Early in the seventeenth century, Northeast Asian politics hung in a
delicate balance among the Chosŏn dynasty in Korea, the Ming in China,
and the Manchu. When a Chosŏn faction realigned Korea with the Ming, the
Manchu attacked in 1627 and again a decade later, shattering the
Chosŏn-Ming alliance and forcing Korea to support the newly founded Qing
dynasty.
The Korean scholar-official Na Man'gap (1592-1642) recorded the second
Manchu invasion in his Diary of 1636, the only first-person account
chronicling the dramatic Korean resistance to the attack. Partly
composed as a narrative of quotidian events during the siege of Namhan
Mountain Fortress, where Na sought refuge with the king and other
officials, the diary recounts Korean opposition to Manchu and Mongol
forces and the eventual surrender. Na describes military campaigns along
the northern and western regions of the country, the capture of the
royal family, and the Manchu treatment of prisoners, offering insights
into debates about Confucian loyalty and the conduct of women that took
place in the war's aftermath. His work sheds light on such issues as
Confucian statecraft, military decision making, and ethnic
interpretations of identity in the seventeenth century. Translated from
literary Chinese into English for the first time, the diary illuminates
a traumatic moment for early modern Korean politics and society. George
Kallander's critical introduction and extensive annotations place The
Diary of 1636 in its historical, political, and military context,
highlighting the importance of this text for students and scholars of
Chinese and East Asian as well as Korean history.
