The Request and Bestowal of Tripitaka in the Joseon-Japanese Relations in the Early 15th Century
Authors:   The Korean Association For Japanese History, Yu Hyeong-Seok 
Published: January 2025

Changes of Japan’s foreign relations in the period of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and Yoshimochi who were the 3rd and 4th shōguns of Ashikaga shōgunate were greatly influenced by domestic political changes in Japan, activities of Japanese raiders, relations with other East Asian countries. During the Yoshimitsu period, the political turmoil in Japan was ended, and the Japanese Northern and Southern dynasties were integrated to focus on stabilizing the shogunate's rule. While Yoshimitsu tried to stabilize the regime by resuming diplomacy, the shōgunates officially resumed international diplomatic relations with China and joined the Ming dynasty's Tribute and Investiture System. As the political condition in East Asia had gradually stabilized and Japanese raiders had infested less since the fifteenth century, the peaceful exchange relationship was formed around Joseon, Ming dynasty and Ashikaga shōgunate. However, as the political instability of the shōgunate was rekindled by several political events during the Yoshimochi period, the concentration of the shōgunate became weakened in the Kyushu region which was adjacent to the Korean Peninsula and China. The change in these circumstances heightened some political tension between the power of Kyushu Tandai and the Ōuchi clan and the power of the Shōni clan that competed with them. And a large scale of Japanese raiders availed themselves of this political instability and reappeared. It occasioned a great outcry in the political scene of East Asia and led to Joseon’s Ōei Invasion in 1419. As the attack by Joseon became a reality, Japan’s various powers including the shōgunate started focusing on resolving the situation. The shōgunate dispatched envoys to Joseon for the purpose of subduing public sentiment and grasping Joseon's intentions. And the power from Kyushu actively cooperated while they had a close relationship with the shōgunate and benefited from trade with Joseon. Afterward, the negotiation between Joseon and Japan was proceeded, envoys traveled back and forth between Joseon and Japan in forms of the request and bestowal of Tripitaka three times. On the other hand, the shōgunates preferentially distributed to the sect that had an affinity with them so that they would continuously maintain the relevant sects as amicable powers. The main beneficiaries were five temples of Kyoto, affiliations of the Rinzai school that was then responsible for the diplomacy of the shōgunate, the Shingon Buddhism and Tendai Buddhism temples that had traditionally high political status, and prominent local temples. The Tripitaka had been mainly distributed to Zen denominations, such as Rinzai school among them, although they did not have a great connection with the Tripitaka. In short, the Tripitaka in the Muromachi period did not merely function as a work of doctrinal characters, but a symbol of authority and dignity of temples for Buddhism powers and a means of negotiating with Buddhism powers for the shōgunate. And, this could lead to assuming the intention of the shōgunate who aimed to take political advantages.