Borders and crossings: Trade, diplomacy and ginseng between Qing China and Choson Korea

This dissertation analyzes a 1685 border trespassing case and its outcome in the broad context of the Qing empire building process in Manchuria, examining its impact on the border negotiations with the Choson court and the formation of trading networks in Manchuria involving Korean merchants. It argues that Manchuria and Choson Korea were the two markers of the Qing empire building in the sense that the transition from the Ming to the Qing first began in this vital frontier and was completed here through the transformation of the Manchu relationship to the Choson court. The visible intersection of these two markers is the ginseng that grew in the borderland between China and Korea. As the Manchus became serious contenders for power in Manchuria, they began to enforce Manchu superiority over the Koreans and claim sole ownership of ginseng in the borderland. These two endeavors were all against Korean views, in that the Koreans believed the Manchus were inferior in every sense and the ginseng in the borderland had long been a shared resource. The Changbaishan investigation in 1712 shows that the Qing continually sought to achieve two goals---the imposition of Qing superiority and the making of the territorial boundary---in their relationship to the Choson court even after the two military campaigns. In this sense, Qing empire building was still in progress in the northeast until the early eighteenth century.; The significance of Choson Korea to the Qing empire was not limited to its geographical proximity and long neighborly relations. The Korean neighbors also contributed to the development of the regional economy of Manchuria through border markets and private trade followed by tributary missions. While tribute exchanges held at the courts in Beijing and Shengjing signified the Korean submission to Qing power, private trade between Korean traders and their Chinese partners were linking the northeastern frontier into the broader regional economy in East Asia. Ginseng and silver exchanges through the hands of Korean traders also commercially connected Qing Manchuria to Japan via Korea. As long as these Korean traders contributed to the regional economy of Manchuria, the Qing authorities were willing to ignore all the troubles that Korean visitors caused in their territory. Through commercial relations, Choson Korea played a crucial role in the Qing empire building in Manchuria.