Changes

For much of the premodern period, the island was generally administered as part of Kyushu (e.g. coming under the purview of the ''[[Chinzei bugyo|Chinzei bugyô]]'' in the [[Kamakura period]]). It is today part of [[Nagasaki prefecture]].

For much of the premodern period, the island was generally administered as part of Kyushu (e.g. coming under the purview of the ''[[Chinzei bugyo|Chinzei bugyô]]'' in the [[Kamakura period]]). It is today part of [[Nagasaki prefecture]].

Due to its prime position along maritime routes, and its peripheral location in both Korean and Japanese states, Tsushima was both a major intermediary point for regional trade, and was on numerous occasions the victim of foreign attacks, including in the 7th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th centuries. Both [[Mongol invasions]] (in 1274 & 1281) visited violence upon the island before moving on to Kyushu. In the 13th-16th centuries, the island was also a major center of [[wako|pirate]] activity. Joseon sent a naval fleet to attack pirate bases on Tsushima in [[1419]], in what is known as the [[Oei Invasion|Ôei Invasion]]; in [[1443]], the Sô and the Joseon court then reached an agreement by which the Sô would act to curb pirate activity, and to ensure that all merchants traveling to Korea were properly licensed (i.e. were not pirates, brigands, or smugglers), in exchange for stipends and trading rights from the Joseon court.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 31.</ref> In [[1861]], the island became the site of diplomatic incident once again, as the Russian ship ''[[Posadnik]]'' dropped anchor and demanded to build a Russian base on the island, remaining for quite a few months and refusing requests by Sô, Tokugawa, and even British authorities to leave, until ultimately word came from the Russian consul in Japan, and from Russian naval command, and the ship finally departed.<ref>Hellyer, 209-213.</ref>

Due to its prime position along maritime routes, and its peripheral location in both Korean and Japanese states, Tsushima was both a major intermediary point for regional trade, and was on numerous occasions the victim of foreign attacks, including in the 7th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th centuries. Both [[Mongol invasions]] (in 1274 & 1281) visited violence upon the island before moving on to Kyushu. In the 13th-16th centuries, the island was also a major center of [[wako|pirate]] activity. Joseon sent a naval fleet to attack pirate bases on Tsushima in [[1419]], in what is known as the [[Oei Invasion|Ôei Invasion]], claiming that the island had long been Korean territory. When the fighting was over, the Sô agreed to have the island incorporated into the territory of Korea's Gyeongsang province and to be granted a royal seal as a prefectural governor or administrator, a subject to the king of Joseon. However, while relations between the Sô and the Joseon court from then on took on the ritual and political structural norms of a subject of the Joseon court to a large extent (rather than foreign relations), little changed within Tsushima in terms of the political governance and administration of the island.<ref>Robinson, 45.</ref>

The [[So clan|Sô samurai clan]], governors of the island since the 12th century, were claimed as vassals by the kings of Joseon, as well as by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]. During much of the medieval era, the Sô served as the chief intermediaries in Korean-Japanese diplomatic and trade relations, and under the Tokugawa, this position became even more formalized. At times in the 16th-17th centuries, the Sô also forged diplomatic documents, pretending to merely pass along communications from the shogunate, in order to either determine policy themselves, or to accrue the benefits of trade to themselves or their allies. While the Sô certainly negotiated for power against both the Joseon and Tokugawa courts, however, relations went smoothly for the most part in the 17th-19th centuries.

In [[1443]], the Sô and the Joseon court reached a further agreement by which the Sô would act to curb pirate activity, and to ensure that all merchants traveling to Korea were properly licensed (i.e. were not pirates, brigands, or smugglers), in exchange for stipends and trading rights from the Joseon court.<ref>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 31.</ref> In [[1861]], the island became the site of diplomatic incident once again, as the Russian ship ''[[Posadnik]]'' dropped anchor and demanded to build a Russian base on the island, remaining for quite a few months and refusing requests by Sô, Tokugawa, and even British authorities to leave, until ultimately word came from the Russian consul in Japan, and from Russian naval command, and the ship finally departed.<ref>Hellyer, 209-213.</ref>

 

The Sô clan, governors of the island since the 12th century, were claimed as vassals by the kings of Joseon, as well as by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]]. During much of the medieval era, the Sô served as the chief intermediaries in Korean-Japanese diplomatic and trade relations, and under the Tokugawa, this position became even more formalized. At times in the 16th-17th centuries, the Sô also forged diplomatic documents, pretending to merely pass along communications from the shogunate, in order to either determine policy themselves, or to accrue the benefits of trade to themselves or their allies. While the Sô certainly negotiated for power against both the Joseon and Tokugawa courts, however, relations went smoothly for the most part in the 17th-19th centuries.

Throughout the medieval and early modern periods, the Sô made extensive use of merchants and others, formally brought into the service of the Sô as ''[[goyo shonin|goyô shônin]]'', to serve as interpreters and intermediaries. While the figures actually drafting communications and/or traveling to Korea were often samurai retainers, they were also often merchants, monks, or other such figures. Sixty-two families or individuals in particular were designated at one point, the "Tsushima 62 ''shônin''." They were provided some degree of education and training in preparation for their roles as diplomatic intermediaries and interpreters, but it is said the emphasis was less on pursuing expert proficiency at language, diplomacy, or professional interpretation, and more on specifically representing Tsushima well (i.e. not causing the Sô clan to lose face), and on representing Tsushima (and by extension Japan) as a place of cultural refinement and education.

Throughout the medieval and early modern periods, the Sô made extensive use of merchants and others, formally brought into the service of the Sô as ''[[goyo shonin|goyô shônin]]'', to serve as interpreters and intermediaries. While the figures actually drafting communications and/or traveling to Korea were often samurai retainers, they were also often merchants, monks, or other such figures. Sixty-two families or individuals in particular were designated at one point, the "Tsushima 62 ''shônin''." They were provided some degree of education and training in preparation for their roles as diplomatic intermediaries and interpreters, but it is said the emphasis was less on pursuing expert proficiency at language, diplomacy, or professional interpretation, and more on specifically representing Tsushima well (i.e. not causing the Sô clan to lose face), and on representing Tsushima (and by extension Japan) as a place of cultural refinement and education.