Examined in this article are certain history textbooks from the period when Korea was facing modernity on the horizon, namely from 1895 through 1910. Selected as the most noteworthy ones from this period are Joseon Yeokdaesa(朝鮮歷史), Joseon Yeokdae Sa’ryak(朝鮮歷代史略), and Hyeon Chae’s Dong’guk Sa’ryak(東國史略). Special attention is paid here to the Joseon dynasty’s war with the Japanese that started in the Imjin-year(1592, “the Imjin-year war with the Japanese” from now on), and the actions of Admiral Yi Sun-shin(李舜臣, 1545~1598), in order to examine how that event and that individual were perceived and understood in the aforementioned period.
After an official order to initiate school education at every level was issued by the Joseon government in 1895, education of the peninsula’s history commenced, and Joseon History and Joseon Yeokdae Sa’ryak were published. Written in a chronological fashion, description of the Imjin-year war with the Japanese is centered on King Seonjo(宣祖, r.1567-1608) and his son the Crown-prince, but they also notably focused on the actions of governmental officials and righteous army leaders from a specific political faction: the Westerners(“Seo’in, 西人”). Also, a considerable portion of the textbooks is dedicated to the description of the Chinese Ming dynasty, such as Joseon’s request of an army to the Ming government, Ming troops’ arrival on Joseon and victories they achieved, and the Joseon government’s diplomatic talks with Ming authorities during the war. Conversely, references to Yi Shun-shin is contained to the last chapter of the war, namely the battle over the No’ryang strait (“No’ryang Haejeon, 露粱海戰”) and Admiral Yi’s eventual death.
In the meantime, Hyeon Chae’s Dong’guk Sa’ryak was published in the early 20th century, and although it was sort of an edited translation of the Japanese writer Hayashi’s Jyosenshi(朝鮮史) and Jyosen Kinseishi(朝鮮近世史), it did modify existing writings and supplemented new references regarding the Imjin-year war with the Japanese, featuring a more advanced understanding of the war as well as Yi Sun-shin. With the description of the Imjin-year war in Dong’guk Sa’ryak, we can see crux of the present day’s general understanding of the war had already been established by Joseon and Japanese historians of the 17th century, as well as in the history textbooks of the early 20<SUP>th</SUP> century.