History of The Joseon Dynasty - Manchu Invasions

Manchu Invasions

Following these events the Korean Kingdom became increasingly isolationist. Its rulers sought to limit contact with foreign countries. In addition, the Ming Dynasty was weakened, partly because of the war in Korea against Japan, which led to the establishment of the new Qing Dynasty. The Koreans decided to build tighter borders, exert more controls over inter-border traffic, and wait out the initial turbulence of the Manchu overthrow of the Ming.

Despite these limits, Korea had extensive trade with Mongolia, Northern Asia, China, and Japan. However, at times trade with Japan was limited to missions appointed by the king in order to prevent piracy and conduct orderly trade, which had been a problem even in the Goryeo Period.

Korea suffered from two invasions by the Manchus, in 1627 (see the First Manchu invasion of Korea) and 1637 (see the Second Manchu invasion of Korea). Korea surrendered to the Manchus and became a tributary state of Qing dynasty, which at this time involved two way trade missions with China. This decision affected Korea since China was Korea's main trading partner.

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