History of Corea: Difference between revisions

With the outbreak of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_of_the_Three_Feudatories Revolt of the Three Feudatories], many began to doubt Corea's strong relations with the Qing dynasty. The new King Sindjong's court became sharply divided between Ming and Qing loyalists.

==== Notable policies ====

===== Colonial Poesjan =====

Dutch influence in Corea became firmly rooted in the southern city of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busan Poesjan] and the wider [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeongnam Jangnam] region. King Hjandjo would later cede [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeongdo_District Yjang island], a district off the coast of Poesjan, to the Dutch East India Company as a trading post in 1710. In 1713, a formal Dutch colonial authority was established in the city structured after the administration in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dejima Desjima]. The Japanese immigrant town of [https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%B4%88%EB%9F%89%EB%8F%99 Tsjorjang] was incorporated by 1800. It would eventually expand to include all of modern central and southern Poesjan by 1840.

However, Dutch control of Poesjan became extremely controversial and a major point of contention for centuries. Many officials and scholars pointed to the [[History of Japan#%25C5%258Cmura%20Rebellion%20(1656-1658)|Ōmura Rebellion]] in Japan, which began with Christian influence in mainland Japan.

===== Economic relations and effects =====

The Japanese and Chinese invasions had ravaged Corea, leading to a sharp increase in demand for timber to be used in reconstruction and shipbuilding. In 1654, the Corean state sent a delegation to the Governor of Dutch Formosa in order to invest in new timber from the Tamsuy region. In 1668, Corea began importing small quantities of timber from [[Siam]] and [[Colonial East Indies|Java]] via Formosa. This longstanding trade was justified to staunch neo-Confucianists by portraying [[Tauland|Formosa]] as a tributary of the Qing (the Formosans sent annual 'tributary' missions to Peking, much like Corea and [[Viet Nam|Vietnam]]).

===== Cultural impact =====

{{Main|History_of_Japan#Takeshima_dispute}}

==== Notable policies and developments ====

===== Currency Decree (1653) and use of the ''duit'' =====

Twenty years after the creation of the ''moen'' (文) coin, a decree was established that banned the use of any medium of exchange except the ''moen'' and clarified that private mintage was legal. Around 1730, the VOC's [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duit ''duit'' coin] (Corean: 딋, ''teut'') was circulated illegally in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeongnam Jangnam].

===== The Pine Policy (1660) =====

With a consistent supply of Southeast Asian and Formosan wood from the 1660s onwards, the Pine Policy (implemented in 1660) was expanded in 1688, 1723, and 1767. This Policy established 635 forest reservations and regulated wood chopping in the Corean peninsula, aiming to protect and cultivate the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_densiflora Corean red pine species] as a matter of national security and prestige.

===== Commerical Equalisation Policy (1669) =====

Previously, each Corean shop was only authorized to sell one product. However, many shops began illegally popping up in the 17th century selling multiple items. In 1669, the court abandoned the one-shop-one-item policy and commercial licensing.

===== Foreign trade in 1720 =====

Corea traded regularly with [[Japan]], [[Qing|China]], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryukyu_Kingdom Ljoetsjoe], and [[Tauland]], with rare undocumented instances of direct trade with [[Siam]], [[Russia]], and others. The trade quantities measured in the Sinospheric [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_of_cash_coins_(currency_unit) ''kwan''] for these countries by 1720 are:

{| class="wikitable"

|+''Corean foreign trade, 1720 (in'' kwan'')''

!Japan

!China

!Tauland

!Ljoetsjoe

!Russia

|-

|160,000

|200,000

|100,000

|2,000

|1,500

|}

{{Main|Sino-Corean War (1886-1888)}}

{{Nation|common_name=Corea|full_name=Corean National Republic|local_name=한단일민국|capital=Rjoekjang|largest_city=Hansjang|government_type=National republic|languages=Corean (official) </br> Manchu </br> Mandarin|map=Corean_National_Republic_Map_1945.png|flag=Nationalist Corea 2.png}}