Hong Gye-hui (Korean : 홍계희;1703–1771) was a Korean scholar-official of the Joseon period in the 18th century.
He was also diplomat and ambassador,representing Joseon interests in the 10th Edo period diplomatic mission to the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan. [1]
In 1748,King Yeongjo of Joseon directed that a diplomatic mission to Japan would be dispatched. [1] This diplomatic mission functioned to the advantage of both the Japanese and the Koreans as a channel for developing a political foundation for trade. [2]
This delegation was explicitly identified by the Joseon court as a "Communication Envoy" (tongsinsa). The mission was understood to signify that relations were "normalized." [3]
This embassy traveled to Edo in the 1st year of the Japanese era of Kan'en ,according to the Japanese calendar in use at that time. [4] The chief envoy of this Joseon delegation was Hong Gye-hui. [1]
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. [4]
In the West,early published accounts of the Joseon kingdom are not extensive,but they are found in Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu (published in Paris in 1832), [5] and in Nihon ōdai ichiran (published in Paris in 1834). Joseon foreign relations and diplomacy are explicitly referenced in the 1834 work.