After replaced the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming government quickly rebuilt the tributary system in East Asia. However, this system was not stable enough. In the Hongwu (洪武) period, there were a lot of problems between the Ming Dynasty and Goryeo. In this case, Jeong Mong-ju was appointed to the Ming Dynasty as the envoy, and made a great contribution to repair the relationship between the two countries.
On the way to the Ming dynasty, Jeong Mong-ju wrote a large number of poems. When the Ming dynasty envoys visiting Goryeo, Jeong Mong-ju also wrote many poems. At that time, people spoke highly of these works. For example, Ri-Sag (李穡) said these poems “can be called historical poetry (詩史)”.
According to Puyin Ji (圃隱集), this paper has carried on the textual research of the figures in the Ming Dynasty who made a contact to Jeong Mong-ju. Some of these people is the Ming Dynasty envoy to Goryeo, another part is the Ming Dynasty military governors, ministers, buddhists and other hermits. We can find that Jeong Mong-ju had contact with a lot of people in the Ming Dynasty.
These poems can be divided into two categories. On the one hand, Jeong Mong-ju wrote some poems for political needs. The contents include the unity of the Ming Dynasty, the reconstruction of Sino-foreign country system (華夷秩序), the great achievement of the Ming Dynasty, the joy of a golden age, and so on. On the other hand, Jeong Mong-ju also wrote some personal poems. He expressed his own likes and ambition, or admiration for the figures in the Ming Dynasty.
These poems have great significance. They can make up for the inadequacy of Chinese historical materials, and also prove the relative historical materials of Goryeo. Especially some of them play an important role in the research on Jeong Mong-ju’s life and thought. Therefore, we think Puyin Ji (圃隱集) is of great value as a historical poetry (詩史).