Yan Yu was a Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

n diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

 and ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

, representing Joseon

Joseon Dynasty

Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...

 interests in a diplomatic mission to the Ashikaga shogunate

Ashikaga shogunate

The , also known as the , was a Japanese feudal military regime, ruled by the shoguns of the Ashikaga clan.This period is also known as the Muromachi period and gets its name from Muromachi Street of Kyoto where the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu established his residence...

 (Muromachi bafuku) in Japan.

1409-1410 mission to Japan

King Taejong

Taejong of Joseon

King Taejong was the third king of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea and the father of King Sejong the Great.-Founding of Joseon:...

 dispatched a diplomatic mission to Japan in 1409-1410.

• 1409 (Ōei 16, 3rd month): In the 10th year of King Taejong's reign, an ambassador from the Joseon court was received in Kyoto.

This delegation to court of Ashikaga Yoshimochi

Ashikaga Yoshimochi

was the 4th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1394 to 1423 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimochi was the son of the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu....

 was led by Yan Yu. The purpose of this diplomatic embassy was to respond to a message sent to the Joseon court by the Japanese shogun. The Joseon envoy conveyed a letter of condolences on the death of the shogun's father; and he also brought gifts, including cotton cloth, tiger skins, leopard skins and ginseng. Yan Yu was empowered to offer to send a copy of a rare Buddhist text to Japan.

The Japanese hosts may have construed this mission as tending to confirm a Japanocentric world order. Yan Yu's actions were more narrowly focused in negotiating protocols for Joseon-Japan diplomatic relations.

Recognition in the West

Yan Yu's historical significance was confirmed when his mission was specifically mentioned in a widely-distributed history published by the Oriental Translation Fund in 1834.

In the West, early published accounts of the Joseon kingdom are not extensive, but they are found in Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu (published in Paris in 1832), and in Nihon ōdai ichiran (published in Paris in 1834). Joseon foreign relations and diplomacy are explicitly referenced in the 1834 work.

External links

• Joseon Tongsinsa Cultural Exchange Association ;