A Study on the Qing Investiture Documents for Chosŏn prior to 1644 — Types, Languages, and Other Issues —

Having succeeded in his personal expedition against Chosŏn Korea in 1637, Hong Taiji, the founder and first emperor of the Qing empire, had the right to formally appoint Chosŏn’s king, his consort, and heir apparent. While it is well known that Hong Taiji issued the investiture documents for Chosŏn’s king in late 1637 and those for Chosŏn’s consort and heir apparent in 1639, there is no consensus on details like the type of imperial documents and languages used in these documents. Through close analysis of the contemporary accounts of the original imperial documents, which are not extant today, this paper explores these questions and sheds light on the major characteristics of the Qing investiture documents of pre-1644 era, which are distinctive from the Ming imperial convention before 1637. Qing investiture documents had the following characteristics. First, whereas the conventional set of investiture documents for Chosŏn’s king were constituted by a proclamation document, a notification letter, and a certificate document, in 1637 Hong Taiji only issued the notification and certificate, omitting the proclamation document. Second, while the Ming emperors had never issued certificate documents for Chosŏn’s heirs apparent, when the Qing court held the 1639 investiture ritual for Crown Prince Sohyŏn at Mukden, it instituted a new convention. From then on, a certificate document should be included among the investiture documents for the successor to the kingship of Chosŏn. Third, the Qing imperial investiture documents for Chosŏn were written in both Manchu and Han Chinese, such bilingualism in documents continued into the post-1644 investitures.