- Title : In 1798, Joseon's Diplomats to China: Ways between dreams and ideals
- Author : Kim Ho(HK Professor)
- Journal : Studies of Chinese & Korean Humanities
- Publication Date : 2023.12
- Abstract
In 1798, a Joseon diplomatic mission to China was due to return home from a routine assignment. But the Joseon diplomatic corps had an unexpected mission. Firstly, the repatriation of Chinese fishermen who had been shipwrecked in Joseon from Qing China in November 1798. The king Jeongjo asked the diplomats to take the oldest fishermen to Peking. It was an opportunity to demonstrate the king Jeongjo's commitment to the elderly. But when the 80-year-old fisherman died in the middle of the journey, the king Jeongjo's plan went awry. Of course, the king Jeongjo was able to send a official document to the Peking court stating that his respecting for the elderly was shared by the Qianlong Emperor, thereby conveying Joseon's "righteousness" to the Qing imperial court. Secondly, with the sudden death of the Chinese emperor Qianlong in January 1799, the Joseon diplomatic corps was invited to attend the Qing imperial funeral. As they were sent to the Qing dynasty to represent Joseon, they had to prove that Joseon was a civilised country, beyond the poems that denigrated the Qing as uncivilised. King Jeongjo claimed that the two characters[義理], though seemingly empty, were the bright light under Heaven. In the 18th century, the Joseon Dynasty not only practised righteousness itself, but also constantly sought to build a network of righteousness with its neighbours.
|
