Organizer: Isabelle Sancho, Harvard University
Chair: Adam Bohnet, University of Toronto
Discussant: JaHyun Kim Haboush, Columbia University
China was the major Other for pre-modern Korea, being
genuinely of immense cultural and political importance. However, the
Sino-Korean relationship is often understood simplistically, without a thorough
consideration of the historically contingent nature of the “mental representation” that Koreans had
of the Chinese Other. The main objective of the panel is to reveal the ambiguous,
contradictory, and protean nature of Korean visions of China during the Koryo
(918-1392) and Choson (1392-1910) dynasties. The China of Korean imaginations
included many literary and historical Chinas, and could be seen as the source
of Confucianism, the font of Buddhism, or a barbarized land. The political reality
of “China” at times fused with, and at times formed in opposition
to, that of Inner Asia; thus, as Breuker points out, the Khitan Liao Dynasty,
later treated as a barbarian aggressor, was for the Koryo dynasty a country
with a cultural significance rivalling the Song. Political China could never
be completely removed from the idealized China of literature, and in the
poetic exchanges of Kwon Kun with the Hongwu emperor discussed by Alston,
the two merged. Indeed, such was the cultural and political importance of
China to Korean elites that contradictory images of China could exist within
the works of the same scholar, as Sancho discusses in her analysis of Yulgok.
Moreover, as Bohnet describes in his investigation into late Choson seditious
movements, officially-sanctioned Confucian visions of China could be put to
subversive uses by malcontents with anti-dynastic goals.
Dane Hunter Alston, Australian National University
In 1396, a diplomatic rift emerged between the Choson government and
its Chinese neighbor, the Ming. The Ming court took offence to poorly
worded diplomatic correspondences and promptly froze all contact with Choson.
Court official and scholar, Yangch'on Kwon Kun (1352-1409), volunteered
to go to Ming and resolve the dispute. Not only did Kwon end up resolving
the diplomatic dispute between the two countries and securing the release
of detained envoys, but he also struck a rapport with Emperor Hongwu. The
emperor lavished feasts, clothing, and tours upon Kwon and even composed
poetry for him. Kwon reciprocated with three collections of poems, totaling
24 individual poems. Upon returning to Choson Kwon was celebrated for solving
the diplomatic dispute and he gained considerable kudos for his poetic
exchanges with the Emperor.
This paper will centre on Kwon's trip to Ming and his exchange of poetry
with the Hongwu. It will chart domestic events in both Ming and Choson
leading up to the diplomatic dispute in 1396 and then use Kwon’s trip
and the exchange of poetry as a vehicle to explore the diplomatic, territorial
and historical issues that surrounded this event and relations between
the two nations.
Adam Bohnet, University of Toronto
Late Choson Ming Loyalism is often associated with the court and powerful
lineages, whose image of China is seen as supporting their authority;
indeed, their idealization of the “Chinese” dynastic tradition is seen
as having strengthened the autonomy and legitimacy of the Choson court against
the Qing. It is, however, notable that, during the reign of Sukchong (1674-1720),
there were several cases in which the narrative of Ming legitimacy was used
by seditious marginal elites who put anti-dynastic claims into the mouths
of purported Ming remnant subjects. Although these malcontents shared with
the then inchoate Noron Ming Loyalist narrative the idealization of Ming
legitimacy and the pose of hostility to the Qing, they expressed these seemingly
orthodox sentiments in consort with such unorthodox cultural currents as
the subversive geomantic tradition of the Chong’gamnok. Indeed, the
image of the Ming remnant subject which was so important in such narratives
was partly a reflection of actual Ming migrants in Choson, many of whom
were involved in such socially marginal occupations as the military and
geomancy, and were thus more closely tied to the world of malcontented
marginal elites then they were to prominent yangban lineages. Ming Loyalism,
in other words, had a larger audience than is usually believed. The idealization
of Ming legitimacy was not a unidirectional narrative imposed by the
elites upon the Choson populace, but developed through the interaction
between elites and non-elites, and could be turned to the advantages
of either.
Remco Erik Breuker, Australian National University
The influence of Chinese states on Koryo (918-1352) has been well documented,
while that of the states in Manchuria and Northern China has been much
neglected. The many-layered visions Koryo literati constructed of Manchurian
states, in particular Liao (916-125), have never been scrutinized. Essentialist
readings of the relationships between Koryo, China, and Manchuria have
always sufficed; in these readings, China is constructed as Koryo’s
Other, at once a source of civilization and a potential threat to native
identity. Manchurian states are depicted as the source of all that is
bad: invasions, barbarity, darkness.
Evidence from historical, religious and literary sources, epigraphy,
material culture and architecture strongly suggests, however, that Koryo
looked as much to the northern states as it did to China. A straightforward
analysis of diplomatic relations unequivocally confirms this. More significantly,
however, Liao influences on Koryo literature, state administration, religious
architecture, material culture, art and religion were pervasive and perhaps
even larger than the Sinitic influences in Koryo.
After the demise of Liao, conflation occurred between the images of the
idealized China from the classics and the real influences of Liao upon
the civilizing projects in Koryo. In a very real way, Koryo visions of
China were also visions of Liao.
This paper will attempt to disentangle Koryo visions of China and Liao
and draw attention to Liao’s role as a civilizational model for Koryo.
It will examine the ambiguities in Koryo-China-Liao relations and portray
Koryo’s other Other.
Isabelle Sancho, Harvard University
Yulgok Yi I is admired by many scholars for initiating a Korean reappraisal
of Chinese Neo-Confucianism. He was also a high-official involved in
various aspects of state administration, including diplomatic exchanges
with China.
While his thought has been extensively studied as part of the history
of philosophy, fewer studies have considered his vision, or mental representation,
of China. Exploring this subject, however, could allow us to reconsider
his thought from the broader angle of the “intellectual history”,
as his understanding of China is central to both his philosophy and his
politics. What did Yulgok actually think about the Ancient, “textual” or “philosophical” China
he had been studying all his life and about the real, contemporary China?
Many contradictions and ambiguities on this topic appear through the
various texts in his collected works. China, seen by Yulgok, is both
ahistorical and historical.
His image of China can be reduced to neither that of the idealized source
of Confucian civilization nor to that of an often difficult neighbor
and rival.
The study of Yulgok’s protean vision of China will be examined from
different viewpoints, for this theme is connected to a wide range of discourses
and practices. The poems, minor texts, philosophical texts, treatises, memoirs,
and official and personal correspondence will be studied, from diachronic
and synchronic perspectives, with the hope of revealing the mental mechanisms
through which Yulgok uses “China” to define and find a Korean
Confucian Way for his time.
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