Japanese soldiers involved in the Imjin War

I also appreciate Gubook's signature, its wider implemented and proven true countless times.

This paper provides the historical background of the conservative Korean attitude toward the outer world in the late nineteenth century within the context of the politico-intellectual trend after the Manchu compromise in 1637. With the Ming entry into the Imjin War (1592-98), also known as the Hideyoshi invasions of Korea, Ming China was honored in Korea as the suzerain-father who gave Chosŏn a second life. Consequently, the Ming became the object for Chosŏn filial piety and loyalty. After the surrender to the Manchus in 1637, however, the Korean leadership faced an ideological crisis because the Manchu compromise signified that the king and court officials themselves violated the two primary values, loyalty and filial piety, on which the ruling mechanism of the dynasty had been based.

The establishment and enlargement of the Altar of Great Gratitude (Taebodan) was designed to offset the violation' and demonstrate visibly Chosŏn's fulfillment of its righteous obligations to the fallen Ming regardless of the circumstances. The 'post-Ming' Korean kings performed sacrifices for three Ming emperors, with emphasis on Ming Taizu, on the anniversaries of their deaths every year. These sacrifices were regularly performed even after Chosŏn opened up its ports to Western powers in the early 1880's, and continued until Seoul was occupied by the Japanese in the early phase of the Sino-Japanese War in 1894. This suggests that the majority of the Korean elites still lived spiritually under the imaginary Ming order, and thereby could not respond to the new order effectively.