Chinese embassies to Korea

The Chinese Imperial Court frequently communicated edicts, orders, information, or other sorts of official communications to the royal court of Joseon Dynasty Korea. During the first century or so of the Qing Dynasty, such communications were almost always carried by formal embassies dispatched from Beijing; however, beginning around the 1730s, such materials began to more frequently be entrusted to Korean envoys returning home from a formal tribute mission to China.

Imperial edicts or orders were generally received in Korea once a year; between 1645 and 1735, these communications were carried by Chinese missions more than 90% of the time, but from the 1730s on, this duty became entrusted more and more frequently to returning Korean envoys. In the period from 1736-1765, only about 87% of these messages were carried to Seoul by Chinese envoys, and after 1820, the percentage drops down into the 20-40% range, with the remaining 60-80% of imperial orders and edicts being conveyed to the King of Korea by his own returning Korean envoys.

In total, over the course of the 245-year period from 1636-1880, 169 official embassies of this sort were dispatched from Beijing, with the messages being entrusted to returning Korean envoys 78 times. Averaging out the figures for the entire period, therefore, roughly 32% of orders & edicts were entrusted to returning Korean ambassadors rather than by a Chinese mission.

Such Chinese missions, when they were sent, generally consisted of a lead envoy, a deputy envoy, two chief interpreters, two minor interpreters, and eighteen other followers. As in Ryûkyû, preparing a proper reception for Chinese Imperial envoys was an elaborate affair, and a significant financial expense for the Korean court. A temporary commission was established within the Korean court to prepare for the reception each time such an embassy was announced, and reception committees established at roughly five locations along the way between Beijing and Seoul, to greet the Chinese envoys along their journey and to fete the envoys. The Chinese envoys generally only stayed in Seoul a short time, but enjoyed multiple banquets and a formal audience with the king during their brief stay.

References

• Hae-Jong Chun, "Sino-Korean Tributary Relations in the Ch'ing Period," in John K. Fairbank (ed.) The Chinese World Order, Harvard University Press (1968), 90-111.