일본 문헌 속 이순신 비판 담론의 구조 -군사적 비판 : 호타이코 조선역(軍事的批判: 豊太閤朝鮮役)을 중심으로-

Abstract

Many books related to the Imjin War in pre-modern and modern Japan recorded Yi Sun-sin as a great admiral representing Joseon. However, in 1922, a book called "Military Criticism: the War of Hotaiko in Joseon" was published by Yujiro Sugimura, a former general of the Army. This book is currently confirmed to be the strongest critic of Yi Sun-sin. According to him, Yi Sun-sin is a person with good personality, but he is not a person of considerable refinement. In addition, Yi Sun-sin is a person who is not very capable, but ‘got the reputation’ because the Japanese military made a mistake. In the background of Sugimura's criticism of Yi Sun-sin, there was the logic of “the War of justice” that can be confirmed in Japan's “Conquest literature.” In his book, Sugimura claims that Joseon was an immoral country during the Imjin War, so Japan attacked it to edify Joseon by virtue of the emperor. Therefore, according to him, Japan had the justice of war. Because it was only natural for righteous nations to win over immoral nations, Japan's “Conquest literature” exaggerated their victories, reduced defeat, or even made corrections. It seems that this logic of “Conquest literature” was applied to the reduction of Yi Sun-sin's achievement in Sugimura's writings. It is against the logical structure of the "the War of justice" that the admiral of an immoral nation wins against a righteous nation, Japan, with outstanding performance. For this reason, the author dismissed the achievements of Yi Sun-sin and reduced the achievements of the Joseon navy. This logic can be confirmed in other Japanese literature containing criticism of Yi Sun-sin.