Gyorin | |
Hangul | 교린정책 |
---|---|
Hanja | 交隣政策 |
Revised Romanization | gyorin jeongchaek |
McCune–Reischauer | kyorin chŏngch'aek |
Gyorin (lit. "neighborly relations") was a neo-Confucian term developed in Joseon Korea. The term was intended to identify and characterize a diplomatic policy which establishes and maintains amicable relations with neighboring states. It was construed and understood in tandem with a corollary term,which was the sadae or "serving the great" policy towards Imperial China. [1]
Confucian learning contributed in the formation of gyorin and sadae as ritual,conceptual and normative frameworks for construing interactions and political decision-making. [2]
The rationale expressed by gyorin was applied to a multi-national foreign policy. [3] Scholarly writing about the Joseon dynasty has tended to focus on diplomatic relations with China and Japan,but the intermediary nature of gyorin contacts—for example,Joseon-Ryukyuan diplomatic and trading contacts—were important as well. [4] Envoys from the RyūkyūKingdom were received by Taejo of Joseon in 1392,1394 and 1397. Siam sent an envoy to Taejo's court in 1393. [5]
The long-term,strategic gyorin policy played out in bilateral diplomacy and trade dealings with the Jurchen tribes,Japan,the RyūkyūKingdom,Siam,and others. [6] Over time,diplomatic and trade policies were perceived by Joseon's partners as the traditional door through which trends in neo-Confucian philosophical principles were recognized. [7]
The Joseon kingdom made every effort to maintain a friendly bilateral relationship with China for reasons having to do with both realpolitik and a more idealist Confucian worldview wherein China was seen as the center of a Confucian moral universe. [8] Joseon diplomacy was no less aware and sensitive to realpolitik in the implementation of gyorin policy.
The unique nature of gyorin bilateral diplomatic exchanges evolved from a conceptual framework developed by the Chinese. Gradually,the theoretical models would be modified,mirroring the evolution of a unique relationship. [9]