A Study on General Yi Sun-sin as a Tea Enthusiast : Focusing on the List of Gifts from Ming Dynasty Generals

This study focuses on the tea culture of Admiral Yi Sun-sin (1545-1598) with the aim of exploring his identity as a military hero and as a tea practitioner. Yi Sun-sin’s family adopted tea culture through active diplomacy with Ming China during the late Goryeo and early Joseon periods, significantly influencing Admiral Yi Sun-sin's life. By analyzing records from Nanjung Ilgi (War Diary) and The Complete Works of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, this study investigates the background and significance of the tea and tea utensils gifted to Yi Sun-sin by Ming generals. The study reveals that Yi Sun-sin utilized tea culture as an essential medium for scholarly exchanges, moral cultivation, and diplomatic communication. The tea and utensils presented by Ming generals highlight Yi Sun-sin’s practice of tea culture and underscore his role as a key figure in the Confucian scholar-official culture of the mid-Joseon period. This study reexamines the interaction between Yi Sun-sin’s legacy and the tea culture of Joseon literati and provides a foundation for understanding his cultural significance and role. Furthermore, it explores how tea culture facilitated moral, academic, and diplomatic exchanges that shaped the personal cultivation and cultural legacy of Yi Sun-sin’s.