SADAE (SERVING THE GREAT) IN KOREA–GREAT POWER(S) RELATIONS SINCE 1392 by Kong Chan MA Deakin, MBA ANU, BA S Dakota Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Deakin University February, 2016 Acknowledgments For my PhD study, I am unusually fortunate to have Professor Baogang He and Dr. David Hundt as my supervisors and I wish to express my deepest indebtedness to them. During the past five years of research and writing, Professor He and Dr. Hundt have been exceptionally kind and patient to me, providing me with invaluable suggestions that saved me from lots of errors and inspired me to refine my ideas. This thesis simply could not have been completed without their gracious guidance and unstinting encouragement to me. I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my wife, who has always been the source of unconditional love and tireless support. Abstract Sadae (‘serving the great’) was the core of Joseon Korea’s relations with Ming/Qing China for over five centuries, from 1392 until 1910. Since the end of the colonial period under the Japanese rule (1910–45), the legacies of Sadae have continued to influence the foreign policy of both Korean states towards the great powers. The Korean interpretation of Sadae diverges from that of the Chinese, so Sadae needs to be studied in more detail in order to comprehensively understand Korea’s relations with the great powers throughout history. Such an understanding is imperative to the analysis of contemporary international relations (IR) in Northeast Asia, because it can help us avoid over-generalised conclusions such as predictions that a Sinocentric order will inevitably re-emerge in the region. This thesis adopts a constructivist-cum-realist approach to study both the ideational and material factors that are related to Sadae’s formation and practice. It uses a research methodology of historical inquiry in order to analyse historical evidence concerning Joseon–Ming/Qing relations. The primary source of data for the thesis is The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. The main policy implication of this study is that Sadae was a multi-faceted concept and it was implemented in different ways by Joseon political elites. The thesis thus suggests that the possibility for a re-emergence of the pre-modern Sinocentric order in the Asia–Pacific region is minimal because China is not able to offer an ideology that can appeal to others like Confucianism did in the past. The Korean experience of managing its relations with the great powers, however, is of significant value to those middle powers that are facing or will be facing a trilateral dilemma as a result of Sino–US competition. Theoretically, the main implication is that the constructivist-cum-realist approach proposed in this thesis can provide scholars who specialise in the IR of Northeast Asia with a comprehensive and balanced analytical framework for examining events in the region. This approach will help them better analyse not only state security and international trade, but also historical complexity and cultural nuance in interstate relations. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Korea–Great Power(s) Relations in Historical and Cultural Context……………………………………………………………. 1 1.1 History and Culture in Northeast Asian International Relations……………………………………………………….. 2 1.2 Sadae: the Core of Korea–Great Power(s) Relations in History………………………………………………………..... 9 1.3 Research Methodology and Thesis Structure..……………….... 13 Chapter 2: Review of the Realist and Constructivist Literatures, and the Hybrid Approach to Studying Sadae…..…………………………………. 18 2.1 Realism………………………………………………………... 19 2.2 Constructivism…………………….…………………………... 26 2.3 The Constructivist-cum-Realist Approach to Studying Sadae... 35 Chapter 3: Background, Rationale and Practice of Sadae………….………… 41 3.1 Background of Sadae…………..……………………….…….. 42 3.1.1 Confucian Sinocentrism……………………………...…. 43 3.1.2 Proliferation of Confucianism in Korea………………… 47 3.2 Rationale of Sadae…..………………………………………… 50 3.2.1 Ideational Aspect of Sadae……………………………… 50 3.2.2 Material Aspect of Sadae……………………………….. 54 3.3 Sadae in Practice………………………………………………. 58 3.3.1 Confucianisation of the Domestic Society……………… 59 3.3.2 Foreign Relations within the Tribute System…………… 63 3.4 Understanding the Different Faces of Sadae………………….. 67 Chapter 4: Sadae in the Era of Ming’s Unipolar Order (1392–1608)................ 72 4.1 The Reign of Taejo (1392–8)………………………………….. 73 4.2 The Reign of Taejong (1400–18) ……………………………... 77 4.3 The Reign of Sejong (1418–50)……………………………….. 82 4.4 The Reign of Sejo (1455–68) …………………………………. 91 4.5 The Reign of Seongjong (1469–94)…………………………… 94 4.6 The Reign of Yeonsangun (1494–1506)………………………. 100 4.7 The Reign of Jungjong (1506–44)…………………………….. 101 4.8 The Reign of Myeongjong (1545–67)………………………… 106 4.9 The Reign of Seonjo (1567–1608)…………………………...... 110 Chapter 5: Sadae in the Era of Changing Polarity (1608–1800): a Bipolar, an Imaginary Bipolar, and a Unipolar Order…………………………. 121 5.1 Joseon between Ming and Manchu…………………………… 122 5.1.1 The Reign of Gwanghaegun (1608–23)…………….….. 122 5.1.2 The Reign of Injo (1623–49)…………………………… 132 5.2 Joseon between the Fallen Ming and Qing….……………….. 144 5.2.1 The Reign of Hyojong (1649–59)…….……………..…. 146 5.2.2 The Reign of Hyeonjong (1659–74)…….……………… 150 5.2.3 The Reign of Sukjong (1674–1720)….………………… 153 5.2.4 The Reign of Yeongjo (1724–76)….…………………… 159 5.3 Joseon: Accepting Qing as the Only Great (from 1776)……… 164 Chapter 6: Sadae in the Modern Era (1800–1910): the End of Ideational Sadae and the Continuation of Material Yongdae…………………………… 172 6.1 Joseon: Resisting the New ‘Barbarians’ – the Western Powers (1800–73)…………………………………………………….. 173 6.2 Decline of Joseon’s Ideational Sadae towards Qing (1874 – mid-1884)………………………………………………..…… 180 6.3 Yongdae: Joseon’s Strategy to Seek Independence in a Multipolar Order (mid-1884 – 1910)…………………………………….. 196 Chapter 7: ‘Anti-Sadae’ and Yongdae: the Legacies of Sadae in the Contemporary Era (1910 – Present)………………………………………………….. 214 7.1 The Rationale of ‘Anti-Sadae’ and Yongdae………………… 215 7.2 The Combined Application of ‘Anti-Sadae’ and Yongdae…... 228 Chapter 8: Conclusion: Sadae, History and Culture, and Contemporary Northeast Asian International Relations………………………………………….. 241 8.1 The Three Faces of Sadae……………………………………. 242 8.2 Implications…………………………………………………... 248 8.3 Contributions…………………………………………………. 251 8.4 Suggestions for Further Research…………………………….. 255 References……………………………………………………………………. 257 Appendix 1: Glossary of Key Terms…………………………………………. 283 Appendix 2: Monarchs of Joseon and China (Ming and Qing)………………. 285 1 Chapter 1 Korea–Great Power(s) Relations in Historical and Cultural Context The Korean Peninsula has been strategically important to great powers’ rivalry since the pre-modern time. For over six centuries, Korea was and is deeply involved in every competition between the great powers in the region: Ming China and feudal Japan (late 16th century), Ming and Qing (early to mid 17th century), Qing China and modern Japan (mid to late 19th century), modern Japan and Tsar Russia (late 19th to early 20th century), the two ideologically different blocs of capitalism and communism (during the Cold War), and the United States and China (at present and at least in near future). Managing the relations with great powers thus has been dominating the working agenda of the country/countries on the peninsula. From the realists’ perspective, the goal of Korea’s foreign policy should focus on surviving in the ‘fights between the whales’, and to bandwagon with either the incumbent or the rising great may seem to be the only course of action that is left for Korea. However, a substantial amount of evidence in the Korean history indicated that material forces (i.e. military and economic power) were not the only factor that determined the making of Korea’s relations with the great powers; ideational concerns (i.e. historical and cultural influence) also contributed to the shaping of the Korea–great power(s) relations – and this has to be understood with a constructivist approach. In this thesis, it is therefore suggested that a better way to study the Korea–great power(s) relations is to employ a conceptual approach that combines realism and constructivism, whereby factors of either the material or the ideational aspect that contribute to the making of Korea’s foreign policy towards the great power(s) will not be neglected in the analysis of Northeast Asian interstate relations. This hybrid approach can help to avoid drawing over-generalised conclusions such as that of Kang (2003, p.67), who expected the re-emerging of a hierarchical Sinocentric order in modern East Asia and believed that ‘if the system is experiencing a return to a pattern of hierarchy, the result may be increased stability’ in the region. 2 To examine the Korea–great power(s) relations in history, one has to study the ٣ε), because it remained as the core of ,practice of Sadae* (serving the great Korea’s foreign relations towards the great powers for centuries. It was a policy formally initiated with the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty in 1392 that defined the Joseon–Ming relationship, and it was terminated officially with the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895 that proclaimed the independence of Korea. As a practice that is well known in China and Korea, however, Sadae is interpreted differently in these two countries. While Sadae is viewed in China as a spontaneous action of the Koreans driven by their admiration for China’s supremacy, Sadae in Korea is considered a pragmatic strategy employed by the Koreans to use China in order to serve Korea’s national interests. Due to the competing interpretations of Sadae, the concept needs to be studied in more detail. How the practice of Sadae varied over time during the five centuries of the Joseon Dynasty is the research question of this thesis, and the central argument is that Sadae was not a single-dimensional concept; it was complex.