Why did people join the army during the Imjin War, and was their participation motivated by Confucian loyalty alone?

In the study of the Imjin War, it is not enough to interpret the reasons for the uprising as Confucian loyalty. People joined the army to defend their families and villages, and military leaders combined pragmatic interests with Confucian rationales to maintain their local base.

 

Few topics in Korean history have been studied as extensively as the Imjin War. The Imjin War was more than just a war; it had a profound impact on the entirety of Joseon society and culture. In the aftermath of the war, Joseon’s social structure, international relations, and economic situation changed dramatically, and these changes were crucial factors in the country’s subsequent development and decline. However, the way the subject has been viewed has been overly biased, presenting it as a prime example of how the entire nation united to “overcome national difficulties,” while failing to recognize the diverse realities behind it. In particular, there has been a relative lack of specific research on how different communities and classes experienced and responded to the war, and how it affected their lives. For example, the famine, epidemics, and economic devastation that occurred during the war made life extremely difficult for the people, and how this affected the movement.
In particular, we need to shed new light on the causes of the uprisings. In the past, the reasons for the uprising have been interpreted mainly in terms of loyalty to the king, which was derived from Confucian ideology. In fact, this interpretation is partly valid if we look at the content of the proclamation (檄文) posted by the captain to gather the soldiers. However, while this interpretation may be adequate to explain the motivation of the warlords, it is not sufficient to explain the motivation of the common people to join the rebellion.
The outbreak of the Imjin War came as a great shock to Joseon society, and the suddenness of the war left the Joseon government’s response in disarray. The unpreparedness of the Imjin War and the irresponsible behavior of the Joseon government during the war led to a very negative public opinion of the Joseon dynasty at the time. Under these circumstances, it is difficult to believe that people joined the army solely to be loyal to the king. It is also doubtful that the people were able to read and comprehend the content of the Chinese character-laden edicts, which were full of logic about the need to be loyal to the king. Given the high level of illiteracy in late Joseon society, it would have been even more difficult for the people to understand and put into practice such a message. Therefore, we must look elsewhere for the motivation of the people who made up the bulk of the army.
The soldiers were connected to each other by blood or kinship, and thus they had a common cause to defend, and thus a high degree of cohesion. The cause was not a distant king, but a close family, and not an abstract ideology, but the village in which they lived. The responsibility to defend the village and protect their families in times of war was an important factor in encouraging people to join the military. The reason why people were reluctant to join the official army and instead joined the militia can also be found in the fact that, unlike the official army, which had to move from place to place according to the orders of the government, the militia was relatively faithful to local defense. With the exception of a few, the scope of their activities did not extend beyond the village level, and there were few coordinated operations among them.
The motivation for the captain’s participation cannot be found solely in terms of loyalty to the king. They were leaders who led their communities through social influence and economic resources, and thus their stakes went beyond mere personal honor to the well-being of the community as a whole. But war threatened to erode that foundation. In this situation, the pragmatic interest of the warlords in maintaining their local footholds combined with Confucian rationalism to motivate them to raise armies. On the other hand, the government, which had no choice but to borrow the power of the militia due to the successive defeats of the guan army, actively encouraged the militia by granting the militia chiefs government posts. In a situation where one had to become a bureaucrat to maintain one’s status as a nobleman, the appointment of a government office became a great attraction for the captains. This is an example of the social and economic significance of government positions in Joseon society at the time.