Second Manchu invasion of Korea

Infobox Korean name
hangul=병자호란
hanja=丙子胡亂
rr=Byeongja horan
mr=Pyŏngcha horan

The second Manchu invasion of Korea occurred in 1636, when the Manchu Qing Empire brought Korea's Joseon dynasty into submission. It followed the first Manchu invasion of Korea of 1627.

Background

After the first invasion, the Joseon Dynasty continued to defy the Manchus. Trade was in bad condition and Korea did not return fugitives from Later Jin. In addition, Korea took a defiant attitude when Hong Taiji declared the new dynasty of Qing. Korean delegates refused to kowtow to Hong Taiji at the ceremony and threw away the diplomatic correspondence where Hong Taiji was referred to as the emperor. The Manchu delegates Inggūldai and Mafuta got a cold reception in Hanseong (Seoul) where Korean soldiers stood in the shadow. The delegates were shocked and fled back to Qing.

The Korean court was dominated by the pro-war party. However, they did not enhance military power. In addition, a warlike message to Pyong'ando was carelessly seized by Inggūldai.

War

In the winter, Hong Taiji himself led Manchu, Mongol, and Chinese Banners and Mongol army of 120,000 to Korea. Dodo, leading the vanguard, rushed to Hanseong to prevent King Injo from fleeing to Ganghwa Island as Korean kings traditionally did. Failing to escape to the island, the king took refuge in the Namhansan fortress, which was immediately besieged by the Manchu army. The Korean army in the fortress suffered from scarcity of food and ammunition. While Korean officials had unrealistic debates, Dorgon occupied Ganghwa Island in a day and captured the second son and consorts of King Injo. As the siege continued, the scarcity of food worsened. Also, the strategic situation worsened, as several attempts by Korean forces from regions to break the siege was foiled and charge from the fortress yielded no success. This desperate situation forced Injo to make his submission. King Injo yielded up three pro-war officers to Qing, as well as agreeing to the terms of peace:

#Korea becomes a protectorate of the Qing Dynasty.
#Korea breaks away with the suzerain Ming.
#Korea offers the first and second sons of King Injo, and sons or brothers of ministers as hostages.
#Korea pays tribute to Qing as she has done to Ming.
#Korea will serve in the war against Ming.
#Korea offers army and ships to attack an island.
#Qing does not allow Korea to build castles without restraint.

Hong Taiji set up a platform in Samjeondo--the upper reach of the Han River. At the top of the platform he accepted King Injo's submission. King Injo kowtowed to Hong Taiji, who allegedly forced Injo to repeat the humiliating ritual many times.

Aftermath

Northern and middle Korea was devastated by war. Although the Manchu army was strict in discipline, the Mongol soldiers plundered cities.

In accordance with the terms of surrender, Korea sent troops to attack Pi Island at the mouth of the Yalu River.

Hong Taiji ordered Korea to put up a monument in honor of the so-called "excellent virtues of the Manchu Emperor". In 1639 the monument was erected at Samjeondo, where the ceremony of submission had been conducted.

Korea continued to take a defiant attitude, although privately, to the Qing Dynasty while she officially yielded obedience as they considered Manchus uncivilised barbarians. Korean scholars secretly used Ming's era name even after her collapse. They thought that Korea should be the legitimate successor of Ming civilization instead of "barbaric" Qing. King Hyojong, who lived as a hostage for seven years in Mukden and who succeeded Injo, planned a possibly unrealistic expedition to Qing called Bukbeol (北伐) during his ten years of reign, though his death on the eve of expedition curbed the plan.

Beginning in 1639 and until 1894, the Korean court trained a corps of professional Korean-Manchu translators. These replaced earlier interpreters of Jurchen, who had been trained using the Jurchen script. The official designation was changed from "Jurchen" to "Manchu" in 1667. The first textbooks for this purpose were drawn up by Sin Gye-am, who had also been an interpreter of Jurchen and transliterated old Jurchen textbooks for the purpose.

Until 1894, Korea remained a protectorate of Qing China, even though the influence of Manchus decreased from late 18th Century as Joseon Dynasty began to prosper once again. The tributary relationship diminished when Qing China began to decline. Japan forced Qing China after the First Sino-Japanese War to acknowledge the end of trybutary relationship with Korea, in an attempt to implement their plan to exploit and eventually invade Korea in 20th Century.

ee also

*Mongol invasions of Korea
*History of Korea
*Yeongeunmun Gate
*Samjeondo Monument
*Independence Gate