background material on the Japanese pirate invasions

[ajk]

Here's something very good that I found in Google Books when I was looking for information about Akibatsu the pirate leader. It's a section from a history paper written by a professor named Barbara Seyock. The paper appeared in a 2005 anthology of history papers entitled Trade and Transfer Across the East Asian "Mediterranean". Not only does it provide some details about Akibatsu, it also gives some good background on the pirate-invasion problem generally, and gives us some context for what Choi Yeong was doing on Jeju Island in the early episodes of this series. It even mentions the Mongolian attacks on Japan that are depicted in the paintings that sageuk was kind enough to post in the Shin Don board.

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Pirate activities in the East China Sea

During the late middle ages, Tsushima [Island, between Japan and Korea] was looked upon as one of the centers of pirate activity in the East China Sea, the others comprising Iki Island, Matsura in former Hizen Province (Kyushu), the Goto Islands and Cheju Island off the Korean south coast. The people of Cholla and Kyongsang Provinces (Korea) suffered the first attacks carried out by Tsushima islanders as early as the years 1223 and 1226, but it was only in the second half of the 14th century that the wako [pirate] activities led to the devastation of entire coastlands along the whole of the Korean peninsula.

Even the hinterland was severely affected. When in the eighth month of the sixth year of King U (1380) a fleet of 500 Wa ships landed on the Korean west coast, and pirates once more started to penetrate deep into the southern provinces, it was General Yi Song-kye (1335-1408), the founder of the Yi Dynasty to be (reigned as Yi T'ae-cho, 1392-1398), who rendered an outstanding service by opening a successful large-scale counterattack.

Connected to these events, the Koryosa choryo (Chronological summary of Koryo history) tells the story of a certain young pirate leader, who--"barely fifteen or sixteen years old, beautiful in appearance and unrivalled in bravery, riding a white horse and brandishing a long lance"--scattered the Koryo troops and left the forces stunned by this sudden attack. The pirate on horseback was called Akibatsu (Kor. Ajibaldo, Chin. Azhihbadu). It is assumed that he was of Mongolian provenance, as his name consisted of the Choson word for "child" (aji) and the Mongol word batur, which means "brave and resolute warrior." Apparently the term "Wa," an ancient name for the Japanese, at this state in history was already in use as a synonym for all ravaging intruders on the Korean side, regardless of their actual nationality or geographic provenance.

The description of the events of the year 1380 points to another significant aspect of the pirates in the East China Sea. The young leader Akibatsu was not the only member of the aggressors on horseback. The historical account actually suggests the existence of several thousand horses. More than 1,600 horses were captured by Yi Song-kye and his men:

We [the Koryo forces] attacked from all directions and eventually caried out severe devastation [on our foes]. The water of the stream was utterly red. For six or seven days the colour would not change. The men could not drink. They all would fill their jars and wait [for the liquid] to clear. Only then they could drink. We captured more than 1,600 horses and countless weapons. [Although] at the beginning the enemy outnumbered us tenfold, only 70 [of their men] fled to Mount Chii [Chiri].

Accordingly, the wako of those days were not only excellent seafarers, organized in fleets of generally up to several hundred ships, armed to the teeth and obviously comprised of people from different origins, they also seem to have carried along an unexpected amount of horses, allowing them to move equally quickly and effectively on land.

The island of Cheju is supposed to have been a major breeding place for horses in this region. Mongolian forces had conquered the island in the year 1275, and soon afterwards had started to bring their horses to the excellent pasturelands of Cheju. It appears that the horses of Akibatsu's mounted pirate troop might have originated from this island. The Mongolian forces, however, have given their equestrian knowledge to other islands they set foot on as well. Following Kamakura Japan's refusal to accept the suzerainty of Kublai Khan (1215-1294), who seized the Chinese throne in 1280, and to meet the Mongol demand to send tribute to his court, the islands of Tsushima and Iki were devastated twice by Mongolian invasion troops on their way from Pusan to Kyushu in the years 1274 and 1281. The Haedong chegukki, written in the late 15th century, actually mentions horse breeding on Tsushima Island: "The lord of the island pastures horses in four places. There may be more than 2,000 [horses]."

Still, the ethnic composition and geographic whereabouts of the diverse pirate groups as well as the way the different units communicated with each other and, accordingly, the coordination of the attacks is difficult to grasp. Responsibilities and motives apparently shifted through the ages. Even the number of attacking ships or the extent of damage as given by the Korean annals seems to be subject to doubt. As Tanaka Takeo points out, there was a clear interest of the Korean historical writings to exaggerate the foreign peril. Military merits and exploits grow with the number of attackers.

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The text goes on to describe assaults on Tsushima by Korean forces that were launched later on, including the invasion we saw depicted in the King Sejong series.

Most of the other stuff in the book is pretty obscure and not really Korea-related, so it wouldn't be of particular interest to most of us. (Plus the darned thing costs $130! Stupid academic publishing market.) But I love how this passage ties together events in three different series we've watched.

Here's the Google Books link in case anybody wants to know more about the book: books.google.com/books?id=Nm14-zoLpWgC&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=akibatsu+pirate&source=bl&ots=0YTJwntUOx&sig=QkIEPMjLjWCiCY8US9Q5ICITqRc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OWsnU_3NDKOCyAHY-4BA&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=akibatsu%20pirate&f=false

[mikey]

Very nice background information - thank you! Seems that the storyline we're getting in JD is holding pretty close to recorded history.

[MTR]

Really great AKJ , Just to add these pirates seem to have been a mixture of Japanese and Chinese ,They also were autonomous in that they did not take orders from the Shogun or the local feudal despot lord .They were not above raiding their homeland either . Like the Iga and Koga the mysterious warrior /farmer tribes who would give birth to the legend of Ninja's ,they would also hire themselves out to any local magnate seeking to crush his neighbor by providing a nice sea cruise prior to obligatory looting ,burning and pillaging .

They were drafted by the Hojo Regency in the Mongol Invasions and terrorized the Mongols with the use of fire ships (beating Drake to the punch by some 300 years ),As the Mongol ships were chained together this caused mass havoc ,they also conducted night raids boarding Mongol boats and taking heads and displaying them so the Mongols could see when they had a nice wake up call .

After the Invasions they were not rewarded so they returned to what they did best despite the cease and desist orders from both The Regents and Shogunate (too many bosses in one Feudal Kitchen).

By the 16th century they were pretty much press ganged into becoming an official navy ,they even created a Turtle Boat which did not impress Nobunaga so production halted .

Here is a another little piece on them
forums.samurai-archives.com/viewtopic.php?t=4726

[ajk]

See, I knew some Japanese history would get him back in here! Good to have you here again; a shame to hear about your reception problems and I hope you can get them fixed eventually. Jeong Dojeon is turning out to be a good one (at least so far) and I'm sorry you're missing it. I'm sure it will be rebroadcast down the road so you'll definitely want to check it out someday.

I had no idea that the Chinese were involved in those pirate activities. But I guess it would help explain the pirates raiding the Korean west coast. Interesting stuff; thanks for sharing it.

[MTR]

I will see it as soon as possible AKJ ,sound like it is a classic drama like the old days , back to the Pirates one thing that surprised me was by the 16th century they even members from Portugal and Holland in their ranks .The main pirate family or overlords were the Murakami ,they ruled the seas from the 12th through 16th century ,they were also of Bakeje origin being one of the many families that fled after the fall of that state .
By the Tokugawa era they were reduced by being assigned to inland domains thus parting them from the sea ,eventually they died out via lack of a male heir .