Joseon Tongsinsa

Korean spelling
Korean alphabet :	조선 통신사
Revised Romanization :	Joseon Tongsinsa
McCune-Reischauer :	Choson Tongsinsa

Korean ambassadors on the way to Japan (1655)

Procession of Korean ambassadors in Edo, capital of Tokugawa (1748)

As Joseon Tongsinsa ( Korean : 조선 통신사 ) the sending of a diplomatic delegation of the Joseon Empire ( 조선 ) to Japan , which had the goal after the end of the Imjin War (1592-1598) at the instigation of the Japanese Tokugawa - Shogunate is called ( 徳川氏 ) to end the hostilities between the two kingdoms and to bring about peace.

history

After the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi ( 豊臣秀吉 ) (1537–1598), who was responsible for death and destruction during the Imjin War in Korea , the Tokugawa shogunate issued a request to Joseon's ruler Seonjo ( 선조 ) (1552–1608) To negotiate peace between the two peoples. The Joseon royal family accepted the offer and in 1607 sent a 400 to 500-strong delegation to Edo ( 江戸 ), the former capital of the Japanese Empire, which is now called Tokyo . The journey lasted six months and led from Hanseong ( 한성 ), the capital of Joseon (today Seoul ) via the port city of Busan ( 부산 ), the Japanese islands of Tsushima ( 対馬 ) and Kyūshū ( 九州 ) to the main island of Honshū ( 本州 ) and then on to Edo.

It was the beginning of diplomatic relations between the once warring states, which lasted from 1607 to 1811. During this time, the Joseon Empire sent a total of 12 diplomatic delegations to Japan. The strengthened relations between the countries not only served to secure peace, but also led to a lively bilateral cultural exchange. On their travels through Japan, the Korean diplomats and their entourage were welcomed at the courts of the Japanese princes and served like royalty. The costs for this are said to have been so considerable that the shogunate is said to have got into financial difficulties.

World historical significance

The governments of South Korea and Japan were aware of the world-historical significance of the documents existing in both countries about the diplomatic efforts of those years and applied for it through the Busan Cultural Foundation (South Korea) and the Liaison Council of All Places Associated with Chosen Tsushinshi (Japan) together in the year To designate the document collection together with the existing images as World Document Heritage at UNESCO in 2016. As early as 1995, the Japanese organization founded to safeguard the heritage and found her sitting on the Korea Strait lying island Tsushima ( 対馬 ). In 2002 the two organizations appeared together in public to draw attention to the value of the mutual collection of documents.

In 2017, UNESCO finally decided to include 111 documents, consisting of 333 individual pieces, in the Register of World Document Heritage. The registered documents comprise a total of 51 diplomatic documents, 65 travel documents, which consist of 136 documents and pictures, and 41 documents on the cultural exchange of the two countries, which consist of 146 documents and pictures. Of these documents, 124 papers and pictures are kept in South Korea and 209 papers and pictures in Japan.

literature

Suh Kyung-ho: Documents relating to Joseon's diplomatic missions to Japan are UNESCO World Heritage Sites . In: Koreana . Volume 13, No. 1. The Korea Foundation , 2018, ISSN 1975-0617 , p. 38–43 (German language edition).
Documents on Joseon Tongsinsa / Chosen Tsushinshi: The History of Peace Building and Cultural Exchanges between Korea and Japan from the 17th to 19th Century . In: International Memory of the World Register . UNESCO , 2016 (English, Online [PDF; 316 kB ; accessed on November 2, 2018] Nomination Form ).

Web links

Documents on Joseon Tongsinsa / Chosen Tsushinshi: The History of Peace Building and Cultural Exchanges between Korea and Japan from the 17th to 19th Century . In: Memory of the World . UNESCO, 2017,accessed November 2, 2018.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Suh: Documents relating to Joseon's diplomatic missions to Japan are UNESCO World Document Heritage . In: Koreana . 2018, p. 40 f .
↑ Documents on Joseon Tongsinsa / Chosen Tsushinshi: The History of peacebuilding and Cultural Exchanges between Korea and Japan from the 17th to 19th Century . 2016, p. 4 .
↑ ^a ^b Suh: Documents relating to Joseon's diplomatic missions to Japan are UNESCO World Document Heritage . In: Koreana . 2018, p. 40 .
↑ Documents on Joseon Tongsinsa / Chosen Tsushinshi: The History of peacebuilding and Cultural Exchanges between Korea and Japan from the 17th to 19th Century . 2016, p. 2 .

[Koreana_2018_S40f-1] Suh: Documents relating to Joseon's diplomatic missions to Japan are UNESCO World Document Heritage . In: Koreana . 2018, p. 40 f .

[Nomination_Form_S4-2] Documents on Joseon Tongsinsa / Chosen Tsushinshi: The History of peacebuilding and Cultural Exchanges between Korea and Japan from the 17th to 19th Century . 2016, p. 4 .

[Koreana_2018_S40-3] Suh: Documents relating to Joseon's diplomatic missions to Japan are UNESCO World Document Heritage . In: Koreana . 2018, p. 40 .

[Nomination_Form_S2-4] Documents on Joseon Tongsinsa / Chosen Tsushinshi: The History of peacebuilding and Cultural Exchanges between Korea and Japan from the 17th to 19th Century . 2016, p. 2 .