Boundless Winds of Empire

This book demonstrates how Chosŏn political actors strategically deployed cultural practices, values, and narratives to carve out a place for Korea within the Ming imperial order.

It draws on classical Chinese paradigms of statecraft, political legitimacy, and cultural achievement, and shows how Korea’s rulers and diplomats inserted Chosŏn into the Ming Empire’s legitimating strategies.

The book recasts a critical period of Sino-Korean relations through the Korean perspective, emphasizing Korean agency in the making of East Asian international relations.