The Jingnan Campaign and the reversal of the relationship between Joseon Korea and Ming china

Abstract

It was the personal will of the Ming emperor and the political change of the Ming Dynasty that led the trend of relations between Joseon and Ming. In particular, the Jingnan Campaign served as a direct opportunity to reverse the Joseon-Ming relationship, which reached its ruin. However, it was Joseon's active and preemptive diplomacy that stabilized Joseon- Ming relations. King Jeongjong(定宗) dispatched two groups of envoys to try to contact the Jianwen 建文court. Jianwen Emperor showed favor to Joseon and accepted to bestow a title. However, The enthronement of King Taejong(太 宗) provided suspicions to Jianwen Emperor. The relationship between Joseon and Ming was stagnated again. King Taejong dedicated 3,000 horses as well as proposed horse trade in order to reverse Joseon-Ming relationship. Eventually, Jianwen Emperor bestowed King Taejong the title as a king of Joseon. In the second year of King Taejong's reign, Joseon began to end its relations with the Jianwen court in anticipation of Yongle(永樂) Emperor's victory. At this time, there were two major diplomatic agendas that could have been disputed: horse trade and fugitive soldiers(漫散軍) issues. Upon hearing the news of the enthronement of Yongle Emperor, Joseon sent an envoy as soon as possible to celebrate the enthronement. Envoy Ha-Ryun(河崙) used his wit to ask the emperor to renew Joseon-Ming relationship. The emperor readily allowed it. At the same time, he demanded that the horse trade and fugitive soldiers issues, which occurred during the Jianwen reign, should be resolved. Joseon quickly resolved the two issues, which played a crucial role in stabilizing Joseon-Ming relations.