might be real affection for them. King Sejong was devastated by his daughter’s death. In 1424, he composed a memorial to her soul, “How short or how long our lives will be has been ordained by fate…but nothing can sever the bonds of heart and mind which exist between a father and his daughter.” Chinese poet Kao Chi’I’s poem, “Written as Seeing and Remembering My Daughter” expresses similar feelings of loss and affection. The Japanese writer Yamamoto wrote that daughters were “a blemish…and a shame…. The eldest daughter is special, but it is better to disregard the others” Yet social rules were often modified by human personalities.

2. Women in “Behind the Screens Power”

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Hongwu, the first Ming emperor set out a rule that eunuch and empresses should not interfere in government. It was a vain hope. A Korean Confucian scholar claimed, “One queen is uncontrolled by ten ministers.” Though Ming, Chos ŏn, and Japanese rulers did not see a woman as capable for open leadership, their wives often had significant influence in a variety of ways.

One was to moderate the fierceness of the ruler. Hongwu’s paranoid attempt to kill anyone who seemed to threaten him was moderated by Empress Ma's humanity. When he became angry at her leniency, he claimed he was the Father of the Country and knew best. She stood up to him, saying that made her Mother of the Country and entitled to tend the nation as well. Empress Dowager Chang was also know for keeping her son’s punishments more limited and Lady Ching tried to get Emperor Wanli to pay more attention to his duties and stop the physical abuse of his ministers.

In times of crisis, the Empress or Queen Dowager was called upon by scholars to solve dilemmas. When emperor Zhenlong was captured by the Mongols, the empress and empress dowagers were consulted to choose a replacement. The average of Chinese emperors at death was 39 so their young heirs frequently needed the support and advice. They often turned to their mothers whom they trusted more than competing scholars. In Korea, if the king died before naming a successor, the dowager queen would be consulted for the succession. In the civil wars that rocked Japan, Yoritono’s wife Masako became known as the “Mother Shogun” for her strong will and fierce support given to the Hojo clan that achieved power.

The wife of the ruler could also be important in times of war. Hideyoshi’s letters to his wife O’No (Lady Kita-no-Mandokoro) were affectionate, “longing to see you.” They were also filled with instructions about policy. When Hideyoshi distrusted his possible heirs and reflected on their abilities, he wrote about his adopted talented daughter, “were she a man, I would make her Kempuku (leader).” Yongle's wife, Empress Xu, helped organize Beijing defenses for him when he was elsewhere.

Women in ruler’s courts were also important in preserving various religions against Confucian restrictions. Korean queens continued to support shamans and called them into court when illnesses occurred. A whole line of Korean queens—Changlu, Innu, Munyang—helped to preserve Buddhist temples and made possible the monasteries producing the vital warrior monks of the Imjin War. In Japan, royal daughters were priestesses at Shinto shrines.

Despite Hongwu’s admonistions, by the end of the Ming era, royal women remained important. With scholars quarrelling, eunuchs corrupt, where else could a young ruler turn?

3. Women Warriors

Confucian ideals painted a rather confusing picture of women’s courage. On the one hand, women were the weaker sex, confined to inner quarters, and directed by men. On

Bingham, Marjorie 30 the other, they were expected to go to any length to promote filial piety. Therefore, books on “virtuous women” showed picture of wives fighting off tigers to save their husbands. Also shown were daughters slicing their arms to get fresh blood to mix for parental medicines or throwing themselves off cliffs rather than be re-married. Certainly surviving foot binding said something about girls’ bravery.

Chinese women were also involved in military uprisings. The “Buddha Mother” Tan Saier claimed magical skills in her revolt again Yongle. Qin Liagoyo, on the other hand, led forces against the rebel uprising of Li Ziching. Korean women often fought along with men in the Imjin war, hurling stones from fortress walls down on the attacking Japanese. The term “Haengin shirt” described the shirts women used to bring in stones to the fortress to use as missiles during attacks.

Japanese women were also known as women warriors. At her wedding to a samurai, the bride was given a knife for protection against robbers, defense in war, and for suicide if trapped by an enemy. Japanese warfare did not include a chivalrous ideal that women and children were exempt from killing. Though women were not generally trained in sword fighting, the naginata, or long spear, was more likely taught and some women, like Hangabu, became skilled archers. Wealthier women, like Lady Yodo, had their own armor, useful when she went on inspection tours of forts. Perhaps the most famous woman samurai was Tomoe Gozen. Later in World War II she was used as a role model for Japanese women facing an American invasion.

Attacks in various uprisings, like the Satsuma clan versus Hideyoshi’s armies or the Christians fighting off Tokugawa forces in the Shimabara uprising, saw women fighting along with men. When defeated, they were killed in the devastation that followed.

In 1890, Alice Mabel Bacon was invited to a Japanese home and explored an old chest with her hostess. Inside was a coat of armor-like design and a naginata cover. When Bacon asked about the coat, her companion replied that it had been handed down for generations. Its purpose was to wear on the top of fortresses not merely to fight but to make it seem, from the clothing, that male forces were larger. The nagitnata cover was there—just in case she needed it for another war—a legacy from Tokugawa Japan.

4. Women Poets

Should women be educated? Some Confucians saw education for women as a waste. A Ming saying was, “A woman without talent is a virtuous woman.” Other Confucian scholars believed that women should be educated, if only so they could read books on virtuous women, imitate them, and read them to the family. One of the problems of the Ming era was the increase in books published, often plays, romance novels, and poetry that pictured a more complex world than the “virtue” books.

While a woman of a highly placed family might write poetry and have it circulate among the extended family, her work would likely be destroyed at her death. Publishing it would reflect badly on her family’s status. Korea poet Ho Nansorhon threw most of her

Bingham, Marjorie 31 work into a fire. But some poems still exist because her brother He Yom, also a poet, respected them and had the poems published. Here is one:

Yellow gold, beautifully wrought, the half-moon pendant was a gift from my in-laws when I came in marriage. I hung it on my red silk gown. I gave it to you, my love, as you start off today, Hoping you will look at it as a token of my love. It will not be so awful if you leave it on the way, just do not hand it over as a gift to some new love. Korean poet Nansorhon

(Her marriage was not a happy one, though prospects seemed bright)

Yang Shin’s poetry was preserved partly because her husband Huang was known as a fine Chinese poet. Korean poet Shin Saimdong, considered by some as “the most respected woman of the Chos ŏn dynasty,” was known for her calligraphy and painting as well as her poetry. Again, these works were preserved by a relative, her son Yu Ya, a noted Confucian scholar.

A further complication in collecting women’s poetry was that scholarly poets wrote in Chinese, not in the secret writing of Chinese women, the hangul of many Korean women, or the Japanese women’s language. Scholars would not generally see this poetry, in “common” languages as worth collecting.

Ironically, the verses of women of outcaste status are more likely to have been collected. In Korea the kiseang or in China the sing-song women were entertainers. Their poems might be passed around the growing literary societies. Since their occupations as paid companions fell far down on the Confucian scale of ideal women, their reputations might be enhanced by their artistic abilities. Nevertheless, the theme of their poems is often of their sad fates. Lovers leave and they are isolated socially. A few poems may suggest these themes:

A still pond in the old age of Autumn— The lotus flowers are all withered. Two by two, girls of the South row their boats back, And startle A pair of mandarin ducks from their swim. They fly away, flapping over The white rushes of the opposite shore. Chug Chun-hsien, Chinese

(The tone is of life ending—“old age of autumn…the white (worn at funerals) of the last line. Mandarin ducks symbolize marriage, but that has “flown away” for the two girls.

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Jade Green Stream, don’t boast so proud of your easy passing through these blue hills. Once you have reached the broad sea, to return again will be hard. While the Bright Moon fills these empty hills, why not pause? Then go on, if you will. Hwang Chin-i

(Poem to an official who claimed he would ignore her beauty and talent—part written in Korean and part in Chinese to show her abilities and classical references.)

4. Nuns, Shamans, and Priestesses

Though Neo-Confucian thought dominated the Ming and Chos ŏn dynasties, Buddhist, shaman, Shinto, and later Christian religions offered other roles for women than the usual Confucian filial piety matrix. Confucians often opposed these religions because a woman’s role might be outside the household and might require celibacy with no children added to the ancestral line. Buddhist and Christian nuns took such vows and lived in temples or convents away from family control. Shaman women, who were seen as in touch with the spirit world through trances, might or might have their own families. The Shinto priestesses of the Ise Shrine were unmarried and thought to be, through the emperor’s line, direct descendents of the Sun Goddess they served.

These religions did not necessarily see women as equal, though some sects, like the Lotus Sutra part of Buddhism, were much more sympathetic to women than others like the Nichern. Jesuit priests from Spain and Portugal did not challenge the subservient role of women in the home. One priest even saw in foot binding a way of keeping women secluded. But being part of persecuted religions, like Christianity, later often brought women into more open and often courageous roles.

The alternative lifestyle offered by temples and convents offered leadership roles for women as abbesses. Some of the convents were located in poor temples and offered refuge for abused wives. In Japan, there were “nun’s palaces,” well furnished places where the daughters of emperors might be placed off the marriage market. Daotsi Bimcjo, for example, was the eldest daughter of an emperor who became an abbess and worked with the royal family to build convents. She was also a poet, calligrapher, and painter. Other nuns became known for their artistic skills and high level of education. The wives of rules, as the Queen Consort of Korean King T’anjong, sometimes retired to Buddhist monasteries to remove themselves from political intrigue.

Confucian schools are quick to criticize women’s roles in these religions. King Sejo was influenced to limit women’s travel to Buddhist shrines as possible immoral mixing with monks might follow. Chinese officials objected to the large Buddhist temple complex that Emperor Yongle had built, partly to honor his natural mother. Criticisms were made that ignorant women were being invited to places for superstitious fortune telling by shamans. The Tokugawa shoguns came to see Christianity as a threat to Japanese

Bingham, Marjorie 33 loyalties to clan and country. Christian women died along with their men after the Shimabara uprising in 1639.

In some households, a sort of truce was formed. The family would follow the rules of Confucian life, but in the inner quarters, surrounded by fresh flowers or candles, would be a statue of Quanyan. One of the Buddhist deities, she was considered the goddess of mercy. She remained a center of religious hope and worship even if travel to other shrines was forbidden and near-by temples closed.

Points to Consider

1. What obstacles did these note-worthy women face in their lives?

2. How did women get around restrictions to gain power or some artistic or religious freedom?

3. What forces aided them in their struggles?

4. Do you agree with scholars who call this “the worst time for women?” Or would you see compensations? On a scale of 1 being the worst and 10 the best, how would you rate this era in terms of women's status?

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The Warrior and the Confucian State

According to Neo-Confucian thought, proper behavior was “To honor the pen and despise the sword.” In an ideal Confucian nation, the sage emperor would rule with his scholarly officials. Some of these advisors would read about war, perhaps in Sui Zhi’s famous “Art of War.” But they would not actually train or participate in warfare. Ministers of War, in China, were sometimes selected without battlefield experience. There were, of course, those barbarians on the frontiers who needed controlling. An army, therefore, was a necessary evil, but one that should be looked upon as a necessary evil which might gain too much power.

China: In China, the first emperor Hongwu, set up a policy which tried to create a military of part-time farmers, thereby cutting down expenses and keeping idle soldiers busy and out of trouble. Some of these troops were settled beyond the walls in a “defense in depth” policy, keeping the Mongols or Jurchens far away from the main walls and cities. The military families, in theory, would train their sons to be soldiers for the next generation’s army.

There were, however, military examinations, not nearly as demanding as the civil examinations, for top positions in the army. These exams included knowledge of Confucian thought, the philosophy of strategy and practical ability in archery and horsemanship. Ming China did produce some excellent generals in this era like Qi Jiguang who defeated by wako (pirates) on the coast of eastern China and the Mongols on the western frontier. He developed the “mandarin duck” formation using infantry to surround armored covered wagons with more troops firing inside—a sort of forerunner of the tank and infantry squad formations of World War II.

But Qi Jiguang’s fate, beleaguered by ignorant government officials and dying poor and unappreciated, illustrates some of the weaknesses of the Ming army. Scholars, who had little sense of real military situations, made unwise decisions, offered conflicting advice, or delayed sending provisions. Generals who failed in one battle had their careers ended, and sometimes their lives. Between 1619-1625, for example, three commanders were executed and two generals committed suicide. Even when a minister of war tried to protect his generals, a powerful eunuch could countermand his orders. Wang Wei, for example, did so, telling the minister, “You idiotic bookworm. What do you know about military matters? One more word out of you and I’ll have your head.” Wang’s mismanagement of that campaign led to his death, the defeat of the Ming army at T'umu (1449) by the Mongols and the capture of Emperor Zhentong.

Further problems arose when the “defense in depth” of frontier farmer-soldiers came up against the reality of dry climate agriculture. The army could not support itself with failed crops and long supply lines to them became vulnerable to attack and expensive. Military exams might produce able horsemen and archers, but not officers skilled in mass formation drill and maneuvers.

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Korea. In Korea, also a Confucian state, military examinations were similar to the Chinese and had similar faults. Mass fighting maneuvers were seen as “barbaric”—too much an imitation of Mongol styles of fighting. Scholars discouraged the Great Hunting Ceremony of former leaders where courage and personal leadership were demonstrated. As statesmen Yu Sung-nyong put it, “Not one in a hundred knew the method of directing soldiers.” Sword training was also discouraged. Later, Chinese generals laughed at one Korean sword demonstration, much to Yu’s dismay.

The primary emphasis was on archery. King T’aejo was referred to as a “spirit bowman” for his ability. King Sejo was praised in a poem, “The sun rays dodge his arrow…” The most famous military hero of the age, Admiral Yi Sunsin, filled his diary with descriptions of his archery practice. The theory was that in the mountain fortresses of Korea, skill with arrows would be Korea’s best defense.

Korea, however, had a long, fine military heritage. Kory ŏ armies had fought off China and northerners and Silla’s “flower knights” under General Kim Yusin forged a unified Korea. In the early Chos ŏn era, Kim Chongso pushed back the Nuchen and stabilized the northern frontier. But, as his poem suggests, he was frustrated by the lack of recognition given to the military:

Let me plant the flag on Changbaek-san and wash my horse at the waters of the Tuman River. Look, effete scholars at the court, isn’t this the manly way to do things? Whose portrait do you think should be placed first in our Hall of Fame?

(Changbaek-san is one of the names for Mount Paekdu, Korea’s highest)

Later, in both China and Korea, the military was subject to corruption. Soldier-farmers slipped away from agriculture to pursue other occupations or to escape the labor forced upon them by local landlords. Toward the end of the Ming, armies fought not out of loyalty to the emperor, but for money. Jesuit priest Mateo Ricci noted soldiers saw not loyalty, but just being “in the service of a provider of employment.” When the silver began to run out, soldiers had to sell their belongings to buy arrows even as emperor Wanli was spending vast sums on buildings. Demoralized, the armies sometimes weakened so much that, that the saying became, “when one man was lost, 10,000 stampeded.” In Korea, potential soldiers bribed officials to avoid the draft and commanders tended to carry out the clan rivalries that characterized Korean politics.

Japan. There were certainly clan rivalries of Japan also, but the attitude toward the military was quite different. Confucian ideas had not yet been accepted. Instead the able warrior was an ideal figure who proved himself in actual warfare. It was an age of “gekokuyo”—the mastery of the high by the low. Men like Nobunaga or Hideyoshi rose from minor positions to become unifiers of Japan. They gained power by their skill, experience, and practical knowledge of warfare. The better they were, the more they

Bingham, Marjorie 36 attracted other samurai to their cause. They learned from the Mongols about the use of massed forces even though the ideal was the personal conflict of one samurai against another. The gun, however, had increased the importance of the askigaru, foot soldiers, who became an increasingly part of the Japanese army. They also had, based on Western technology, created better cannon.

The ideal weapon, however, still remained the sword. Zen Buddhism and the emphasis on discipline and lightning enlightenment influenced many samurai. The combination of skill and thought is seen in phrases like, “The sword is the soul of the samurai.” Similar to the Zen emphasis on “empting the mind” to reach nirvana, so too a skilled swordsman was taught to be so, practiced that he need not think as he acted. And if he were really good, according to Taia Ki, “The accomplished man does not kill people by using his sword; he lets them live by using his sword.”

The Japanese military warrior, then, did not see himself as lower on the scale than a scholar, but rather as a potential leader of society. Nobunaga was noted for his fostering of the tea ceremony as well as his military victories. Hideyoshi built a notable castle and sponsored Noh (drama) widening its popularity. He even memorized whole sections of dramas. Ieyasu encouraged reading, claiming no samurai should be without a book close by. Yet their place in history was gained through the military. No inexperienced minister of war or eunuch would have dared to challenge the orders of the Bakufu.

Points to Consider

1. The Confucian system provided for trained military leaders, but what were some of the weaknesses of the system?

2. In what ways did the prejudice against the Mongols limit Chinese and Korean military abilities?

3. How did the Japanese military system differ from the Ming and Korean?

4. What are meant by the following terms as used in the reading? Defense in Depth gekokujo ashigaru

5. What do you think the sword master Taia Ki meant by, “The accomplished man does not kill people by using his sword; he lets them live by using his sword”?

6. Neither Robert E. Lee nor Ulysses S. Grant had great success in their opening battles of the American Civil War, what would have been their fate in the Chinese army? What does your answer say about military talent?

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The Imjin War: 1593-1598 Choices in History

3. A Brief History: Choices in History

From “Song of Star Mountain” c. 1578

Enraptured by the evening sunset the boys tending cattle on the grassy bank of the clear river trill on their flutes while the dragon dozing beneath the water seems to wake and rise. Chong Chol (1536-94)

Brief History:

A “dragon year”, an “Imjin” year, is usually anticipated as lucky, prosperous year. Marriages and festivities are planned for the year. Yet 1593 was one of the most terrible years in Korean history. Japan attacked Korea with 300 or more ships and with 158,000 troops. Though Japan and Korea had had some quarrels over the centuries, largely over the issue of Japanese piracy, the nations were also major trading partners. In 1572, for example, 25 trading ships per year were expected and the city of Pusan, Korea, contained over one hundred Japanese merchants. The Japanese invasion plan was to march through Korea and conquer China.

At first it looked as if the plan might work. Japanese forces marched to Seoul, the capital of Korea in six weeks. Another force went all the way up to the northern frontier, devastating agriculture and towns in its path. Surprise, inadequately walled forts, lack of guns, and ill-led Korean troops all showed Korean weakness. On the other side, Japanese war leadership, use of massed guns of the ashigaru infantry and skilled samurai brought Japanese victory.

Korea turned to China for help. The Ming government, at first, refused to send aid. But as Japanese troops neared their border, the Chinese sent an army of about 50,000. Slowly the shape of the war changed. Korean civilians joined with the remnants of the army to bring national resistance and their navy threatened Japanese supply lines. Human disease, an epidemic that killed thousands of horses, and burnt fields brought death on all

Bingham, Marjorie 38 sides. A series of negotiated peace agreements, a re-invasion in 1597 when those failed, and more negotiations drew out the war until Japanese troops retreated in 1598.

The results of the war were devastating. Beside the Ming troops lost, the war cost China 16,000,000 ounces of silver. The cost led to other burdens and weakened the Ming for its eventual fall in 1644. Japan gained in some ways; captured Korean potters became major figures in ceramics, as in the famous Satsuma porcelains. Thousands of other Korean captives were used as slave labor in Japan. Books and art taken from Korea enriched Japan’s cultural life. But the casualty rates of Japan were high. An estimated 80,000 men were killed or died of disease. The Japanese fleet was severely hurt by Korean naval power.

Korea suffered most from the war. Estimates are that up to two million people may have died; arable land was cut almost in half. The city of Seoul and its palaces and cultural centers were burned and its governmental revenues diminished. Korean weakness, like that of the Ming would leave the nation open to Manchu invasions in 1627 and 1636.

The year of the Imjin was a very bad year indeed.

Group Exercise: Notice in the above description of the Imjin War, with the exception of the opening poem’s author, no names are given. One of the tasks of the historian is to shift through the many influential people of an era and select a few major individuals to include. For this assignment, each group is given two people, but only one may be selected for inclusion in the essay. It is supposed to be a “brief” essay, so not all important names may be part of the essay.

For each pair, explain to the class why your group chose one person over the other. Also suggest where the name might go in the essay, what about the person needs to be stressed, and how the inclusion might make the essay more understandable.

Teacher-led discussion: Another way of handling this assignment is for the teacher to tell about the two individuals and then ask the class to vote on the person who should be selected. Once the choices are made, the class could decide if they all fit together and make the essay more clear and relevant.

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Protecting Korea: Korean Admiral Yi Sunsin and Ming General Li Rusong a. Yi Sunsin: Korean Admiral 1545-1598

In the center of Seoul’s traffic stands the statue of Yi Sunsin, symbolic of his place in Korean history. He was born into a yangban family, but like so many others in the factional disputes of the time, his grandfather had been purged. The family, then, was not in great favor and Yi took the route of military examinations instead of civil service. In his first attempt at passing, he fell off his horse, breaking his leg. He bound it up with a willow branch and tried to finish. No passing that time—though he did later. The incident shows something of his tenacity and dedication to his military career.

He needed such spirit. As a member of the Eastern faction, his career was often threatened by Westerners. The inept Won Kyon, commander-in-chief of the Korea Combined Naval Forces, tried sudden attacks with little planning that proved disastrous. He often appears in Yi’s diary as drunk once more or involved with concubines. At one point Won Kyon tried to make Yi a scapegoat for his mistakes and only the interference of Prime Minister Yu Song-nyong prevented his execution. Instead, Yi was demoted to the status of a common soldier. To persevere in the midst of such political intrigue was no easy matter.

Yi was sustained, he wrote, by his mother’s wishes. Here is one of his remembrances: “After breakfast I bid farewell to my mother. She said to me in a warm, gentle voice, ‘Fight gallantly and wipe out the national disgrace.’[of the invasion]. She repeated the same words to me. I had no other desire but what she taught me. She spoke this fond farewell without shedding tears…Her voice was just solemn.” Yi did his best to beat the Japanese.

Before the war, as Commander of the Korean navy in the Cholla province, he had experimented with the turtle ship design and had some built. These ships, with their protected guns and maneuverability in ramming other ships, proved a major factor in defeating the Japanese fleet. Though Won Kon had managed to lose many Korean ships by his ineptitude, Yi rebuilt the fleet and, using it wisely, put pressure on Japanese supply lines. A measure of Yi’s ability may be seen in the Ming Admiral Chen Lien’s attitude toward him. Chen arrived with 5000 sailors and more silver for Yi’s navy. The usual Ming view of Korean commanders was dim. But Chen came to respect him highly and at the final battle Yi saved his life.

Though Yi fought 23 sea battles against the Japanese, two stand out. Taking advantage of his knowledge of tides, Yi used his “Crane Formation” at the Battle of Hanson to sink 59 of 130 enemy ships with only 13 Korean vessels. Yi had forced the Japanese through a narrow channel, which limited their firepower as they sailed toward the Koreans at the mouth of the channel. The price of these battles was, however, sometimes high. While Yi was fighting at Myeongnyang, his son Myon was killed defending the family home. Yi confided in his diary at the news,” Thus I endure, with a live body but a dead soul.”

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The Battle of Noryang was Yi’s final one. Konishi Yukinaga had massed his Japanese fleet for one final attack in 1597. In the process, Yi was surrounded. Chen came to his defense; then later Yi went to Chen’s aid. In doing so, Yi was hit by a stray bullet and wounded. He told his men to cover him with a shield so his death would not destroy morale. His son, Hoe, continued to wave the flag and beat the drum as a signal to fight on. Few of the Japanese ships made it back to Japan. Perhaps the most ironic tribute to Yi Sunsin was made by Japanese Admiral Togo in 1905. When Togo was praised for his victory against the Russians at Tsushima, he was toasted as the greatest admiral since Lord Nelson at Trafalgar. But no, Togo said, any comparison to Yi Sunsin. b. Li Rusong: Ming General 1549-1598:

When Ming General Li Rusong left to return to China after aiding Korea in the first phase of the Imjin War, he stopped in Seoul to see King Sonjo. He told the king, “For the sake of your country, my beard and mustache have all turned gray.” He further told the court that his ancestors, six generations ago, had been Korean. His father, the Ming general Li Chengliang, had wanted him to do his service to their former country and now he had. The Japanese, except for coastal forts, had left Korea. King Sonjo replied with gratitude to Li, the Ming army, and to Wanli, the Chinese emperor. “We have our country today because of your efforts on our behalf.”

But one of Sonjo’s advisors in private said, “Just because his ancestors came from [Korea] does not mean he knows anything about Korea.” Li and the Korean officials had different views of his mission. The Koreans wanted him to inflict such a terrible defeat on Japan that they would never think of another invasion. They despaired when Li negotiated with generals Kato or Konishi or stalled an advance to let the Japanese escape south without a fight. When Koreans pushed for an attack to redeem their capital at Seoul, Li kept negotiations going, even dressing up some of his soldiers as Chinese envoy to keep the pretence that the emperor wanted to talk. At times, Li even told the Koreans not to fight—an absurd idea to their generals.

Li, on the other hand, saw his mission as a Chinese general—to keep Japanese troops moving south away from China’s borders. He had demonstrated the power of the Ming by taking the city of Pyongyang. But at the Battle of Pyokje, Li’s forces were surrounded, fighting was desperate and Li would have been killed had not one of his commanders sacrificed his own life for Li’s. The heavy casualties convinced Li that negotiation and slow pressure on Japanese supply lines would force their retreat.

Li knew that his Ming army was not entirely trustworthy. Many of his soldiers were from northern provinces only loosely loyal to the Ming. They were fighting for money and the Ming treasury was running low. While the Ming had brought some supplies with them, these were depleting and war torn Korea was no place to get a good grain supply. While he could trust his immediate commanders—they were, after all, his brothers—Li never knew how the Ming court would react. There was a strong anti-war faction ready to pull him out at any time. Li believed the Japanese when they said they would retreat, but then they fought a terribly costly battle, the second battle of Chinjo with the loss of

Bingham, Marjorie 41 thousands of Korean, Japanese, and Chinese lives. More negotiations and the Japanese retreated. Hideyoshi would send them again, however, in 1597.

Li went back to China. He received a mixed reception. His early victories had stopped the Japanese advance to the northern border, but the Ming army had not wiped out Japanese forces. He was, however, promoted, but not reassigned to a major post. He returned to the job of his father, fighting the Mongols and the Jurchen (Manchu). In one of the battles against the Mongols, Li was killed. His father had retained a Jurchen boy, Nurhaci, as hostage and Li had grown up with him. Nurchi later united the Manchu tribes; the same group that would in 1627 and 1639 invade Korea and later take over China in 1644. It was quite a military household, the Li’s. No wonder Li Rusong had once told a Korean statesman, “I am always on a horse, even in my dreams.”

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Poetry and Duty: The Warrior and the Scholar

Background: Though the soldier and the scholar served the ruler, they were often at odds over policy and their place in the power hierarchy. Frustration with their duties and their roles often led them to turn to poetry as an outlet. Though Hongwu had removed classical Chinese poetry from the requirements for state examinations, Confucian scholars still sought to imitate the great poets of China. Soldiers, too, had a history of poetry writing that they continued, particularly in Japan.

Procedure: This lesson is in two parts, first warrior poetry and then scholars. The major theme of this lesson is the tension between what the individual had as a duty and the costs of that duty. For students, the central question is: “These poets were prepared to do their duty, yet…. What is at the other end of that “yet?” What restrictions did they feel about their duty and what alternatives might there be?” The class may be divided into two groups, half reading the war poetry and the other half the scholarly poetry. English teachers may wish to investigate further the particular forms of the poems, sijo or linked verse, to examine the forms of the poetry.

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A. The Warrior as Poet

Today’s video games and movies stress the skill and fierceness of medieval samurai and Chinese and Korean martial arts figures. But they rarely deal with another aspect of the military of this age—the warrior as poet. As Hojo Sook claimed, you should “hold literary skills in your left hand, martial skills in your right.” The knight in European Middle Ages might have agreed. The famous warrior-king Richard the Lionhearted wrote poetry, for example. In the English Renaissance, Sir Philip Sidney died a warrior’s death, but he’s best remembered as a fine poet. Sir Walter Raleigh is probably best known for financing the first English colonies in Virginia at Roanoke, but he too was a soldier-poet. In World War I a whole line of English poets wrote from the trenches: Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, and Stephen Spender among them.

Here is Raleigh’s last poem, written in prison the day before his beheading; King James thought he had been involved in a treasonable plot:

Even such is Time, which takes in trust Our youth, our joys, and all we have, And pays us back with age and dust; Who in the dark and silent grave, When we have wandered all our ways, Shuts up the story of our days: And from which earth, and grave, and dust, My God shall raise me up, I trust!

The creation of a “death poem” was an important part of the Japanese military tradition, though poetry was used in other ways as well. At parties, “linked verse” was popular. One person recited a few lines and then the next added lines and then the next person did the same. Some samurai, like Kato Kiyomasa, hated such evenings and grumbled that samurai should “only learn what will help the warrior.” Such poetry sessions, however, revealed how quickly men could think and how they could respond to competition with intelligence and tact. Enjoyable as these sessions might be to some, real fame came to the warrior who composed a good death poem. As Kosokau Yusi put it, “The seeds of the human heart are handed down in the leaves of words.” A suitable death poem brought a lasting reputation.

For the Japanese samurai, there were certain rituals before battle. His hair must be combed and clean; his face washed and even some rouge applied. If you were beheaded the next day, you wanted your head to look good for the viewing that was often held after battle. And your poem should be ready. The following are some samples of these poems:

Hideyoshi: My life Came like dew Disappears like dew All of Nanewa

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Is dream after dream.

Ieyasu: Whether one passes or remains behind It is all the same That you can take no one with you Is the only difference.

Yamazaki Sokan: Should someone ask where Sokan went, just say, “He had some business in another world,”

Takemata Hideshige lost a battle and his life to his rival Shibata Katsuie: Shall Ashursa (war god) subdue a man like me? I shall be born again and then I’ll cut the head off Katusui…

Japanese warriors were not the only poets. Korean admiral and soldier Yi Sunsin wrote in his “War Diary” about composing poems during the tense nights before battle. His observations of events written about in his diary sometimes became poems. Compare, for example, the following passage with the later poem written before his death in battle.

“War Diary”: “6/1594: The Ch’ungch’ong Navy Commander came and shot arrows, thereafter we had supper together. When we sat talking under the moon the sweet tunes of a jade flute wafted through the empty air from afar. We parted after gazing at the sailing moon for some hours.”

“On this moonlight night on Hansan isle I sit alone in the lookout. Great sword at my side, I am weighed down by worries. From somewhere the sad notes of a flute Rend my heart.”

The Ming general Li Rusong also wrote a death poem.

I am always on horseback Even in my Dreams.

Faced with death, these soldiers looked around themselves to see what they were losing by following their duty. Whether they felt they were losing much or not, they wanted, through their poetry, to have some lasting part of immortality.

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Points to Consider

1. Do you see any common themes in the poetry of this section?

2. What emotions seem not to be present that you might expect to find? Were there some themes a warrior would likely avoid?

3. Why did you think the poet aspect of the warrior is not part of video games or movies?

4. The following is the death poem of World War II Japanese General Tademichi Kuribayasii. He knew his death was certain as U.S. Marines were taking the island of Iwo Jima in 1945. Does his poem fit into the samurai tradition?

Unable to complete this heavy task for our country Arrows and bullets all spent, so sad we fall.

But unless I smite the enemy, My body cannot rest in the fields. Yea, I shall be born again seven times And grasp the sword in my hand.

When ugly weeds cover this land, My only thought will be the Imperial Land.

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B. The Scholar as Poet

In past dynasties like the T’ang and Song, poetry had a central position in the scholarly world. In the Ming and Chos ŏn eras, however, the emphasis was on service to the state. Further, the Buddhist view of nature—and those of Daoism and shamans as well—was looked upon as less significant than the hierarchy of human relationships. Yet the role of the scholarly official could be a dangerous one, with physical punishment, exile, torture, imprisonment or even execution for slip-ups or rivalries. Of 725 men listed in high posts in China, 220 (30%) ended in disaster: 14 demoted, 133 dismissed, 49 imprisoned; and 20 executed. In 1424-34, 26 were demoted. Emperor Chia-chieng in 1524 had 134 officials flogged with 16 dying as a result.

In the later Ming, it is not hard to see why some scholars avoided service in the government. Some retired early, while some passed the examinations but never served. The following poems represent some questioning of the Confucian scholars’ life of public service. How do the following poets justify a different lifestyle?

Korea: Yun Sun-do “Song to Five Companions” on quitting government service.

How many friends have I, you ask? The streams and rocks, the pines and bamboo; Moon rising over eastern mountain You I welcome too. Enough. Beyond these five companions What need is there for more.

Korea: Chong Kug-in (1401-81) from “Song to Spring”

You who are buried in the dust of this world, What do you think of my life? Do I match, or do I not, the refinement of men of the past? Though quite alone, the only man between earth and sky, Would I not still know joy buried in these woods? I build a small, thatched cottage, Close by the jade green stream, And amid groves of pine and bamboo play host to the wind and moon.

Korean: Pak Il-lo (1561-1643) from “Song of a Humble Life”

Forgetting myself in devotion to duty [Imjin War] determined though confronting death,

Bingham, Marjorie 47 for five years of war unafraid to die I trod upon corpses, forded rivers of blood, and suffered through numberless battles.

Free again, I sought this house. The long-bearded servant had forgotten the distinction between master and man; I doubt that he will inform me of the arrival of spring….

Chinese: Zhang Yu (1333-1385) An official later faced with arrest, he committed suicide

“Song of the Relay Boats” relay boats come, sounding like thunder. One is just leaving; another demands to be rush in. How dare we delay any of them?

“Staying Overnight at T’en-ning Ch’an Temple”

I rush to the office when I’m in the city, but when my duties are over, I take walks in the hills. This evening I visit a Ch’en dynasty temple, its corridors and halls filled with ancient treasures. In crumbling niches, gold Buddhas shine; marvelous paintings cover high walls. A broken stele can no longer be read: cracked and covered with moss. The old monk, well acquainted with the Dharma, sits in meditation, cultivating tranquility.

Chinese: Xu Zhenqing (1479-1511) Brilliant scholar assigned to provincial duties “Written at Wuchang”

The leaves are not falling yet into Kongtin Lake. Autumn is poised to rise along Xiaoxiang River. In this tall house I hear rain tonight, sleeping along in Wuchang City. Burdened with homesickness, I grieve here where the Han and Yangtze Rivers merge And can’t understand why those geese outside the sky are so happy about long migration.

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Chinese: Kao Chi (1336-74) Official who was executed from “Passing by the Battlefield at Feng-k’ou”

…The 100,000 troops that fought here then, of those defeated, could any still survive? That old man, alone, must be here now to mourn some son or grandson he has lost. For years now there’s been no end to war, the strong and weak both swallowed up by it. In the end, who earns fame and merit? They’ve been killing people everywhere on earth. Ashamed I have no plan to end this chaos, I stand stock still, lamentation in my soul.

Japan did not have the Confucian scholarly tradition in this era. But officials there might also dream of escape from their duties. The following is by a Buddhist abbot, perhaps foreshadowing his death, (dark slopes).

Japan: Zekkai (1336-1405)

I have locked the gate on a thousand peaks To live here with clouds and birds. All day I watch the hills As clear winds fill the bamboo door. A supper of pine flowers, Monk’s robes of chestnut dye— What dream does the world hold To lure me from these dark slopes?

Just as the warrior sought poetry to establish his own feelings away from his duties, so scholars too found release in writing about meaning away from their roles.

Points to Consider

1. How did these poets justify an alternative to state service?

2. What values do they stress instead?

3. Do any use the “I have paid my dues already” argument?

4. How do you view service to the state and the community? Are they just being escapists at times?

5. Korean poets often used the sijo format of a three line poem, 14-16 syllables for each line, distributed through 4 distinctive breath groups for a total number of syllables not being more than 45. Here’s Chon Ch’ol’s poem on the confusion he saw in the Korean

Bingham, Marjorie 49 government during the Imjin War. Does it fit this pattern or would we need to see it in its original form?

What happens if you pull down beams and supports? A host of opinions greet the leaning skeleton house. Carpenters with rulers and ink keep milling around.

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