Michael Finch

10.18399/acta.2009.12.2.003

O Hŭimun Japanese Invasion of 1592 Chosŏn Dynasty diary literature yangban life

This article examines “Namhaeng illok (Record of a journey to the south)” and “Imjin illok (Record of the year 1592),” covering the end of the lunar year 1591 and the whole of the lunar year 1592 respectively. These two works comprise a small part of the extensive diary entitled Swaemirok (A refugee’s record), written by the yangban refugee, O Hŭimun (1539–1613. The complete diary was kept during a ten-year period from 1591 just before the first Japanese invasion of 1592 until 1601 four years after the second invasion of 1597. It provides a daily record of the struggle for survival of a refugee yangban and his family during the war years as they evaded death or capture at the hands of the invading Japanese troops. The value of this diary rests not only in its rare accounts of the unfolding of the war from a civilian point of view, but also for the many insights it provides into the life of the Korean people during the war years. Not surprisingly, a preliminary reading reveals the overwhelming importance of filial piety, family relationships, and the reverence for ancestors demonstrated by the yangban class even during periods of extreme crisis, as well as the importance of mutual economic support among its members. This article, therefore, contributes to a deeper understanding of the economic and social conditions that prevailed in Chosŏn Korea at the end of the sixteenth century.