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]], 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>

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 the Sô saw some changes in how they interacted with the Koreans, little changed on the ground in Tsushima, or in terms of Tsushima's relationship with the shogunate.<ref>Robinson, 45.</ref>

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>

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>