Bak Hui-jung | |
Hangul | 박희중 |
---|---|
Hanja | 朴熙中 |
Revised Romanization | Bak Hui-jung |
McCune–Reischauer | Pak Hǔi-chung |
Bak Hui-jung (1364–?) was a scholar-official of the Joseon Dynasty Korea in 14th and 15th centuries.
He was also diplomat and ambassador, representing Joseon Dynasty interests in a diplomatic mission to the Ashikaga shogunate in Japan. [1]
King Sejong dispatched a diplomatic mission to Japan in 1423. This embassy to court of Ashikaga Yoshinori was led by Bak Hui-jung. [1]
The delegation from the Joseon court traveled to Kyoto in response to a message sent by the Japanese shogun; [1] and also, the delegation was charged with conveying an offer to send a copy of a rare Buddhist text. [2]
A diplomatic mission conventionally consisted of three primary figures—the main envoy, the vice-envoy, and a document official. Also included were one or more official writers or recorders who created a detailed account of the mission. [3] In this instance, the vice-envoy was Yi Ye, [4] who would return to Japan in 1432 as ambassador. [1]
The Japanese hosts may have construed these mission as tending to confirm a Japanocentric world order. [5] The Joseon diplomats were more narrowly focused in negotiating protocols for Joseon-Japan diplomatic relations. [1]
Bak Hui-jung's historical significance was confirmed when his mission was specifically mentioned in a widely distributed history published by the Oriental Translation Fund in 1834. [2]
In the West, early published accounts of the Joseon kingdom are not extensive, but they are found in Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu (published in Paris in 1832), [6] and in Nihon ōdai ichiran (published in Paris in 1834). Joseon foreign relations and diplomacy are explicitly referenced in the 1834 work.