병인양요 이후 幕府 의 朝鮮使節 파견계획 재검토

A Review of the Bakufu s Plan of Dispatching Envoys to Korea after Byengin Yangyo

This paper presents a review of the plan of dispatching envoys to Korea for reconciliation mission promoted by bakufu after Byengin Yangyo. Until now, this theme has been highly appreciated in the sense that bakufu itself attempted to reform Korea-Japan relations which had been mediated by Tsushima. However, previous studies were made, not knowing who laid out this plan, which led to many misunderstandings. Fortunately, I was able to identify the original planner based on the documents of Sō-family, the daimyo of Tsushima. Byengin Yangyo, the French invasion of Kanghwa Island in 1866, broke out during Tsushima s attempts to reform diplomatic trade relations with Korea by its own efforts. It provided a new chance to Tsushima. Tsushima proposed that bakufu send a reconciliation mission to Korea. Ōshima Tomonojō of Tsushima had first made this proposal and then told it to Nagasaki governor, by whom this proposal was reported to the bakufu cabinet. By successfully accomplishing this plan Tsushima tried to obtain the confidence of both Korea and bakufu. Especially it strived to get 30,000 koku of rice from bakufu every year in economic aid, which was its long-cherished hope. With the intent of ostentatiously demonstrating authority of Tokugawa Yoshinobu s new regime domestically and internationally, bakufu displayed active interest in the proposal made by Ōshima and appointed Hirayama Yoshitada as an envoy. Yet, bakufu had to delay this plan repeatedly since there were some domestic foreign-policy issues that needed to be dealt with urgently. Thus, they entered the abolition of the bakufu and the restoration of imperial rule without successfully accomplishing the plan. Even after the Restoration, Tsushima succeeded in having Japanese new government take over this plan. Since then, political upheavals within Japan had made new plan of dispatching envoys to Korea fruitless. But as for Tsushima, it was not a complete failure as Tsushima s active attitude revealed in the process of promoting the plan was acknowledged by the Meiji new government. As a result, Tsushima was able to retain the diplomatic and trading privilege in Korea again after the Meiji Restoration.