Imjin War

[JPh]

Thanks to Florel's link, I was able to find a great source on the detailed history of this war. I highly recommend reading this web site because of two reasons, to differentiate what is fiction in the drama, and what part is history. It will also help in understanding the historical context of the drama, in turn making it better to understand the drama itself.

www.koreanhistoryproject.org/Ket/Idx/KETIndex1203.htm


A few thoughts came to my mind when I read the history (Warning these are possible spoilers of possible future episodes):

1) The Turtle Ship was not exactly a new invention. It was invented almost 100 years before by the Chosun navy to fight the Japanese pirates. Yi Sun Shin modified the ship.

2) Yi Sun Shin subscribed to Chinese classical master of Sun Tzu and art of war. His battle strategies were heavily influenced by Sun Tzu.

3) Won Kyun was not a brave man, as portrayed in the drama. He was a coward who tried hard to avoid battle.
He singlehandedly managed to wipe out the entire 160 ship strong Chosun navy down to 12 ships.

4) General Shi Lip's finest army was nothing but a badly outnumbered rag tag untrained army, they were a no match for the highly trained experienced Japanese. It didn't help Korea's cause when Shi Lip made some big strategic mistakes of his own. But in the end, the outcome would not have mattered, thus illustrates the military unpreparedness of Korea at that time.

5) Many Koreans refused to fight the Japanese because they were so disgusted by their rulers. The initial stages of the war when Japan was rapidly taking Korea, must have looked like the US invasion and freedom of Iraqi people. This is not in the history book, but I can imagine many Koreans were probably very glad Japanese conquered Korea because they got rid of the opressive Chosun rulers. Enraged Koreans burned King Sunjo's palace and looted government buildings. Japanese even freed many Korean slaves. I bet many Koreans (especially the bottom of the barrel classes) welcomed the Japanese, (at first anyway).

6) But the Japanese started making very bad mistakes in their long term strategy. Their goal of the Imjin war was to plunder and pillage Korea. Many treasures of Korea were looted out of the country to be sold abroad. Villages after villages were raped, pillaged and burned. This strategty conviced most Koreans their leaders weren't so bad after all, not as bad as the Japanese. They started fighting back in guerrilla warfare, helped by Ming Chinese forces. The Korean historic hatred of the Japanese probably got deeply and permanantly engraved as of this time.

7) Factionism and jealousy within the weak and corrupt Korean government continued throughout the war, unabated. Constrast this with Britain's Churchill government where a strong great leadership and unity of the country won the war against Nazi Germany.

8) I'm convinced King Sunjo was probably one of the worst rulers of Korea - a good for nothing total moronic ingrate. I'm convinced the war would not have lasted that long, if Yi Sun Shin was allowed to do his job. Yi is probably the greatest hero in Korean history. How did Sunjo reward this greatest hero? He jailed him. Sunjo didn't even bother awarding Yi nor any of the real heroes who fought hard for Korea. But he didn't forget his favored scheming government ministers who fled with him north - they all got medals.

9) The naval battle at Hansando is probably Yi's greatest victory at sea. Watch for this battle in the future episode.

[donilpark]

5) Many Koreans refused to fight the Japanese because they were so disgusted by their rulers. The initial stages of the war when Japan was rapidly taking Korea, must have looked like the US invasion and freedom of Iraqi people. This is not in the history book, but I can imagine many Koreans were probably very glad Japanese conquered Korea because they got rid of the opressive Chosun rulers. Enraged Koreans burned King Sunjo's palace and looted government buildings. Japanese even freed many Korean slaves. I bet many Koreans (especially the bottom of the barrel classes) welcomed the Japanese, (at first anyway).

I think that's a bit too naive.
No matter how corrupt their rulers were, it's hard to believe that they would have welcomed foreign forces to 'liberate' them, and by no other than Japanese, toward whom Korea's general sentiment was that of contempt. It was not just the rulers that made Korean's life hard anyway. Japanese pirates before the war were as brutal as what the Japanese army was during the war.

[Choko]

Chosun people never welcomed Japanese during the war, because, at the first battle, Konishi Yukinaga killed about 3,000 soldiers and civilians. Yes, they killed "civilians".

Actually, it is natural that self-conceited people, like Korean people or Iraqi people holding thousands of history, do not want themselves to be liberated by the power of a foreign country. They hate their corrupted government, but they abhored foreign troops.

Of course, I agree that there existed such Chosun people who welcomed Japanese invaders as Chunsu, the merchant.

[Choko]

Ooops, I made a mistake.

thousands of history (x)

One country has only one history. Hahaha... ;D
Iraqi people has 7,000-year-old history and Korea has 5,000- year-old history. I intended to say that.

[TheBo]

Guest-Choko said:

...thousands of history...One country has only one history. Hahaha...

As opposed to us (U.S.) who have "hundreds of history"--my joke back to you.

Because, you see, I was thinking the other day, after reading the threads about the Japanese and Chinese and Europeans (and of course, Korea), and their tortured histories in regard to feudalism and the struggles for self-rule, that it is difficult sometimes for Americans to understand how deep grievances can go, and how hard it can be to forgive them. Our grievances are those of minority people, such as native tribes and African Americans, we don't know what it is like as a country to remember oppression. (I'm not discounting the oppression by the U.S. of minority people and of other weaker countries. I'm just saying, we, as a country, don't know how it feels to be on the receiving end of it.)

Bo

[devistated]

TheBo said:

Because, you see, I was thinking the other day, after reading the threads about the Japanese and Chinese and Europeans (and of course, Korea), and their tortured histories in regard to feudalism and the struggles for self-rule, that it is difficult sometimes for Americans to understand how deep grievances can go, and how hard it can be to forgive them. Our grievances are those of minority people, such as native tribes and African Americans, we don't know what it is like as a country to remember oppression.

Wow your not kidding. War atrocities are deep rooted with pain and suffering. I am related to a relative who has suffered from japanese atrocities. I am quite thankful for the atomic bomb. For if Japan had its way,I would not have been born. My entire family would have been slaughtered to nonexistance. Although i was not ever in the war,I too suffer pain through watching the relative deal with memories. It is not so easy to forget such a brutal past. I do not trust the Japanese Government Nor its Royal emperors. With good reasoning. But in general i think common japanese people are ok. Its scary to me that Japan today is once again trying to relive a power glory past. It is enforcing Imperialistic ideals in its Government,its military and its people. It is even white washing history about its past atrocities with Korea and china. Now it trys to claim land that it does not belong to. I fear there may be another global war in the near future....

[pakyownage4eva]

He used straregy from Sun Tzu? He's still a brilliant man nonetheless. Who's to say he wouldn't have devised them himself even if he didn't study Tzu. Not only, executing the strategies themselves requires an excellent commander and disciplined men, and apparently, the admiral fulfilled both with unmatched proficiency. Diligent, fearless, and remarkable--that is admiral Yi Soon Shin.

[luvarchfiend]

pakyownage4eva said:

He used straregy from Sun Tzu? He's still a brilliant man nonetheless. Who's to say he wouldn't have devised them himself even if he didn't study Tzu. Not only, executing the strategies themselves requires an excellent commander and disciplined men, and apparently, the admiral fulfilled both with unmatched proficiency. Diligent, fearless, and remarkable--that is admiral Yi Soon Shin.

intelligent, strong, determined, unwavering in duty to his country, selfless and extraordinary....just a few more of the admiral's qualities.