Sixiang Wang, an expert on Chosŏn Korea and early modern East Asia, dives into the intricate diplomatic dance between early Chosŏn Korea and Ming China. He discusses how cultural practices, rituals, and poetry shaped these relations, emphasizing the role of envoys in this dynamic. Wang critiques oversimplified narratives surrounding Sino-Korean identity and explores how diplomatic exchanges were carefully curated to maintain stability and power. His insights challenge traditional views on imperial influence and reveal the complex interplay of culture and authority in pre-modern diplomacy.
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Diaspora Shaped His Korean Interest
Sixiang Wang's interest in Korean history stemmed from diaspora encounters challenging binary East-West identities.
Early multicultural experiences inspired his research on complex Sino-Korean relations.
insights INSIGHT
Beyond the Tributary System
The tributary system paradigm oversimplifies Korea-Ming diplomatic relations.
Diplomatic norms were co-created through cultural negotiation, not just a pre-existing framework.
insights INSIGHT
Playing the Diplomatic Script
Some Joseon officials, like King Sejo, openly critiqued and manipulated the diplomatic rituals.
Recognition of ritual scripts enabled strategic negotiation beyond rote performance.
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Set from 184 AD to 280 AD, this epic novel combines historical and fictional elements to tell the story of the decline of the Han dynasty and the formation of the three kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The novel follows hundreds of characters, including notable figures like Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, and Zhuge Liang, and details their plots, battles, intrigues, and struggles for dominance. It is based on historical records such as the 'Records of the Three Kingdoms' by Chen Shou and incorporates popular folk tales and legends.
A New History of Korea
A New History of Korea
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Iheebeck
Boundless Winds of Empire
Rhetoric and Ritual in Early Chosŏn Diplomacy with Ming China
Sixiang Wang
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.
The Chosŏn dynasty of Korea enjoyed generally peaceful and stable relations with Ming China, a relationship that was carefully cultivated and achieved only through the strategic deployment of cultural practices, values, and narratives by Chosŏn political actors. Boundless Winds of Empire: Rhetoric and Ritual in Early Chosŏn Diplomacy with Ming China(Columbia UP 2023) explores this history, rethinking how we understand Sino-Korean relations.
Boundless Winds of Empire is detailed, rich, and filled with a fascinating range of sources, including poetry, travelogues, epistolary writings, and literary anthologies. Sixiang Wang deftly weaves together these sources, highlighting the key role envoys played in shaping diplomatic strategy, the agency of Chosŏn officials, and the contested nature of the Ming empire.
The 2024 winner of the UC Berkeley Hong Yung Lee Book Award in Korean Studies, this book should appeal to those interested in Chinese and Korean studies, international relations, premodern history, and anyone who has ever struggled to understand political rhetoric (this book will show you what can be done if you take it seriously).
New Books in East Asian Studies 
