Rambles and Experienes of Sun-he

School's Fun, Sometimes...

Do ever think going into an assignment, yeah, I can tatlly do this.

Then you find out that you probably can but you'll lose a decade of your life first.

Uhuh, that is me and every other freshamn Humanities student right now.

You see... we have to do this History Day thing where we swritte a paper on a person on the theme "leadership and legacy."

Ahaha... not so simple. Anyway, I finished the paper part-ish. I haven't done the parenthetical citations or whatever. I'll do them during lunch but since I'm so darn proud of myself, I'm going to put my paper here. Yup. All 1904 glorious words. You don't have to read it, I'm just showing off.

I'm praying for all you guys who haven't finished and Bliss, don't you dare laugh at me.

Have a great day everyone!

Annyeong^^

When Hideyoshi decided to invade the kingdom of Joseon in 1592 in pursuit of Japanese expansion, the Korean peninsula fell to Japanese forces. The most prevalent loss was the navy of Joseon as the previous Admiral had failed to combat the Japanese fleets and greatly diminished the size of the Joseon navy. It was this catastrophe that caused the king of Joseon to decide to abolish the navy to prevent any more losses. It was Admiral Yi Sun Sin who insisted that continuing to fight on the water would be essential to winning the war. With only thirteen small ships ships, Admiral Yi lead the fleet against the large Japanese fleet of over two-hundred ships and destroyed over thirty of them without losing any of his own ships.  This miraculous victory was a feat that seemed impossible and he had done it. Admiral Yi Sun Sin’s campaign and inventions left a legacy causing many Koreans in years to come to admire him and want to become more like him. Admiral Yi constructed guidelines for future generations and in turn created values kept in South Korea today.

Yi was born to well-off aristocratic family but unlike many children of his status, he became a leader, a child hero of sorts to other children in the village. He studied many militarian essentials such as swordsmanship, archery, and horseback riding; but despite all this, Yi’s journey to becoming an admiral was not a simple one as it was full of trials and tribulations. During his military examinations, Yi fell of of his horse and broke his leg and onlookers thought he surely failed, however, he acquired bark and created a splint for himself so he could finish his examination which he passed and then served in numerous military positions.

The road to Admiralty could only get more challenging. Yi was very popular, however that dragged him down and attracted many enemies. His own superiors had him falsely accused and Yi was jailed. However, King Sejong, the ruler of Joseon intervened and freed him but Yi was demoted to a common soldier. He had come so far only to become stripped of his rank and reputation damaged. As awful as this treatment was, he stayed loyal to Joseon and it was not rock bottom for Yi for worse betrayals would come.

The King continued to support Yi but this only attracted more opposition and he was displaced from various positions numerous times. This lottery had landed him in the seaport of Yeosu, a series of islands off the South coast of the Korean peninsula. Yi was there as Commander of Julla Left Naval Station, and it was there he discovered Japanese piracy (Admirals are divided with labels left and right), but those thefts were only the tip of the iceberg, the Japanese were to invade Joseon.

People of the Korean peninsula were always wary of neighboring countries as they were a small kingdom, primarily surrounded by water and near the large nations of Ming China and Toyotomi Confederacy (Japan). An attack was always a very real possibility and without allies, a war would be deadly; so when Hideyoshi “requested” King Sejong to allow Joseon to become an ally of Japan in the quest to conquer Ming  China, the most obvious answer would have been “yes.” Allying with Japan would probably have been beneficial in political terms, Joseon presumably would have been offered protection by Japanese forces and spared the kingdom from potential damage. King Sejong refused Hideyoshi’s offer and repercussions of this decision would be felt for the next seven years.