Transition of Sinocentric World Order in East Asia and PoliticalㆍIdeological Response of Joseon Dynasty

Abstract

Ming and Qing replacement in 17th century had been incidents that basically shook existing East Asia system led by Ming. Not only the Chinese who were under the political control of Qing and the Japanese who were totally independent from the political control of Qing but the ruling class of Joseon who maintained their political identity in spite of the fact that they had been conquered by Qing all tried to find a new way of response in extremely changed world.BR The Chinese had no other option but to submit, because as times went by, possibility of restoration of Ming was gradually disappeared, and Qing was more and more stabilized. But the Japanese could design a new ideological, Japanese Sinocentric order in which Japan placed in center, leading surrounding barbarians, because they escaped from the political danger of Qing on account of geometric isolation.BR The way of response of the ruling class of Joseon could lies between these two types of way. On one hand, they totally accepted the political hegemony of Qing regime, because they had been conquered by Qing in 1637, but on the other hand, they could design a new ideological Korean Sinocentric order in which Joseon placed in center, because they could maintained their own political identity in spite of military surrender. In sum, these dual response depended upon realistic conditions of Joseon since the 17th century.