Hong Gye-hui (1703–1771) was a scholar-official of the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

in the 18th century. He was also

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

, representing

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

interests in the 10th

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

diplomatic mission to the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

in Japan.Walraven, Boudewijn ''et al.'' (2007). ''Korea in the middle: Korean studies and area studies,'' p. 361.; Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''Annales des empereurs du japon,'' p. 418; n.b., the name ''Tcho ying'' is a pre- Hepburn Japanese

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

and ''Tchao hing'' is a pre-

McCune–Reischauer McCune–Reischauer romanization () is one of the two most widely used Korean language romanization systems. A modified version of McCune–Reischauer was the official romanization system in South Korea until 2002, when it was replaced by the Re ...

, Korean

romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

devised by

Julius Klaproth Heinrich Julius Klaproth (11 October 1783 – 28 August 1835) was a German linguist, historian, ethnographer, author, orientalist and explorer. As a scholar, he is credited along with Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat, with being instrumental in turning ...

and

Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat Jean-Pierre Abel-Rémusat (5 September 1788 – 2 June 1832) was a French sinologist best known as the first Chair of Sinology at the Collège de France. Rémusat studied medicine as a young man, but his discovery of a Chinese herbal treatise ...

in 1834.

1748 mission to Japan

In 1748, King

Yeongjo of Joseon Yeongjo of Joseon (31 October 1694 – 22 April 1776), personal name Yi Geum (Korean language, Korean: 이금, Hanja: 李昑), was the 21st monarch of the Joseon, Joseon dynasty of Korea. He was the second son of Sukjong of Joseon, King Sukjong ...

directed that a diplomatic mission to Japan would be dispatched. This diplomatic mission functioned to the advantage of both the Japanese and the Koreans as a channel for developing a political foundation for trade. This delegation was explicitly identified by the Joseon court as a "Communication Envoy" (''tongsinsa''). The mission was understood to signify that relations were "normalized." This embassy traveled to Edo in the 1st year of the Japanese era of ''

Kan'en was a after and before . This period spanned the years from July 1748 to October 1751. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 418./ref> Change of era * 1748 : The era name was changed to (me ...

'', according to the Japanese calendar in use at that time.Titsingh, p. 418. The chief envoy of this Joseon delegation was Hong Gye-hui.

Recognition in the West

Pak Tong-chi's historical significance was confirmed when his mission and his name were 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 by Hayashi Shihei (1738–93) was published in Japan in 1785. This book represents one of the earliest attempts to define Japan in terms of its outer boundaries. It represented a modern effort to distinguish Japan from the neighboring nations. ...

'' (published in Paris in 1832),Vos, Ken
"Accidental acquisitions: The nineteenth-century Korean collections in the National Museum of Ethnology, Part 1,"
p. 6. and in ''Nihon ōdai ichiran'' (published in Paris in 1834). Joseon foreign relations and diplomacy are explicitly referenced in the 1834 work.

Popular culture

* Portrayed by

Jang Hyun-sung Jang Hyun-sung (born July 17, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He started his acting career as a member of the ''Hakjeon'' Theatre Company, before transitioning to film and television. Jang is best known for starring in director Song Il-gon's arth ...

in the 2014 SBS TV series ''

Secret Door Michael "Mike" Morhaime (born November 3, 1967) is an American video game developer and entrepreneur. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Dreamhaven, located in Irvine, California. Morhaime is best known as the co-founder and th ...

''.

Notes

References

* Daehwan, Noh
"The Eclectic Development of Neo-Confucianism and Statecraft from the 18th to the 19th Century,"
''Korea Journal'' (Winter 2003). * Lewis, James Bryant. (2003). ''Frontier contact between chosŏn Korea and Tokugawa Japan.'' London:

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

. * Titsingh, Isaac, ed. (1834). iyun-sai_Rin-siyo/Hayashi_Gahō,_1652.html" ;"title="Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō">iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652">Hayashi_Gahō.html" ;"title="iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō">iyun-sai Rin-siyo/Hayashi Gahō, 1652 ''Nipon o daï itsi ran; ou
Annales des empereurs du Japon.
' Paris: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 84067437
* Walker, Brett L
"Foreign Affairs and Frontiers in Early Modern Japan: A Historiographical Essay,"
''Early Modern Japan.'' Fall, 2002, pp. 44–62, 124-128. * Walraven, Boudewijn and Remco E. Breuker. (2007). ''Korea in the middle: Korean studies and area studies; Essays in Honour of Boudewijn Walraven.'' Leiden: CNWS Publications. ;

External links

Joseon Tongsinsa Cultural Exchange Association 조선통신사연구 (''Journal of Studies in Joseon Tongsinsa'')
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hong, Gye-Hui 1703 births 1771 deaths 18th-century Korean people Korean diplomats