“The inestimable benevolence of saving a country on the brink of ruin”: Chos ŏ n–Ming and Chos ŏ n–Later Jin relations in the seventeenth century

The Imjin Waeran began with Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s invasion of Chos ŏ n Korea in the fourth month of 1592, and developed into a “world war” in Northeast Asia from the seventh month, when the Ming Chinese army joined the battle. Chos ŏ n was overwhelmed by the crisis, and Ming China participated on Chos ŏ n’s side after a request for reinforcements. Ming’s participation, however, was motivated more by self-defense than by the intention to help Chos ŏ n. At the time, Japan had explicitly declared its plans to “borrow a road to enter the Ming.” Because of this, Ming feared for the security of Liaodong, and eventually came to worry about the threat to Beijing from a Chos ŏ n occupied by a Japanese army.