To anticipate a little, we might here say that many Koreans who were carried captive to Japan from time to time during this war, became Christians at Nagasaki and though slaves were so firm in their belief as to be willing to suffer martyrdom during the terrible persecutions which raged in Japan between 1610 and 1630, but with the departure of Cespedes[Cespedes] from Korea the distinctive work in Korea was abandoned.
Let us pause a moment here to compare the two contending armies. In this second invasion the total number of Japanese that reached Korean soil was 105,400, or about half as many as formed the first army of invasion. They were led by twenty-seven generals, prominent among whom were Kato and Konishi. As a mark of his spiteful spirit, Hideyoshi ordered that in this second invasion the noses and ears of all Koreans killed or captured should be cut off and sent to Japan. And so from time to time these half-savage soldiers sent loads of Korean noses and ears, pickled in salt, and they were buried in the monastery of Ta-bul-sa in the city of Kyoto, there to remain to all ages a disgusting memento of the most unprovoked and wanton cruelty that ever disgraced the annals of a great people. Many of the Koreans who lost their noses or ears at that time survived many years, and it cannot be wondered at that the Koreans have never since cared to accept favors at the hands of their island neighbors.
The total number of Chinese was 210,000. With them came 2,000,000 ounces of silver to pay for their sustenance. From Shantung were sent by boat 200,000 bags of rice. There were also sent for the relief of the army 5,832,000 ounces of silver. And for the relief of the Korean famine sufferers an additional 3,000,000 ounces were sent. When we consider the vast number of men and the millions of wealth that China poured into Korea at this time it may well be believed, as the Koreans affirm, that China, by so doing, impoverished herself so that she became an easier prey to the Manchus who, a few years later, wrested the scepter from her.
Large numbers of Japanese who had been in the country for years and were tired of the war deserted from the ranks, married Korean women and settled down to farming in various places in the south. At Mi-ryang in the Province of Kyŭng-sang there was a whole settlement of them. It was called the Hang-wă or “Settlement of the Surrendered Japanese.” Some of them were also to be found in Ham-gyŭng and P‘yŭng-an Provinces. These had been left behind and abandoned by their fellows for one cause or another when the Japanese retired from the north. They were all destined to be destroyed a quarter of a century later during the rebellion of Yi Kwal.
About this time there arose in the Chinese court a determined enemy of Gen. Yang Ho named Chŭng Eung-t‘ă who accused Gen. Yang to the Emperor in twenty-five specifications, five of which implicated the king of Korea and which at a later date caused a deal of trouble.
We now enter upon a new phase of the war, the closing epoch. In the first moon of the following year, 1598, the Emperor sent two admirals to Korea, the one being Tong Il-wun and the other Chil Lin. The former was to have charge of the naval operations off the coast of Chŭl-la and the other of those off Kyŭng-sang Province. Chil Lin, under the title of Great Admiral came up the Han River with 500 boats as far as Tong-jak, the first village above Yong-san. The king and the court went down and reviewed this fleet and saw it start off to join Admiral Yi Sun-sin in the south. This admiral, Chil Lin, was a good soldier but inordinately vain. He would take no one’s advice, and it looked as if stormy times were in store for the plain, blunt Admiral Yi. The king told Admiral Chil Lin that he was not sure about Admiral Yi, and this of course had its influence with the Chinese admiral. Admiral Yi was then at Ko-geum Island off Chŭl-la Province. When he heard that Admiral Chil Lin was coming he showed by his first act that he was as good a diplomat as soldier. He may or may not have known what sort of man the Chinese admiral was but he knew that in any case it would not do to antagonize him, and he acted accordingly. He collected a great store of fish and game and wine and went out to meet the approaching fleet. Returning with the Chinese admiral he spread a great feast and the whole company got splendidly drunk and vowed that Admiral Yi was a royal good fellow. Admiral Chil Lin himself joined in the praise. Soon after this Admiral Yi had the good luck to take two score of Japanese heads, but instead of claiming the honor himself he handed them over to the Chinese admiral to forward as his own trophies. This finished Admiral Yi’s conquest of Admiral Chil Lin’s good graces. From this time on it was Gen. Yi who suggested and planned and it was Admiral Chil Lin who assented and reaped the praise. This course of conduct was a master-piece of genius on the part of Admiral Yi, for by so doing he accomplished at least three important things. In the first place he kept himself in his position, which he would have lost had he antagonized the Chinaman. In the second place he saved himself to his country at a time when she could not have spared him. He was willing to forego the praise and let others reap the commendation if only he might ward off the enemies of his country. In the third place he made the Chinese seem successful and so encouraged them and got out of them for Korea all that was to be hoped. He was willing to seem to be toadying to Admiral Chil Lin when in reality that gentleman was, to use a pregnant Korean phrase, “in his sleeve.” Being always near the Chinese admiral he could always see to it that no great blunders were made. At first the Chinese soldiery committed great excesses among the people of the country, stealing their valuables and otherwise injuring them. Admiral Yi quietly asked that the discipline of the army be put in his hands and from that day on the smallest irregularity was severely punished and the most perfect order prevailed. This did not escape the eye of Admiral Chil Lin, and he wrote to the king that Admiral Yi was a remarkable man and that the world did not contain another soldier like him. One day as they sat in a summer-house overlooking the sea a fleet of Japanese boats appeared in the distance. Admiral Chil Lin was much excited and a little nervous but Admiral Yi laughed and said, “Sit here and watch me give those fellows a whipping.” He got out his boats and in an hour he had forty of the enemy’s boats on fire and the rest fled. Admiral Chil Lin could not praise him enough after this and declared that the universe did not contain another man who could perform the feats that Admiral Yi apparently found easy.
In the seventh moon of this year the enemies of Gen. Yang Ho in Nanking were successful and he was called from Korea, much to the regret of the king who vainly sent an envoy to the Chinese court specially to plead that the decree be not carried out. Gen. Yang had been the best of all the generals that China had sent and his departure was a great loss to Korea. When he went, the king and a large number of the people accompanied him beyond the Peking Pass, and a stone tablet was raised there in his honour[honour]. All of this of course made Gen. Yang’s enemies hate the king as well, and so that official named Chung Eung-t’a fabricated some astonishing stories about him. He claimed that while he had been in Korea he had found a manuscript which proved that the king had received investiture from Japan. He also charged the Koreans with showing disloyalty to China by prefixing the word ta (great) to the posthumous titles of their kings. He also claimed that the first coming of the Japanese was with a secret understanding with the king of Korea that they would attack Liao-tung together. To these he added many minor charges. The Emperor apparently believed these things and immediately despatched an envoy, So Kwal-lan, to investigate the matter and report. When the king was informed of these charges he was dumbfounded. All his scrupulous care of the interests of his Chinese suzerain and the extremes of hardship which he and his people had endured, rather than grant the Japanese a free passage through Korea to strike China—all this was thrown back upon him and his devotion was counted treachery. He left his palace and took up his abode in a straw hut for one whole month as penance for having been even suspected of such baseness. The whole country was stirred to its depths by these unnatural and evidently baseless charges. The king immediately sent his most trusted councillors Yi Hang-bok and Yi Chung-gwi to Nanking with the following memorable reply to the charges which had been preferred:
“These charges which have been made against me are very grave and if they are true I deserve death. In order to answer them I must repeat them, even though it defile my mouth. In the first place the origin of the Japanese is far in the eastern sea. The way thither by boat is exceeding far. They are such barbarians that heaven has separated them far from other men. They have always been bad neighbors, for they live by piracy; they come like a flash and are gone as suddenly. Since the time of the fall of the Koryŭ dynasty great uneasiness has prevailed in Japan. Law has been in abeyance and bands of freebooters have been allowed to devastate our southern shores until nothing but weeds and briers grow there. The founder of our present dynasty drove them out for a time but they grew bold again and continued their depredations. The natives of Tsushima liked to come and trade with us and we permitted it at their request; then Japanese from the more distant islands came in flocks like birds. Our people never liked them, but we permitted the trade, as it was mutually profitable. We gave them rice to eat and treated them kindly. We built a house in Seoul for the reception of their envoys. In the days of king Se-jong they asked us to send an envoy to Japan and we did so, primarily to spy out the land and discover whether the country was rich or poor, strong or weak. The envoy obtained the information and we immediately reported the matter to China. We could not well refuse to send an envoy to Japan, but it does not argue relations of friendship, much less of intimacy. In the days of the Emperor Chong-t’ong the Japanese started to ravage a certain[certain] part of the Chinese coast and took Quelpart on the way, but we attacked and drove them out and sent their leader alive to China to be dealt with. Also in the time of King Chung-jong the Japanese attacked the China coast at Yong P’a-bu. They killed the Chinese general and then made off, but we caught them and sent them to the Chinese authorities. Since that time we have twice prevented Japanese attacks on the China coast. Not once nor twice have we received high commendation from the Chinese Emperor for our firm loyalty. We have always used our wits and our strength in the interests of China. This was the duty of a vassal and this we have done. We let the Japanese live in the three harbors of Ch’e-p’o, Pu-san-p’o and Yŭm-p’o but we prescribed limits of five or ten li beyond which they could not go. On the whole then is seems plain that the charge that we called in the Japanese and asked them for troops must be a pure fabrication. Again the book which Chung Eung-t’a claims to have found is an actual book and is named the Ha-dong Keui-ryak. It was written by Sin Suk-ju the envoy to Japan, on his return from that country, and it deals with the laws and manners of the Japanese. It contains a map of Japan, a genealogy and also the rules of etiquette to be observed toward the Japanese envoy. This book our accuser seized upon as a sure sign of our leaning toward Japan, and he twisted its meaning to correspond to his theory. The Japanese have a different name for the year from that which we use, and the writer of this book put the Chinese name beneath the Japanese name as a sort of commentary, so that the reader could understand what year was referred to. In a Japanese book one must put the Japanese name of the year and if he wants to make plain the meaning he must put the Chinese name underneath or in the margin. As to the charge that we gave too high a title to our deceased kings we can only say that we live beyond the sea and are ignorant and secluded. From the days of Sil-la until now we have been accustomed to name our dead kings in this way. The founder of the dynasty was scrupulously careful not to overstep the recognized limits of his authority as a vassal of China and we never for a moment have forgotten the gap which separates a vassal king from his suzerain. The custom of giving these posthumous titles dates from the days of Sil-la, so how could we be expected to know that it was wrong, especially as it has never been called in question before? If we are blamed for ignorance and boorishness we cry guilty, but if for lack of loyalty, we humbly deny it. We have our calendar, our official dress and writing all from China. This alone should speak for our loyalty. The year before the beginning of the present war Hideyoshi murdered his master and usurped his throne. Burning with a desire to spring at the throat of China he sent us letters inviting us to join in an invasion of that country. We sent his letter back with contumely. In all this we advanced solely the interests of China. This is as clear as day. When the invading army came it seemed as if all Japan had alighted upon our shores. They covered our whole eight provinces and ravaged them. They seized our three capitals and desecrated two royal tombs. They burned our ancestral temple and other sacred places and then swept northward to P’yŭng Yang. We were unable to hold them in check or save our capital from their hands. We were driven to the verge of desperation and were about to cross into the parent land to die. Is it conceivable that if we had the least friendship for Hideyoshi we would have suffered all this at his hands? If we look at nature do we find any analogy for such a thing? If this charge is true why did our forces join with yours in striking the invaders and why have we been hanging on their flanks and harassing them for years? Let the Emperor know that there is a reason why we have suffered this slander at the mouth of Chung Eung-t’a. It is because we took Gen. Yang Ho’s part when Chung Eung-t’a desired his recall from Korea in disgrace. Gen. Yang Ho was with us a long time and he was a true friend of Korea. We all had the utmost confidence in him and it was a great pity that so good a man should have met the reward he did. It is a cause of poignant grief to us. We are a small people and our destruction is a matter of small consequence, but for a general of China to be treated in this manner is a serious matter. We are an outside people and we have never had the pleasure of visiting the Emperor’s court, and so there is no one to plead our cause for us, but the Emperor will be able to judge our case without further plea. Chung Eung-t’a has called me a traitor, and I would rather die than live with such a charge upon me, even though it be untrue. Let the Emperor take this letter and sit in judgment on the case and if it appears that I am guilty let my head pay the penalty, but if not then let the Emperor acquit me before the world and I shall again be able to endure the light of day.”
This letter is clear, logical and to the point, and it breathes a spirit of self-respect which does credit to the king. It shows not a servile dependence but a true self-respecting loyalty, and in the firm denial of the charges and the final demand for condemnation or public acquital[acquital] there is the ring of genuine manhood which would do honor to any man in any age.
When the Emperor read this letter his judicial mind found in it the ring of conscious rectitude and like the man he was he instantly acknowledged[acknowledged] his error. He ordered the letter to be printed by the thousands and tens of thousands and scattered broadcast over his empire, for he apparently felt it a personal honor to have so true and genuine a man for a vassal. He answered the letter in the following terms: