Teaching East Asia: Korea Teaching East Asia: Korea | Page 56

Asia in World History: 1450–1770
ADMIRAL YI SUN-SHIN,
THE TURTLE SHIPS, AND
MODERN ASIAN HISTORY
By Marc Jason Gilbert
T
hough little-known in the West, Korean Admiral Yi Sun-Shin
(1545–1598) is a major figure in Korean and Japanese history.
His technological and strategic innovations sparked a revolution
in Asian naval warfare and initiated both the “modern” naval force and
style of combat. These innovations helped Korea repel a series of
Japanese invasions from 1592 to 1598, paving the way for more than
250 years of Japanese semi-isolation from world affairs. The ultimate
adoption of Yi’s ideas by the defeated Japanese led to their triumph in
the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, an event that altered the bal-
ance of power in Asia and much of subsequent world history.
Like many innovators, Yi Sun-Shin suffered many disappoint-
ments due to domestic political intrigues and regional military rivalry.
Yet his struggles with factions at the Korean court and difficult rela-
tions with Korea’s Chinese allies do more than illuminate contempo-
rary Asian politics. While his prowess as a military reformer and
weapons designer has earned him accolades that often border on ha-
giography, he is also admired for his personal qualities. In the face of
one of the bitterest conflicts in human history, Yi Sun-Shin never lost
sight of the plight of its victims. Though he bore terrible wounds and
calmly faced death with thoughts only for his men and the preservation
of his state, his stoicism was not so complete as to protect him from the
pain arising from personal disgrace and the loss of close friendships
and family. Even Yi Sun-Shin’s success in battle depended as much
upon his courage as his brilliance as a strategist. It is thus his human-
ity, as well as his genius, that is worthy of our attention.
EARLY LIFE OF ADMIRAL YI SUN-SHIN
Lord Admiral (Chungmu-Gong) Yi Sun-Shin was born at Seoul into an
aristocratic family on April 28, 1545. He married in 1564 and two years
later began the study of traditional Korean military arts: archery, horse-
back riding, and swordsmanship. This was a somewhat unusual inter-
est for a son of the Korean elite, who at the time shared the Chinese
Confucian view of military service as an inferior occupation. Though
male Koreans owed the Chosŏn Dynasty (1392–1910) three months of
military service every five years until the age of sixty, the well-to-do
often contrived “to avoid this obligation, and even to evade military
taxes,” 1 a fact of life in Korea and elsewhere, before and since.
Yi Sun-Shin and his wife had three sons: Hoe (born 1567), Yo
(born 1571), and Myon (born 1577), who played important roles in his
professional life. His characteristic drive and stamina were first noted
in 1572 when, during his military examinations, he fell from his horse
and broke his leg. He is said to have completed the riding exam after
rigging a splint out of a willow branch. After passing his examinations,
he served in various staff and command positions. The Korean military
service made no distinction between branches of service, so it was not
remarkable that his first posting was as a naval commander at the
southern tip of Korea in 1580. However, two years later he refused to
ignore corrupt practices, earning him the enmity of his immediate su-
periors, who stripped him of his command; then as now, one’s superi-
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Portrait of Admiral Yi Sun-Shin.
Chesungdang (Victory Hall), Hansan Isle.
Image source: http://www.koreanhero.net/en/AboutYiSunsin.htm
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