The Qing invasion of Joseon () occurred in the winter of 1636 when the newly established Manchu-led Qing Empire invaded the Joseon Kingdom of what is now Korea, establishing the former's status as the hegemon in the Imperial Chinese tributary system and formally severing Joseon's relationship with the Han-led Ming dynasty. The invasion was preceded by the Later Jin invasion of Joseon in 1627.

The invasion resulted in a Qing victory. Joseon was forced to establish a tributary relationship with the Qing, as well as to cut ties with the declining Ming. The crown prince of Joseon and his younger brother were taken as hostages, but they came back to Joseon after a few years. One of the two later became King Hyojong of Joseon. He is best known for his plan for an expedition to the Qing.

Names

In Korean, the Qing invasion (1636–1637) is called '<nowiki/>Byeongja Horan<nowiki/>' (), where 1636 is a '<nowiki/>Byeongja<nowiki/>' year in the sexagenary cycle and Horan<nowiki/>' means a disturbance caused by northern or western foreigners, from (ho; northern or western, often nomadic barbarians) + (ran; chaos, disorder, disturbance, turmoil, unrest, uprising, revolt, rebellion).

Background

The Kingdom of Joseon continued to show ambivalence toward the Qing Empire after the Jin invasion in 1627. The Later Jin accused Joseon of harboring fugitives and supplying the Ming army with grain. In addition, Joseon did not recognize Hong Taiji's newly declared dynasty. The Manchu delegates Inggūldai and Mafuta received a cold reception in Hanseong, and King Injo of Joseon refused to meet them or even send a letter, which shocked the delegates. A warlike message to Pyongan Province was also carelessly allowed to be seized by Inggūldai.

The beile (Qing princes) were furious with Joseon's response to Qing overtures and proposed an immediate invasion, but Hong Taiji chose to conduct a raid against Ming first. At one point the Qing forces under Ajige got as close to Beijing as the Marco Polo Bridge. Although they were ultimately repelled, the raid made it clear that Ming defenses were no longer fully capable of securing their borders. After this successful operation, Hong Taiji turned towards Joseon and launched an attack in December 1636.

Prior to the invasion, Hong Taiji sent Abatai, Jirgalang, and Ajige to secure the coastal approaches to Joseon Korea, so that Ming could not send reinforcements. The defector Ming mutineer Kong Youde, ennobled as the Qing dynasty's Prince Gongshun, joined the attacks at Ganghwa Island and Ka Island. The defectors Geng Zhongming and Shang Kexi also played prominent roles in the Korean invasion. Injo of Joseon knelt three times and bowed nine times, as was customary with the other subjects of the Qing court. Then he was called to eat with the others, sitting the closest to the left of Hong Taiji, higher than even the Hošo-i Cin Wang. A monument in honor of the so-called excellent virtues of the Manchu Emperor was erected at Samjeondo, where the ceremony of submission had been conducted. In accordance with the terms of surrender, Joseon sent troops to attack Ka Island at the mouth of the Yalu River.

Ming officer Shen Shikui was well ensconced in Ka Island's fortifications and hammered his attackers with heavy cannon for over a month. In the end, Ming and Joseon defectors including Kong Youde landed 70 boats on the eastern side of the island and drew out his garrison in that direction. On the next morning, however, he found that the Qing—"who seem to have flown"—had landed to his rear in the northwest corner of the island in the middle of the night. Shen refused to surrender, but was overrun and beheaded by Ajige. Official reports put the casualties as at least 10,000, with few survivors. The Ming general Yang Sichang then withdrew the remaining Ming forces in Korea to Denglai in northern Shandong. In 1648 Joseon was forced to provide several royal princesses as concubines to the Qing regent Prince Dorgon. In 1650 Dorgon married the Joseon Princess Uisun, the daughter of Prince Geumnim, who had to be adopted by King Hyojong beforehand. Dorgon married another Joseon princess at Lianshan.

Koreans continued to harbor a defiant attitude towards the Qing dynasty in private, while they officially yielded obedience, and sentiments of Manchu "barbarity" continued to pervade Korean discourse. Joseon scholars secretly used Ming-era names even after that dynasty's collapse, and some people believed that Joseon should have been the legitimate successor of the Ming dynasty and Chinese civilization instead of the "barbaric" Manchu's Qing. Despite the peace treaty forbidding construction of fortresses, fortresses were erected around Hanseong and in the northern region. The future Hyojong of Joseon lived as a hostage for seven years in Mukden (Shenyang). He planned an invasion of Qing called Bukbeol () during his ten years on the Joseon throne, though the plan died with his death on the eve of the expedition.

From 1639 until 1894, the Joseon court trained a corps of professional Korean-Manchu translators. They replaced earlier interpreters of Jurchen, who had been trained using textbooks in the Jurchen script. Joseon's first textbooks of Manchu were drawn up by Shin Gye-am, who had previously been an interpreter of Jurchen, and he transliterated old Jurchen textbooks into the Manchu script. Shin's adapted textbooks, completed in 1639, were used for the yeokgwa (special examinations for foreign languages) until 1684. It was later adapted to a movie in 2017 as The Fortress.

  • The 2009 musical, Namhansanseong, is based on the novel of the same name, but focuses on the lives of common people and their spirit of survival during harsh situations. It stars Yesung of boy band Super Junior as villain "Jung Myung-su", a servant-turned-interpreter. It was shown from 9 October to 14 November at Seongnam Arts Center Opera House.
  • The 2011 South Korean movie War of the Arrows is set during the Qing invasion.
  • The 2015 South Korean drama Splendid Politics.
  • The 2017 South Korean movie The Fortress.
  • The 2023 South Korean TV series My Dearest tells the story of events of this invasion using two pairs of fictional lovers, and placing them as protagonists in key events of the invasion and its aftermath.
  • The 2024 South Korean TV series Captivating the King tells the story in the aftermath of this invasion using fictional Palace characters, and placing them as protagonists in the capital.

See also

  • Later Jin invasion of Joseon
  • History of Korea
  • Yeongeunmun
  • Independence Gate
  • Samjeondo Monument
  • Korean–Jurchen border conflicts

References

Citations

Bibliography

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