The East Asian War, 1592-1598

As East Asia regains its historical position as a world centre, information on the history of regional relations becomes ever more critical. Northeast Asia saw five centuries of international peace from 1400 to 1894, broken only by one international war - the invasion of Korea in the 1590s by Japan. This war involved Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Southeast Asians, and Europeans; it saw the largest overseas landing in world history to date and devastated Korea. This book gives a comprehensive analysis of the war and its aftermath, deepening understanding of East Asian international relations and providing important insights into the strategic forces which continue to operate in the region.

James B. Lewis is the University Lecturer in Korean History at the University of Oxford, UK.

Introduction Part 1: International and Domestic Background 1. The Relationship among China, Korea, and Japan in the Sixteenth Century 2. Korea's Domestic Situation and Relations with Japan on the Eve of the Imjin Waeran 3. Trade and Violence in Korean-Japanese Relations, 1510-1609 Part 2: Invasion 4. The Imjin Waeran: Contrasting the First and the Second Invasions of Korea 5. The Japan-Ming Negotiations and Hideyoshi's View of Chos-n 6. Post-war Domain Source Material on Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea: The Wartime Memoirs of Shimazu Soldiers 7. Activities of the Chos-n Navy and Progress of Important Naval Engagements during the Imjin Waeran (1592-98) 8. A Consideration of Guerrilla Resistance in the Imjin Waeran 9. A Korean War 10. Ming Grand Strategy and the Intervention in Korea 11. Wanli China: Rethinking China's Involvement in the Imjin Waeran 12. The Celestial Warriors: Military Aid and Abuse during the Korean War, 1592-98 Part 3: Impact and Memory 13. The Inestimable Benevolence of Saving a Country on the Brink of Ruin': Chos-n-Ming and Chos-n-Later Jin Relations in the Seventeenth Century 14. Chos-n Korea and Ming China After the Imjin Waeran: State Rituals in the Later Chos-n Period 15. War and Cultural Exchange 16. The Imjin Waeran in Korean and Japanese Literature17. Fashioning Womanly Confucian Virtue: The Virtuous Woman in Post-war Literary Discourse Conclusion