Ryukyu appeared in the historical stage in East Asia in the latter of 14th century, and it was a prosperous marine kingdom through connecting trade of Myeong, Chosun, Japan and East Asia. In this period, Ryukyu joined in the international society orde...
Ryukyu appeared in the historical stage in East Asia in the latter of 14th century, and it was a prosperous marine kingdom through connecting trade of Myeong, Chosun, Japan and East Asia. In this period, Ryukyu joined in the international society order of East Asia. Especially, since Chosun, and Ryukyu were close to Japan and these two countries were the route of expansion for Japan geographically, cultural interchange and cooperation between two nations through political and military relationships was continued.
This paper investigated the background of diplomatic relationships between Chosun and Ryukyu, human and material exchange, and the reason of decline. In addition to it, the concrete content and features of international relations of 『Ryukyu Chungsungsa』 are examined in order to understand the formation of relationship with Chosun and the orientation of change.
The findings are as followings:
First, in the part of ancient Ryukyu, on the grounds that the human and material interchange between Chosun and Ryukyu was vigorous, Korean history was recorded more particularly than any other time. The establishment of Chosun and international relations and the start of trade between Chosun and Ryukyu, the method of human and material exchange and the decline of interchange of these two nations were recorded as well. In addition, the description of 『Chosunwangjosilok』 and 『Yeokdaeboan』 were the substantial proofs to inform us of the relationship between two nations. Especially, 「Ryukyugyeonmungi」 listed in the 『Chosunwangjosilok』 recorded the general customs of people and laws of Ryukyu and the perception of Chosun people towards Ryukyu in those days. The description of ancient Ryukyu in Korean history put its emphasis on economic and cultural exchange. It represents the fact that Chosun and Ryukyu were influenced each other as a result of vigorous interchange.
Secondly, in the part of modern Ryukyu, the description of Ryukyu in regard to Korean history became decreased in terms of volume. It reflects that the relationships between Chosun and Ryukyu entered the stage of decline. Simaju, a Japanese historian described the invasion and reign of Japan towards Ryukyu, the process of national isolation policy, the collapse of Myeong and the establishment process of Chong, the exchange effect of Chosun and Ryukyu on the modern culture, and the coping strategy of Ryukyu to the emergence of European ships and the process of being possessed to Japan.
In the part of modern Ryukyu, the description put weight on China and Japan instead of independent interchange between Ryukyu and Korea and revealed the tensed circumstance. For example, the cooperation of Ryukyu in the Japanese invasion to Chosun in 1952, or the war between Chong and Japan in the process of expanding the invasion towards Chosun were recorded. That is, the description of complicated political circumstance was significant in the record rather than the interchange of economy and culture.
The investigation of the relationship between Ryukyu and Chosun through history textbook out of the perspective of Japanese, gives us opportunity to compare our historical recognition with that of people of Ryukyu. In addition, the individual approach, focusing on the relationship of Chosun and Ryukyu offers us a certain aspect of international relations of Chosun. The understanding of international policy in the era of Chosun is applied to the structure of worldwide East Asia. As one of diplomatic policy based on Fraternity and dependence, the case of Ryukyu helps us grasp the relationships of Korea, China, and Ryukyu in these days.
It is true that we have not tried to approach the independent history of Ryukyu in an objective and universal way and we have considered Ryukyu as one part of Japan. However, the culture of Ryukyu is not confined to the local culture of Japan and includes the political, social and culture matters related to the historic relationships with China, Japan and Korea. The Cultural interchange with Korea before the modern time is meaningful in this aspect. In this regard, we can reorganize the circle of culture as 4 nations; Korean, China, Japan, Ryukyu through breaking from the existing circle of 3 cultures; Korea, China and Japan. This new perspective can contribute to broadening the width of historical recognition.
It is also hoped that this paper will serve as a steppingstone from which studies of relationships between Ryukyu and Chosun may be activated.